Shea Stadium
Encyclopedia
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea (icon), was a stadium
in the New York City
borough of Queens
, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park
of Major League Baseball
's New York Mets
from 1964 to 2008. Originally built as a multi-purpose stadium
, Shea was also the home of the New York Jets
football
team from 1964 to 1983. It was named in honor of William A. Shea, the man who brought National League
baseball back to New York. It was demolished in 2009 to furnish additional parking for the adjacent Citi Field, the current home of the Mets.
of the Dodgers and the Giants which left New York without a National League
presence. New York City official Robert Moses
tried to interest Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley
in this site as the location for a new Dodger stadium
, but O'Malley refused, unable to agree on location, ownership and lease terms. O'Malley preferred to pay construction costs himself so he would own the stadium outright. He wanted total control over revenue from parking, concessions, and other events. The City, by contrast, wanted to build the stadium, rent it, and retain these ancillary revenue rights to pay off its construction bonds. Additionally, O'Malley wanted to build his new stadium in Brooklyn, while Moses insisted on Flushing Meadows. When Los Angeles offered O'Malley what the City of New York wouldn't—complete and absolute ownership of the facility—he left for southern California in a preemptive bid to install the Dodgers there before a new or existing major league franchise could beat him to it. At the same time, Horace Stoneham
moved his New York Giants
to the San Francisco Bay Area
, ensuring that there would be two west coast NL teams and preserving the longstanding rivalry with O'Malley's Dodgers that continues to this day.
In 1960, the National League agreed to grant an expansion franchise to the owners of the New York franchise in the abortive Continental League
, provided that a new stadium be built. Mayor
Robert Wagner, Jr. had to personally wire all National League owners and assure them that the city would build a park.
On October 6, 1961, the Mets signed a 30-year stadium lease, with an option for a 10-year renewal. Rent for what was originally budgeted as a $9 million facility was set at $450,000 annually, with a reduction of $20,000 each year until it reaches $300,000 annually.
The Mets' inaugural season (1962) was played in the Polo Grounds
, with original plans calling for the team to move to a new stadium in 1963. In October 1962, Mets official Tom Meany said, "Only a series of blizzards or some other unforeseen trouble might hamper construction." That unforeseen trouble surfaced in a number of ways: the severe winter of 1962-1963, along with the bankruptcies of two subcontractors and labor issues. The end result was that both the Mets and Jets played at the Polo Grounds for one more year.
It was originally to be called "Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium" - the name of the public park on which it was built - but a movement was launched to name it in honor of William A. Shea, the man who brought National League
baseball back to New York.
beating the Mets 4-3 before a crowd of 50,312.
and '69
), followed by other Shea memorabilia such as the foul poles, dugouts, stadium signage, and the giant letters that spell out "SHEA" at the front of the building.
After salvaging operations concluded, actual demolition of the ballpark began on October 14, 2008. On October 18, the scoreboard in right field was demolished, with the bleachers, batter's eye and bullpens soon to follow.
By November 10, the field, dugouts and the rest of the field level seats had been demolished.
By mid-December, all of the Loge level seats and a good portion of the Mezzanine level seating were gone as well, leaving only the outer shell remaining.
Demolition work on the upper deck began by January 1, 2009. The next day, all that remained of sections 26-48 of the upper deck was the steel framework. By January 8, the steel framework for sections 36-48 of the upper deck had been completely removed; all that remained of the "Live & In Person" advertising banner at the top above Gate A was the extreme right portion with the Shea Stadium Final Season logo. As of January 15, the far left field portion of Shea was completely demolished and the left field upper deck (sections 25-47) was stripped to its steel framework. The remaining letters at the top of the ballpark behind home plate were taken down on January 21. Approximately two-thirds of the stadium's outer superstructure was gone by January 24.
On January 31, Mets fans all over New York came to Shea for one final farewell to Shea Stadium. Fans took a tour of the site, told stories, and sang songs. The last remaining section of seats was demolished on February 18. Fans stood in awe as the remaining structure of Shea Stadium (one section of ramps) was torn down at 11:22 AM that morning.
Shea's home plate, pitcher's mound, and the bases are immortalized in Citi Field's parking lot, and feature engravings of the neon baseball players that once graced the exterior of the stadium.
that same year, with Johnny Callison
of the Philadelphia Phillies
hitting a home run in the ninth inning to win the only Mid-Summer Classic held in the Queens ballpark. A month earlier on Father's Day, Callison's teammate, future Hall of Fame
member and United States Senator Jim Bunning
, pitched a perfect game against the Mets.
The stadium was often criticized by baseball purists for many reasons, even though it was retrofitted to be a baseball-only stadium after the Jets left. The upper deck was one of the highest in the majors. The lower boxes were farther from the field than similar seats in other parks because they were still on the rails that swiveled the boxes into position for football. Outfield seating was always rather sparse, in part because the stadium was intended to be fully enclosed.
At one time, Shea's foul territory was one of the most expansive in the majors, which was typical for ballparks that were built during this era. However, seats added over the years in the lower level greatly reduced the size of foul territory by the dawn of the 21st century. Also on the plus side, Shea always used a natural grass surface. This stood in contrast to multi-purpose stadiums such as Three Rivers Stadium
and Riverfront Stadium, which were built in the same era and style and used artificial turf instead of natural grass.
Shea Stadium hosted postseason baseball in 1969, 1973, 1986, 1988, 1999, 2000 and 2006; it hosted the World Series in 1969, 1973, 1986, and 2000. Shea Stadium had the distinction of being the home of the 1969 "Miracle Mets" -- a team led by former Brooklyn Dodger Gil Hodges
that defied 100-1 odds and won the World Series, this after recording seven straight seasons in last or next-to-last place. Shea became famous for the bedlam that took place after the Mets won the decisive Game 5 of the 1969 World Series
, as fans stormed the field in celebration. A similar scene took place a few weeks earlier after the Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves
in the first National League Championship Series
to win the pennant.
Tommie Agee
, Lenny Dykstra
, Todd Pratt
, Robin Ventura
, and Benny Agbayani
have all hit post-season, game-winning home runs at Shea.
Tommie Agee was the only player in the history of the ballpark to hit a home run into the upper deck in left field. The spot was marked with a sign featuring Agee's number, and the date of the event, April 10, 1969. Teammate Cleon Jones says the ball was still rising when it hit the seats, so it very likely could have been the longest home run ever hit at Shea Stadium.
In 1971, Dave Kingman
---then with the San Francisco Giants
; later to play for the Mets on two occasions - hit a home run that smashed off the windshield of the Giants' team bus, parked behind the left field bullpen.
For many years, the Mets' theme song, "Meet the Mets
", was played at Shea before every home game. Jane Jarvis, a local jazz artist, played the popular songs on the Hammond organ at Mets games for many years at the stadium.
On October 3, 2004, the stadium was the venue of the last game in the history of the Montreal Expos
when the Mets defeated the Expos 8-1. Their story ended where it had started 35 years earlier: at Shea Stadium. The following year, the Expos relocated to Washington, D.C.
, where they were renamed the Nationals
.
As of June 10, 2005, the Mets had played more games at Shea Stadium than the Brooklyn Dodgers did at Ebbets Field
.
The last game played at Shea Stadium was a loss to the Florida Marlins
on September 28, 2008. However, the Mets were in the thick of the playoff chase until the last day. A win would have meant another game for Shea as the Mets were scheduled to play the Milwaukee Brewers
in a one game playoff for the NL Wild Card had they won. Following the game, there was a "Shea Goodbye" tribute in which many players from the Mets glory years entered the stadium and touched home plate one final time so that fans could pay their last respects to the players and the stadium the Mets called home for 45 years. The ceremony ended with Tom Seaver
throwing a final pitch to Mike Piazza
, then, as the Beatles "In My Life" played on the stadium speakers the two former Met stars walked out of the centerfield gate and closed it behind them, followed by a display of blue and orange fireworks.
Three National League Division Series
were played at Shea Stadium. The Mets won all three, and never lost a Division Series game at Shea.
Seven National League Championship Series
were played at Shea Stadium.
Four World Series
were played in Shea Stadium.
The Yankees World Series win in 2000 was the only time that visiting teams won a World Series at Shea Stadium. The Mets won both their World Series titles at Shea Stadium (in Game 5 in 1969, and Game 7 in 1986).
The New York Yankees
played their home games in Shea Stadium during the 1974 and 1975 seasons while Yankee Stadium was being renovated. The move to Shea had been proposed earlier in the decade, but the Mets, as Shea's primary tenants, refused to sign off on the deal. However, when the city stepped in to pay for renovating Yankee Stadium, the Mets had little choice but to agree to share Shea with the Yankees.
Separately, on the afternoon of April 15, 1998, the Yankees also played one home game at Shea, against the Anaheim Angels
after a beam collapsed at Yankee Stadium two days before, destroying several rows of seats. With the Mets playing a game at Shea that evening against the Chicago Cubs
, the Yankees used the visitor's locker room and dugout and the Angels used the home dugout and old locker room of the New York Jets. Former Mets star Darryl Strawberry
, then playing for the Yankees, hit a home run during the game. Stadium operators partially raised the Mets' home run apple signal before lowering it back down, much to the delight of the crowd present.
Shea Stadium also hosted the first extra-inning regular season baseball opener ever played in New York, on March 31, 1998, when the Mets opened their season against their rival Philadelphia Phillies
, playing the longest scoreless opening day game in the National League and the longest one in the MLB since . The Mets won the game 1-0 in the bottom of the 14th.
During the 1977 New York City blackout
the stadium was plunged into darkness at approximately 9:30 p.m. during a game between the Mets and the Chicago Cubs. It occurred during the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Mets losing 2-1 and Lenny Randle
at bat. Jane Jarvis
, Shea's organist (affectionately known as Shea's "Queen of Melody") played "Jingle Bells
" and "White Christmas
". The game was eventually completed on September 16, with the Cubs winning 5-2.
of the American Football League
and later, the National Football League
played at Shea for twenty seasons, from 1964 to 1983 (excluding their first home game in 1977 played at Giants Stadium
). The stadium hosted three Jets playoff games: the American Football League
Championship in 1968 (beat the Oakland Raiders
, 27-23), an AFL Divisional Playoff in 1969 (lost 13-6 to the Kansas City Chiefs
) and the 1981 AFC Wild Card Playoff game (lost 31-27 to the Buffalo Bills
).
For most of the Jets' tenure at Shea, they were burdened by onerous lease terms imposed at the insistence of the Mets. Until 1978, the Jets could not play their first home game until the Mets' season was finished. Even after that year, the Mets' status as Shea's primary tenants would require the Jets to go on long road trips (switching Shea from baseball to football configuration was a rather complex process, involving electrical, plumbing, field and other similar work). The stadium was also not well maintained in the 1970s. The Jets moved to Giants Stadium
for the 1984 season, enticed by the additional 15,000+ seats offered there. Fans ripped Shea apart after the last game of the 1983 season, which also was the last NFL appearance for Pro Football Hall of Fame
quarterback Terry Bradshaw
, who threw two touchdown passes to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers
to a 34-7 victory. Even the scoreboard operator had a field day, displaying the home team as the "N.J. Jets".
It was at Shea Stadium on December 16, 1973 that O.J. Simpson became the first running back to gain 2,000 yards in a single season (and, to date, the only player to do it in 14 games or fewer).
In the 1983 season, a Jets game against the Los Angeles Rams featured an 85-yard touchdown run by rookie Eric Dickerson
, as well as a brawl between Rams offensive tackle Jackie Slater and Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau
when Slater blindsided Gastineau after the Jet performed his infamous "Sack Dance" over fallen Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo
.
The NFL
's New York Giants
played their 1975 season at Shea while Giants Stadium was being built. The Giants were 5-9 that year (2-5 at Shea). Their coach was Bill Arnsparger
and their quarterback was Craig Morton
.
The football field at Shea extended from around home plate all the way to the outfield, with the baseline seating rotating out to fill left and right fields.
called Shea home in 1980.
opened their 1965 North American tour
there to a record audience of 55,600. "Beatlemania
" was at one of its peaks at the Shea Concert. Film footage taken at the concert shows many teenagers and women crying, screaming, and even fainting. The crowd noise was such that security guards can be seen covering their ears as The Beatles enter the field. The sound of the crowd was so deafening that none of The Beatles (or anyone else) could hear what they were playing. Nevertheless, it was the first concert to be held at a major stadium and set records for attendance and revenue generation, demonstrating that outdoor concerts on a large scale could be successful and profitable, and led the Beatles to return to Shea for a successful encore on 23 August 1966. The attendance record stood until 1973 when it was broken by Led Zeppelin
.
The first major music event to play Shea Stadium after The Beatles successful run was the Summer Festival for Peace
on August 6, 1970. It was a day-long fundraiser, which featured many of the era's biggest selling and seminal rock, folk, blues and jazz performers including: Janis Joplin
, Paul Simon
, Creedence Clearwater Revival
, Steppenwolf
, The James Gang
, Miles Davis
, Tom Paxton
, John Sebastian
and others.
The next concert venue at Shea Stadium was the historic 1971 concert by Grand Funk Railroad (Humble Pie opened) in 1971, where they broke The Beatles then record for fastest ticket sales. Structural Engineers at the stadium were concerned that the physical excitment of the crowd that night might have caused damage to the stadium. The same film makeers for the documentary of the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont were commissioned to film this event, but the actual final film has, to date, never been releasesd.
The stadium has hosted numerous concerts since, the last being a two-night engagement by Billy Joel
on July 16, and July 18, 2008. The concerts were dubbed the "Last Play at Shea," and featured many special guest appearances, including former Beatle Paul McCartney
who closed the second show with an emotional rendition of The Beatles
classic "Let It Be
". Other artists that joined Joel on stage for the show were former Shea performer Roger Daltrey
of The Who
, Tony Bennett
, Don Henley
, John Mayer
, John Mellencamp
, Garth Brooks
, and Steven Tyler
of Aerosmith
. The concerts are the subject of a documentary film of the same name
, which uses the concerts and Shea's history to tell the story of changes in American suburban life.
Before Joel's concerts, the last performer to play there was Bruce Springsteen
along with his famed backing band; the E Street Band
in early October 2003.
Other acts that have headlined at Shea are Jethro Tull
with opening act Robin Trower
in July 1976 (billed as Tull v. Boeing due to the stadium's proximity to LaGuardia Airport), The Who
with opening act The Clash
in October 1982, Simon & Garfunkel in August 1983, The Police
with opening acts Joan Jett & The Blackhearts & R.E.M.
in August 1983, (a concert that bassist Sting described as "like playing the top of Mount Everest
"), The Rolling Stones
with opening act Living Colour
for a six-night run in October 1989 and Elton John
& Eric Clapton
in August 1992.
The 1978 International Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses
was held at Shea Stadium from July 12 to July 16, 1978.
Shea Stadium was parodied as "Che Stadium" for The Rutles
film All You Need is Cash
for a sequence that spoofed The Beatles' concert at the stadium
During his tour of America in October 1979, Pope John Paul II
was also among those hosted by Shea Stadium. On the morning of the Pontiff's visit, Shea Stadium was awash in torrential rain, causing ankle-deep mud puddles, and threatened to ruin the event. But as the Popemobile
entered the stadium, the rain stopped.
On December 9, 1979, as part of the halftime show of an NFL game between the New York Jets
and New England Patriots
, a model airplane group put on a remote control airplane display. The grand finale was a red 40-pound lawnmower. Its blade flew into the stands hitting John Bowen of Nashua, New Hampshire
. Bowen died six days later.
Between 1972 and 1980, Shea also hosted 3 wrestling events
held by the then World Wrestling Federation.
In 1987, Marvel Comics
rented Shea Stadium to re-enact the wedding of their two characters Spider-Man/Peter Parker
and Mary Jane Watson
.
Recently on VH1
's documentary series 7 Ages of Rock, Shea Stadium was named the most hallowed venue in all of rock music
.
In Godzilla: The Series
the stadium was destroyed in a fight between Godzilla
and Crackler.
Shea Stadium was used in the 1970s for filming the 1973 movie Bang The Drum Slowly
starring Robert DeNiro and Michael Moriarty and the 1978 film The Wiz
. In the latter film, the exterior pedestrian ramps were used for a motorcycle chase scene with Michael Jackson
& Diana Ross
.
In Men in Black
, a Mets game at Shea was featured in the film, with outfielder Bernard Gilkey
dropping a flyball after being distracted by an alien spacecraft in the sky.
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the stadium became a staging area for rescuers, its parking lots filled with food, water, medical supplies, even makeshift shelters where relief workers could sleep. Ten days later Shea reopened for the first post-attack sporting event in New York where the Mets beat the Braves
, behind a dramatic home run by Mets catcher Mike Piazza
.
(a.k.a. Giants Stadium
) after the Jets left Flushing Meadows for New Jersey following the 1983 NFL season.
s, scoreboard
s, and a section of bleachers beyond the left field fence. The stadium boasted 54 restrooms, 21 escalators and seats for 57,343. It was big, airy, sparkling, with a massive 86' x 175' scoreboard. Also, rather than the standard light towers, Shea had lamps along its upper reaches, like a convoy of semis with their brights on, which gave the field that unique high-wattage glow. Praised for its convenience, even its "elegance," Shea was actually deemed a showplace. These special features helped make Shea more popular during its lifetime than other "cookie-cutter" venues, like RFK Stadium, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
, and Three Rivers Stadium
.
The stadium was located close to LaGuardia Airport
. For many years, interruptions for planes flying overhead were common at Shea, and the noise was so loud that radio and television broadcasts couldn't be heard. Later, flight plans were altered to alleviate the noise problem.
Shea was originally designed to convert from a baseball field into a rectangle field suitable for football
using two motor-operated stands that allow the field level seats to rotate on underground railroad tracks. After the New York Jets
football team moved to Giants Stadium
in New Jersey
in 1984
, the Mets took over operation of the stadium and retrofitted it for exclusive baseball use. As part of the refitting, Shea Stadium's exterior was painted blue, and neon sign
s of baseball player silhouettes were added to the windscreens between 1986 and 1988. The original scoreboard was removed, and a new one installed in its place (fitting into the shell left behind by the old one), in 1988. Also at that time, the original (wooden) outfield wall was removed and replaced by a padded fence.
Banks of ramps that provided access from the ground to the upper levels were built around the outside circumference of the stadium. The ramps were not walled in and were visible from the outside. The ramps were originally partly covered with many rectangular panels in blue and orange (two of the team's colors). These panels can be seen in the 1970s movie The Wiz
; it used the exterior pedestrian ramps for a motorcycle chase scene with Michael Jackson
and Diana Ross
. The 1960s-style decorations were removed in 1980. The banks of ramps resulted in the outer wall of the stadium jutting out where the banks existed. In some of the recessed bays between the banks, huge neon lights formed the figures of baseball players.
The design also allowed for Shea Stadium to be expandable to 90,000 seats (by completely enclosing the grandstand), or to be later enclosed by a dome if warranted. In March 1965, a plan was formally announced to add a glass dome and add 15,000 seats. The Mets strongly objected to the proposal. The idea was dropped after engineering studies concluded that the stadium's foundation would be unable to support the weight of the dome.
Initially, the distances to the right and left field fences were each 341 feet (103.9 m). There was a horizontal orange line that decided where a batted ball was a home run or still in play. In 1978, Manager Joe Torre
helped move the fences in to 338 feet (103 m) in the corners with a wall now in front of the original brick wall to help alleviate disputed calls.
Originally, all of the seats were wooden, with each level having a different color. The field boxes were yellow, the loge level seats were brown, the mezzanine seats were blue, and the upper deck seats were green. Each level above the field level was divided into box seats (below the portals) and reserved seats (above the portals). The box seats were of a darker shade than the reserved seats. The game ticket was the same color as the seat that it was for, and the signs in the lobby for that section were the same color as the seat and the ticket. Before the 1980 baseball season they were replaced with red (upper deck), green (mezzanine), blue (loge), and orange (field level) plastic seats.
Unlike the crosstown Yankee Stadium, Shea was built on an open field (on top of a garbage landfill), so there was no need to have it conform to the surrounding streets.
Before Shea Stadium closed in 2008, it was the only stadium in the Major Leagues with orange foul poles. This tradition is carried on at Citi Field as the foul poles there are the same color.
After the Jets left Shea, the exterior of the stadium was painted blue and white, two of the Mets' team colors.
In 2003, large murals celebrating the Mets' two world championships were added, covering the two ends of the grandstand. The 1986 mural was removed after the 2006 season because of deterioration (the wall was re-painted solid blue, and a window was opened on the Mezzanine level where fans could view the progress of Citi Field), but the 1969 mural survived until the final game in 2008.
The scoreboard was topped by a representation of the New York Skyline, a prominent part of the team logo. Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center
were kept unlit, with a red-white-and-blue ribbon placed over them. The scoreboard was demolished in October 2008, but the skyline was preserved and is now located in Citi Field's "Taste Of The City" food court behind the giant scoreboard in center field.
For the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the construction of Citi Field was visible beyond the left and center field walls of Shea.
From 1973-1979, fans could estimate the distance of home run balls, since there were several signs beyond the outfield wall giving the distance in feet from home plate, in addition to the nine markers within the field.
The Home Run Apple came out of a magic hat after every Mets home run at Shea Stadium. It was first installed in May 1980 as a symbol of the Mets' advertising slogan "The Magic Is Back!" (the hat originally said "Mets Magic" in script but was changed in the mid 1980s to a simple "Home Run" in block capital letters). A newer, bigger apple has been placed in center field at Citi Field; in 2009 Shea's original apple was installed inside Citi Field's Bullpen Gate and was visible from outside, on 126th Street. In 2010, the Shea apple was relocated outside the ballpark, in front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.
named their children after Shea Stadium.
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough of Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park
Baseball park
A baseball park, also known as a baseball stadium, ball park, or ballpark is a venue where baseball is played. It consists of the playing field and the surrounding spectator seating...
of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
from 1964 to 2008. Originally built as a multi-purpose stadium
Multi-purpose stadium
Multi-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed in such a way as to be easily used by multiple sports. While any stadium could potentially host more than one sport, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy that stresses multi-functionality over specificity...
, Shea was also the home of the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team from 1964 to 1983. It was named in honor of William A. Shea, the man who brought National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
baseball back to New York. It was demolished in 2009 to furnish additional parking for the adjacent Citi Field, the current home of the Mets.
Planning and construction
The origins of Shea Stadium go back to the controversial west coast relocationMajor League Baseball relocation of 1950s-1960s
The Major League Baseball relocation of 1950s-1960s is the move of several Major League Baseball franchises to the Western and Southern United States. This was in stark contrast to the early years of modern baseball, when the American League intentionally put teams in National League cities to...
of the Dodgers and the Giants which left New York without a National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
presence. New York City official Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
tried to interest Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley
Walter O'Malley
Walter Francis O'Malley was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from to . He served as Brooklyn Dodgers chief legal counsel when Jackie Robinson broke the racial color barrier in...
in this site as the location for a new Dodger stadium
Brooklyn Dodgers proposed domed stadium
The Brooklyn Dodgers proposed domed stadium was to replace Ebbets Field for the Brooklyn Dodgers to allow them to stay in New York City. The Dodgers instead moved to Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles, California...
, but O'Malley refused, unable to agree on location, ownership and lease terms. O'Malley preferred to pay construction costs himself so he would own the stadium outright. He wanted total control over revenue from parking, concessions, and other events. The City, by contrast, wanted to build the stadium, rent it, and retain these ancillary revenue rights to pay off its construction bonds. Additionally, O'Malley wanted to build his new stadium in Brooklyn, while Moses insisted on Flushing Meadows. When Los Angeles offered O'Malley what the City of New York wouldn't—complete and absolute ownership of the facility—he left for southern California in a preemptive bid to install the Dodgers there before a new or existing major league franchise could beat him to it. At the same time, Horace Stoneham
Horace Stoneham
Horace C. Stoneham was the principal owner of Major League Baseball's New York/San Francisco Giants from the death of his father, Charles Stoneham, in 1936 until 1976. During his ownership, the team won National League pennants in 1936, 1937, 1951, 1954 and 1962, a division title in 1971, and a...
moved his New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
to the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, ensuring that there would be two west coast NL teams and preserving the longstanding rivalry with O'Malley's Dodgers that continues to this day.
In 1960, the National League agreed to grant an expansion franchise to the owners of the New York franchise in the abortive Continental League
Continental League
The Continental League was a proposed third major league for baseball, announced in 1959 and scheduled to begin play in the 1961 season...
, provided that a new stadium be built. Mayor
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
Robert Wagner, Jr. had to personally wire all National League owners and assure them that the city would build a park.
On October 6, 1961, the Mets signed a 30-year stadium lease, with an option for a 10-year renewal. Rent for what was originally budgeted as a $9 million facility was set at $450,000 annually, with a reduction of $20,000 each year until it reaches $300,000 annually.
The Mets' inaugural season (1962) was played in the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
, with original plans calling for the team to move to a new stadium in 1963. In October 1962, Mets official Tom Meany said, "Only a series of blizzards or some other unforeseen trouble might hamper construction." That unforeseen trouble surfaced in a number of ways: the severe winter of 1962-1963, along with the bankruptcies of two subcontractors and labor issues. The end result was that both the Mets and Jets played at the Polo Grounds for one more year.
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
baseball back to New York.
Opening
After 29 months and $28.5 million, Shea Stadium opened on April 17, 1964, with the Pittsburgh PiratesPittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
beating the Mets 4-3 before a crowd of 50,312.
Demolition
In accordance with New York City law, Shea Stadium was dismantled, rather than imploded. The company with the rights to sell memorabilia was given two weeks after the final game to remove seats, signage and other potentially saleable/collectable items before demolition was to begin. The seats were the first ($869 per pair plus tax, a combination of '861986 World Series
The 1986 World Series pitted the New York Mets against the Boston Red Sox. It was cited in the legend of the "Curse of the Bambino" to explain the error by Bill Buckner in Game 6 that allowed the Mets to extend the series to a seventh game...
and '69
1969 World Series
The 1969 World Series was played between the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles, with the Mets prevailing in five games to accomplish one of the greatest upsets in Series history, as that particular Orioles squad was considered to be one of the finest ever...
), followed by other Shea memorabilia such as the foul poles, dugouts, stadium signage, and the giant letters that spell out "SHEA" at the front of the building.
After salvaging operations concluded, actual demolition of the ballpark began on October 14, 2008. On October 18, the scoreboard in right field was demolished, with the bleachers, batter's eye and bullpens soon to follow.
By November 10, the field, dugouts and the rest of the field level seats had been demolished.
By mid-December, all of the Loge level seats and a good portion of the Mezzanine level seating were gone as well, leaving only the outer shell remaining.
Demolition work on the upper deck began by January 1, 2009. The next day, all that remained of sections 26-48 of the upper deck was the steel framework. By January 8, the steel framework for sections 36-48 of the upper deck had been completely removed; all that remained of the "Live & In Person" advertising banner at the top above Gate A was the extreme right portion with the Shea Stadium Final Season logo. As of January 15, the far left field portion of Shea was completely demolished and the left field upper deck (sections 25-47) was stripped to its steel framework. The remaining letters at the top of the ballpark behind home plate were taken down on January 21. Approximately two-thirds of the stadium's outer superstructure was gone by January 24.
On January 31, Mets fans all over New York came to Shea for one final farewell to Shea Stadium. Fans took a tour of the site, told stories, and sang songs. The last remaining section of seats was demolished on February 18. Fans stood in awe as the remaining structure of Shea Stadium (one section of ramps) was torn down at 11:22 AM that morning.
Shea's home plate, pitcher's mound, and the bases are immortalized in Citi Field's parking lot, and feature engravings of the neon baseball players that once graced the exterior of the stadium.
Baseball
Shea Stadium was the home of the New York Mets since its inception in 1964, and hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game1964 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1964 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 35th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League and the National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played on July 7, 1964 at Shea Stadium in New York City, New York, home of the New...
that same year, with Johnny Callison
Johnny Callison
John Wesley Callison was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball, best known for his years with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1960 to 1969...
of the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
hitting a home run in the ninth inning to win the only Mid-Summer Classic held in the Queens ballpark. A month earlier on Father's Day, Callison's teammate, future Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
member and United States Senator Jim Bunning
Jim Bunning
James Paul David "Jim" Bunning is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and politician.During a 17-year baseball career, he pitched from 1955 to 1971, most notably with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies. When he retired, he had the second-highest total of career...
, pitched a perfect game against the Mets.
The stadium was often criticized by baseball purists for many reasons, even though it was retrofitted to be a baseball-only stadium after the Jets left. The upper deck was one of the highest in the majors. The lower boxes were farther from the field than similar seats in other parks because they were still on the rails that swiveled the boxes into position for football. Outfield seating was always rather sparse, in part because the stadium was intended to be fully enclosed.
At one time, Shea's foul territory was one of the most expansive in the majors, which was typical for ballparks that were built during this era. However, seats added over the years in the lower level greatly reduced the size of foul territory by the dawn of the 21st century. Also on the plus side, Shea always used a natural grass surface. This stood in contrast to multi-purpose stadiums such as Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's Major League Baseball franchise and National Football League franchise respectively.Built as a replacement to...
and Riverfront Stadium, which were built in the same era and style and used artificial turf instead of natural grass.
Shea Stadium hosted postseason baseball in 1969, 1973, 1986, 1988, 1999, 2000 and 2006; it hosted the World Series in 1969, 1973, 1986, and 2000. Shea Stadium had the distinction of being the home of the 1969 "Miracle Mets" -- a team led by former Brooklyn Dodger Gil Hodges
Gil Hodges
Gilbert Ray Hodges was an American Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. During an 18-year baseball career, he played in 1943 and from 1947–63, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers...
that defied 100-1 odds and won the World Series, this after recording seven straight seasons in last or next-to-last place. Shea became famous for the bedlam that took place after the Mets won the decisive Game 5 of the 1969 World Series
1969 World Series
The 1969 World Series was played between the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles, with the Mets prevailing in five games to accomplish one of the greatest upsets in Series history, as that particular Orioles squad was considered to be one of the finest ever...
, as fans stormed the field in celebration. A similar scene took place a few weeks earlier after the Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
in the first National League Championship Series
1969 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 4, 1969 at Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta, GeorgiaThe Mets struck first in the second off Phil Niekro when Jerry Grote singled in a run and Ken Boswell scored on a passed ball by Braves catcher Bob Didier...
to win the pennant.
Tommie Agee
Tommie Agee
Tommie Lee Agee was a Major League Baseball center fielder most noted for making two of the greatest catches in World Series history, both of which occurred in game three of the 1969 World Series.-Cleveland Indians:...
, Lenny Dykstra
Lenny Dykstra
Leonard Kyle "Lenny" Dykstra , nicknamed "Nails" and "Dude", is a former Major League Baseball center fielder. Dykstra played for the New York Mets during the late 1980s before playing for the Philadelphia Phillies during the early 1990s....
, Todd Pratt
Todd Pratt
Todd Alan Pratt is a former Major League Baseball catcher from 1992-2006. He has primarily served as a back-up catcher for most of his career....
, Robin Ventura
Robin Ventura
Robin Mark Ventura is the current manager of the Chicago White Sox. He is a former professional baseball player, a third baseman who played for four major league teams, most notably for the Chicago White Sox...
, and Benny Agbayani
Benny Agbayani
Benny Peter Agbayani, Jr. is retired professional baseball player. Born in Hawaii to Filipino and Samoan parents, he attended Saint Louis School and Hawaii Pacific University. He also attended the Oregon Institute of Technology...
have all hit post-season, game-winning home runs at Shea.
Tommie Agee was the only player in the history of the ballpark to hit a home run into the upper deck in left field. The spot was marked with a sign featuring Agee's number, and the date of the event, April 10, 1969. Teammate Cleon Jones says the ball was still rising when it hit the seats, so it very likely could have been the longest home run ever hit at Shea Stadium.
In 1971, Dave Kingman
Dave Kingman
David Arthur Kingman , nicknamed "Kong" and "Sky King", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter. The towering 6' 6" Kingman was one of the most feared sluggers of the 1970s and 1980s...
---then with the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
; later to play for the Mets on two occasions - hit a home run that smashed off the windshield of the Giants' team bus, parked behind the left field bullpen.
For many years, the Mets' theme song, "Meet the Mets
Meet the Mets
"Meet the Mets" is the fight song of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. It was written in 1961 by Ruth Roberts and Bill Katz. A rewritten and modernized version was recorded in 1984....
", was played at Shea before every home game. Jane Jarvis, a local jazz artist, played the popular songs on the Hammond organ at Mets games for many years at the stadium.
On October 3, 2004, the stadium was the venue of the last game in the history of the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
when the Mets defeated the Expos 8-1. Their story ended where it had started 35 years earlier: at Shea Stadium. The following year, the Expos relocated to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where they were renamed the Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
.
As of June 10, 2005, the Mets had played more games at Shea Stadium than the Brooklyn Dodgers did at Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on a city block which is now considered to be part of the Crown Heights neighborhood. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. It was also a venue for professional football...
.
The last game played at Shea Stadium was a loss to the Florida Marlins
Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1993 as an expansion franchise called the Florida Marlins, the Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Marlins played their home games at...
on September 28, 2008. However, the Mets were in the thick of the playoff chase until the last day. A win would have meant another game for Shea as the Mets were scheduled to play the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
in a one game playoff for the NL Wild Card had they won. Following the game, there was a "Shea Goodbye" tribute in which many players from the Mets glory years entered the stadium and touched home plate one final time so that fans could pay their last respects to the players and the stadium the Mets called home for 45 years. The ceremony ended with Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver
George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...
throwing a final pitch to Mike Piazza
Mike Piazza
Michael Joseph "Mike" Piazza ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. He played in his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and the Oakland Athletics....
, then, as the Beatles "In My Life" played on the stadium speakers the two former Met stars walked out of the centerfield gate and closed it behind them, followed by a display of blue and orange fireworks.
Three National League Division Series
National League Division Series
In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series determine which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series...
were played at Shea Stadium. The Mets won all three, and never lost a Division Series game at Shea.
- 19991999 National League Division Series-Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Mets:-Game 1, October 5:Turner Field in Atlanta, GeorgiaA pitcher's duel between Shane Reynolds and Greg Maddux highlighted Game 1. The Astros struck first in the top of the second when Tony Eusebio singled in Carl Everett. Gerald Williams would tie the game in...
against the Arizona DiamondbacksArizona DiamondbacksThe Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
- Mets win 3 games to 1 - 20002000 National League Division Series-St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves:-Game 1, October 4:Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, CaliforniaGiants Pitcher Liván Hernández allowed one run and five hits over a inning effort, backed by a three-run home run by Ellis Burks as the Giants cruised to an easy 5–1 victory.-Game 2, October...
against the San Francisco GiantsSan Francisco GiantsThe San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
- Mets win 3 games to 1 - 20062006 National League Division Series-San Diego Padres vs. St. Louis Cardinals:-New York vs. Los Angeles:The series seemed over for the Mets before it even started, first by losing ace Pedro Martínez for the postseason and then losing probable Game 1 starter Orlando Hernández. Despite having a potent offense, many people didn't seem...
against the Los Angeles DodgersLos Angeles DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
- Mets win 3 games to 0
Seven National League Championship Series
National League Championship Series
In Major League Baseball, the National League Championship Series is a round in the postseason that determines who wins the National League pennant and advances to Major League Baseball's championship, the World Series, facing the winner of the American League Championship Series. The reigning...
were played at Shea Stadium.
- 19691969 National League Championship Series-Game 1:Saturday, October 4, 1969 at Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta, GeorgiaThe Mets struck first in the second off Phil Niekro when Jerry Grote singled in a run and Ken Boswell scored on a passed ball by Braves catcher Bob Didier...
against the Atlanta BravesAtlanta BravesThe Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
- Mets win 3 games to 0 - 19731973 National League Championship Series-Game 1:Saturday, October 6, 1973 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, OhioThe starting pitchers, New York's Tom Seaver and Cincinnati's Jack Billingham, produced a classic pitcher's duel in Game 1. The Mets threatened in the first, loading the bases with one out, but Cleon Jones grounded into a...
against the Cincinnati RedsCincinnati RedsThe Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
- Mets win 3 games to 2 - 19861986 National League Championship Series-Game 1:Wednesday, October 8, 1986 at Astrodome in Houston, TexasGame 1 featured a pitching duel between eventual NLCS Most Valuable Player Mike Scott and Dwight Gooden. Scott allowed just five hits and walked one while striking out 14 in a complete-game effort as the host Astros prevailed 1–0...
against the Houston AstrosHouston AstrosThe Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
- Mets win 4 games to 2 - 19881988 National League Championship Series-Game 1:Tuesday, October 4, 1988 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CaliforniaThe series opened with a classic pitching matchup, pitting the Dodgers' Orel Hershiser, who had won 23 games during the regular season and carried a Major League record 59 consecutive scoreless innings into the game,...
against the Los Angeles DodgersLos Angeles DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
- Dodgers win 4 games to 3 - 19991999 National League Championship Series-Game 1:Tuesday, October 12, 1999 at Turner Field in Atlanta, GeorgiaThe Braves began their eighth consecutive NLCS with a 4–2 victory over the Mets, defeating a team they left for dead two weeks earlier...
against the Atlanta BravesAtlanta BravesThe Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
- Braves win 4 games to 2 - 20002000 National League Championship Series-Game 1:Wednesday, October 11, 2000 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MissouriThe Mets jumped on Cardinals starter Darryl Kile right from the outset. Rookie Timo Pérez led off the game with a double into the right field corner, and following a walk to Edgardo Alfonzo, scored on a double by Mike Piazza...
against the St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
- Mets win 4 games to 1 - 20062006 National League Championship SeriesThe National League Championship Series , the second round of the 2006 National League playoffs, began on October 12 and ended on October 19; it was scheduled to begin on October 11, but was postponed a day because of inclement weather. The St...
against the St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
- Cardinals win 4 games to 3*
- * The decisive seventh game of this series was played at Shea Stadium, marking the only time that the Mets ever lost the deciding game of an NLCS at home.
Four World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
were played in Shea Stadium.
- against the Baltimore OriolesBaltimore OriolesThe Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
- Mets win 4 games to 1 - against the Oakland AthleticsOakland AthleticsThe Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
- A's win 4 games to 3 - against the Boston Red SoxBoston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
- Mets win 4 games to 3 - against the New York YankeesNew York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
- Yankees win 4 games to 1
The Yankees World Series win in 2000 was the only time that visiting teams won a World Series at Shea Stadium. The Mets won both their World Series titles at Shea Stadium (in Game 5 in 1969, and Game 7 in 1986).
The New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
played their home games in Shea Stadium during the 1974 and 1975 seasons while Yankee Stadium was being renovated. The move to Shea had been proposed earlier in the decade, but the Mets, as Shea's primary tenants, refused to sign off on the deal. However, when the city stepped in to pay for renovating Yankee Stadium, the Mets had little choice but to agree to share Shea with the Yankees.
Separately, on the afternoon of April 15, 1998, the Yankees also played one home game at Shea, against the Anaheim Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
after a beam collapsed at Yankee Stadium two days before, destroying several rows of seats. With the Mets playing a game at Shea that evening against the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
, the Yankees used the visitor's locker room and dugout and the Angels used the home dugout and old locker room of the New York Jets. Former Mets star Darryl Strawberry
Darryl Strawberry
Darryl Eugene Strawberry is a former American Major League Baseball outfielder who is well-known both for his play on the field and for his controversial behavior off it...
, then playing for the Yankees, hit a home run during the game. Stadium operators partially raised the Mets' home run apple signal before lowering it back down, much to the delight of the crowd present.
Shea Stadium also hosted the first extra-inning regular season baseball opener ever played in New York, on March 31, 1998, when the Mets opened their season against their rival Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
, playing the longest scoreless opening day game in the National League and the longest one in the MLB since . The Mets won the game 1-0 in the bottom of the 14th.
During the 1977 New York City blackout
New York City blackout of 1977
The New York City blackout of 1977 was an electricity blackout affected most of New York City from July 13, 1977 to July 14, 1977. The only neighborhoods in New York City that were not affected were in southern Queens, and neighborhoods of the Rockaways, which are part of the Long Island Lighting...
the stadium was plunged into darkness at approximately 9:30 p.m. during a game between the Mets and the Chicago Cubs. It occurred during the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Mets losing 2-1 and Lenny Randle
Lenny Randle
Leonard Shenoff Randle is a former Major League Baseball player. He was the first-round pick of the Washington Senators in the secondary phase of the June 1970 Major League Baseball Draft, tenth overall.-Early years:...
at bat. Jane Jarvis
Jane Jarvis
Jane Nossette Jarvis was an American jazz pianist. She was also known for her work as a composer, a baseball stadium organist and a recording industry executive...
, Shea's organist (affectionately known as Shea's "Queen of Melody") played "Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...
" and "White Christmas
White Christmas
A white Christmas refers to the presence of snow on Christmas Day. This phenomenon is most common in the northern countries of the Northern Hemisphere...
". The game was eventually completed on September 16, with the Cubs winning 5-2.
Football
The New York JetsNew York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
and later, the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
played at Shea for twenty seasons, from 1964 to 1983 (excluding their first home game in 1977 played at Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
). The stadium hosted three Jets playoff games: the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
Championship in 1968 (beat the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, 27-23), an AFL Divisional Playoff in 1969 (lost 13-6 to the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
) and the 1981 AFC Wild Card Playoff game (lost 31-27 to the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
).
For most of the Jets' tenure at Shea, they were burdened by onerous lease terms imposed at the insistence of the Mets. Until 1978, the Jets could not play their first home game until the Mets' season was finished. Even after that year, the Mets' status as Shea's primary tenants would require the Jets to go on long road trips (switching Shea from baseball to football configuration was a rather complex process, involving electrical, plumbing, field and other similar work). The stadium was also not well maintained in the 1970s. The Jets moved to Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
for the 1984 season, enticed by the additional 15,000+ seats offered there. Fans ripped Shea apart after the last game of the 1983 season, which also was the last NFL appearance for Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
quarterback Terry Bradshaw
Terry Bradshaw
Terry Paxton Bradshaw is a former American football quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League . He played 14 seasons. He is a football analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday...
, who threw two touchdown passes to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers
1983 Pittsburgh Steelers season
- Schedule :- Week 1 : vs. Denver Broncos :at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania* Game time: 1:00 pm EDT* Game weather:* Game attendance: 58,233* Referee: Jerry Seeman...
to a 34-7 victory. Even the scoreboard operator had a field day, displaying the home team as the "N.J. Jets".
It was at Shea Stadium on December 16, 1973 that O.J. Simpson became the first running back to gain 2,000 yards in a single season (and, to date, the only player to do it in 14 games or fewer).
In the 1983 season, a Jets game against the Los Angeles Rams featured an 85-yard touchdown run by rookie Eric Dickerson
Eric Dickerson
Eric Demetric Dickerson is a former professional running back in the National Football League who in his career played for the Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Raiders, and Atlanta Falcons.-College career:...
, as well as a brawl between Rams offensive tackle Jackie Slater and Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau
Mark Gastineau
Marcus Dell Gastineau is a former American football player who was a leading defensive end for the New York Jets from 1979 to 1988. A five-time Pro Bowler, his 100½ quarterback sacks in only his first 100 starts in the NFL made him one of the quickest and most feared pass rushers of his generation...
when Slater blindsided Gastineau after the Jet performed his infamous "Sack Dance" over fallen Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo
Vince Ferragamo
Vince Anthony Ferragamo is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.-College career:...
.
The NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
played their 1975 season at Shea while Giants Stadium was being built. The Giants were 5-9 that year (2-5 at Shea). Their coach was Bill Arnsparger
Bill Arnsparger
William Stephen "Bill" Arnsparger is a former American college and professional football coach.- Early years :Arnsparger was born in Paris, Kentucky in 1926. He attended Paris High School, and became connected with the school's longtime football and basketball coach, Blanton Collier...
and their quarterback was Craig Morton
Craig Morton
Larry Craig Morton is a former professional football player. He played quarterback in the National Football League for 18 seasons, 1965-82...
.
The football field at Shea extended from around home plate all the way to the outfield, with the baseline seating rotating out to fill left and right fields.
Soccer
The first soccer game held at Shea Stadium occurred during tournament play from the International Soccer League on June 17, 1965. New York United of the American Soccer LeagueAmerican Soccer League
The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...
called Shea home in 1980.
Other events
On Sunday, August 15, 1965, The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
opened their 1965 North American tour
The Beatles' 1965 USA Tour
The Beatles staged their second concert tour of the United States in the late summer of 1965. At the peak of American Beatlemania, they played a mixture of outdoor stadiums and indoor arenas, with two historic stops on this venture....
there to a record audience of 55,600. "Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
" was at one of its peaks at the Shea Concert. Film footage taken at the concert shows many teenagers and women crying, screaming, and even fainting. The crowd noise was such that security guards can be seen covering their ears as The Beatles enter the field. The sound of the crowd was so deafening that none of The Beatles (or anyone else) could hear what they were playing. Nevertheless, it was the first concert to be held at a major stadium and set records for attendance and revenue generation, demonstrating that outdoor concerts on a large scale could be successful and profitable, and led the Beatles to return to Shea for a successful encore on 23 August 1966. The attendance record stood until 1973 when it was broken by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
.
The first major music event to play Shea Stadium after The Beatles successful run was the Summer Festival for Peace
Festival for Peace
The Festival for Peace was an all day concert event produced at Shea Stadium in Queens, NY on August 6, 1970.It was the second event of a series planned to raise funds for anti-war candidates in the early 1970s. The first, the Winter Festival for Peace, took place in Madison Square Garden earlier...
on August 6, 1970. It was a day-long fundraiser, which featured many of the era's biggest selling and seminal rock, folk, blues and jazz performers including: Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
, Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
, The James Gang
James Gang
The James Gang was a rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. Though the band was not a huge commercial success, except in the Northeast Ohio area, the fame garnered by guitarist Joe Walsh has since made the group more notable.- History :...
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Tom Paxton
Tom Paxton
Thomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer and singer-songwriter who has been writing, performing and recording music for over forty years...
, John Sebastian
John Sebastian
John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
and others.
The next concert venue at Shea Stadium was the historic 1971 concert by Grand Funk Railroad (Humble Pie opened) in 1971, where they broke The Beatles then record for fastest ticket sales. Structural Engineers at the stadium were concerned that the physical excitment of the crowd that night might have caused damage to the stadium. The same film makeers for the documentary of the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont were commissioned to film this event, but the actual final film has, to date, never been releasesd.
The stadium has hosted numerous concerts since, the last being a two-night engagement by Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
on July 16, and July 18, 2008. The concerts were dubbed the "Last Play at Shea," and featured many special guest appearances, including former Beatle Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
who closed the second show with an emotional rendition of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
classic "Let It Be
Let It Be (song)
"Let It Be" is a song by The Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was their final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band...
". Other artists that joined Joel on stage for the show were former Shea performer Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Don Henley
Don Henley
Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
, John Mayer
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
, John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...
, Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
, and Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...
of Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
. The concerts are the subject of a documentary film of the same name
Last Play at Shea
The Last Play at Shea is a 2010 documentary film written by Mark Monroe, directed by Paul Crowder, produced by Steve Cohen and Nigel Sinclair, in conjunction with Billy Joel's Maritime Pictures and Spitfire Films. The film is centered around Billy Joel's 2008 concerts of the same name that...
, which uses the concerts and Shea's history to tell the story of changes in American suburban life.
Before Joel's concerts, the last performer to play there was Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
along with his famed backing band; the E Street Band
E Street Band
The E Street Band has been rock musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972.The band has also recorded with a wide range of other artists including Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, Tom Morello, Sting, Ian...
in early October 2003.
Other acts that have headlined at Shea are Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
with opening act Robin Trower
Robin Trower
Robin Leonard Trower , known professionally as Robin Trower, is an English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum during the 1960s, and then again as the bandleader of his own power trio.-Biography:...
in July 1976 (billed as Tull v. Boeing due to the stadium's proximity to LaGuardia Airport), The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
with opening act The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
in October 1982, Simon & Garfunkel in August 1983, The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
with opening acts Joan Jett & The Blackhearts & R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
in August 1983, (a concert that bassist Sting described as "like playing the top of Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
"), The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
with opening act Living Colour
Living Colour
Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, neo-psychedelia, hard rock, and heavy metal...
for a six-night run in October 1989 and Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
& Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
in August 1992.
The 1978 International Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
was held at Shea Stadium from July 12 to July 16, 1978.
Shea Stadium was parodied as "Che Stadium" for The Rutles
The Rutles
The Rutles are a band that are known for their visual and aural pastiches and parodies of The Beatles. Originally created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes as a fictional band to be featured as part of various 1970s television programming, the group recorded, toured, and released two UK chart hits in...
film All You Need is Cash
All You Need Is Cash
All You Need Is Cash is a 1978 television film that traces the career of a fictitious British rock group called The Rutles...
for a sequence that spoofed The Beatles' concert at the stadium
During his tour of America in October 1979, Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
was also among those hosted by Shea Stadium. On the morning of the Pontiff's visit, Shea Stadium was awash in torrential rain, causing ankle-deep mud puddles, and threatened to ruin the event. But as the Popemobile
Popemobile
Popemobile is an informal name for the specially designed motor vehicles used by the pope during outdoor public appearances without having to employ the antiquated and often impractical sedia gestatoria. The Popemobile was designed to allow the pope to be more visible when greeting large crowds...
entered the stadium, the rain stopped.
On December 9, 1979, as part of the halftime show of an NFL game between the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
, a model airplane group put on a remote control airplane display. The grand finale was a red 40-pound lawnmower. Its blade flew into the stands hitting John Bowen of Nashua, New Hampshire
Nashua, New Hampshire
-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...
. Bowen died six days later.
Between 1972 and 1980, Shea also hosted 3 wrestling events
Showdown at Shea
Showdown at Shea was the name given to three professional wrestling events presented by the World Wide Wrestling Federation at Flushing, New York's Shea Stadium, from 1972 to 1980.-1972:...
held by the then World Wrestling Federation.
In 1987, Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
rented Shea Stadium to re-enact the wedding of their two characters Spider-Man/Peter Parker
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
and Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane Watson, often shortened to MJ, is a fictional supporting character appearing, originally, in Marvel comic books and, later, in multiple spin-offs and dramatizations of the Spider-Man titles as the best friend, love interest, and one-time wife of Peter Parker, the alter ego of Spider-Man...
.
Recently on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's documentary series 7 Ages of Rock, Shea Stadium was named the most hallowed venue in all of rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
.
In Godzilla: The Series
Godzilla: The Series
Godzilla: The Series is an American/Japanese animated television series which originally aired on Fox in the United States. The show premiered on September 12, 1998, and is a direct sequel to the American Godzilla remake.-Plot:...
the stadium was destroyed in a fight between Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
and Crackler.
Shea Stadium was used in the 1970s for filming the 1973 movie Bang The Drum Slowly
Bang the Drum Slowly (film)
Bang the Drum Slowly is a 1973 film adaptation of the 1956 baseball novel of the same name by Mark Harris. It was previously dramatized in 1956 on the U.S. Steel Hour with Paul Newman and Albert Salmi....
starring Robert DeNiro and Michael Moriarty and the 1978 film The Wiz
The Wiz (film)
The Wiz is a 1978 musical film produced by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures, and released by Universal on October 24, 1978. An urbanized retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz featuring an entirely African-American cast, The Wiz was adapted from the 1975 Broadway musical...
. In the latter film, the exterior pedestrian ramps were used for a motorcycle chase scene with Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
& Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
.
In Men in Black
Men in Black (film)
Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...
, a Mets game at Shea was featured in the film, with outfielder Bernard Gilkey
Bernard Gilkey
Otis Bernard Gilkey is a former Major League Baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, and Atlanta Braves. Primarily a left fielder, Gilkey occasionally played right field as well. He also played a small number of games as a center field,...
dropping a flyball after being distracted by an alien spacecraft in the sky.
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the stadium became a staging area for rescuers, its parking lots filled with food, water, medical supplies, even makeshift shelters where relief workers could sleep. Ten days later Shea reopened for the first post-attack sporting event in New York where the Mets beat the Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
, behind a dramatic home run by Mets catcher Mike Piazza
Mike Piazza
Michael Joseph "Mike" Piazza ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. He played in his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and the Oakland Athletics....
.
1975: Four teams, one stadium
In 1975, Shea was the center of the New York's sports universe. The Mets, Yankees, Jets and Giants all called Shea home that season, marking the first and only time in professional sports history that two baseball teams and two football teams shared the same facility in the same year. As Yankee Stadium was being renovated and Giants Stadium was nearing completion, there were scheduling clashes between the New York teams in baseball from April 1975 through September 1975 and both football teams from October 1975 through December 1975. Even though Shibe Park housed the Phillies, A's, and Eagles collectively from 1940 to 1954 (excluding 1941), the 1975 sports calendar in Shea Stadium was unrivaled. The Jets and also the Giants could not play a "home" game at Shea Stadium until the baseball season had ended for the main tenant Mets and the temporary incumbent Yankees. The Mets attracted 1,730,566 to their games while the Yankees attracted 1,288,048 to their "home" games at Shea. Having both the Giants and Jets share Shea Stadium for one season foreshadowed what was to come in the future with the MeadowlandsMeadowlands Sports Complex
The MetLife Sports Complex is a sports and entertainment facility located in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority...
(a.k.a. Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
) after the Jets left Flushing Meadows for New Jersey following the 1983 NFL season.
Design
Shea was a circular stadium, with the grandstand forming a perfect circle around the field and ending a short distance beyond the foul lines. The remainder of the perimeter was mostly empty space beyond the outfield fences. This space was occupied by the bullpenBullpen
In baseball, the bullpen is the area where relief pitchers warm-up before entering a game. Depending on the ballpark, it may be situated in foul territory along the baselines or just beyond the outfield fence. Also, a team's roster of relief pitchers is metonymically referred to as "the bullpen"...
s, scoreboard
Scoreboard
A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game or match. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used a mechanical clock and numeral cards to...
s, and a section of bleachers beyond the left field fence. The stadium boasted 54 restrooms, 21 escalators and seats for 57,343. It was big, airy, sparkling, with a massive 86' x 175' scoreboard. Also, rather than the standard light towers, Shea had lamps along its upper reaches, like a convoy of semis with their brights on, which gave the field that unique high-wattage glow. Praised for its convenience, even its "elegance," Shea was actually deemed a showplace. These special features helped make Shea more popular during its lifetime than other "cookie-cutter" venues, like RFK Stadium, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, often shortened to "Fulton County Stadium," was a multi-purpose stadium that formerly stood in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.-History:...
, and Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's Major League Baseball franchise and National Football League franchise respectively.Built as a replacement to...
.
The stadium was located close to LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
. For many years, interruptions for planes flying overhead were common at Shea, and the noise was so loud that radio and television broadcasts couldn't be heard. Later, flight plans were altered to alleviate the noise problem.
Shea was originally designed to convert from a baseball field into a rectangle field suitable for football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
using two motor-operated stands that allow the field level seats to rotate on underground railroad tracks. After the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
football team moved to Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in 1984
1984 NFL season
The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana....
, the Mets took over operation of the stadium and retrofitted it for exclusive baseball use. As part of the refitting, Shea Stadium's exterior was painted blue, and neon sign
Neon sign
Neon signs are made using electrified, luminous tube lights that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in December, 1910 by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show. While they are used worldwide, neon signs...
s of baseball player silhouettes were added to the windscreens between 1986 and 1988. The original scoreboard was removed, and a new one installed in its place (fitting into the shell left behind by the old one), in 1988. Also at that time, the original (wooden) outfield wall was removed and replaced by a padded fence.
Banks of ramps that provided access from the ground to the upper levels were built around the outside circumference of the stadium. The ramps were not walled in and were visible from the outside. The ramps were originally partly covered with many rectangular panels in blue and orange (two of the team's colors). These panels can be seen in the 1970s movie The Wiz
The Wiz (film)
The Wiz is a 1978 musical film produced by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures, and released by Universal on October 24, 1978. An urbanized retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz featuring an entirely African-American cast, The Wiz was adapted from the 1975 Broadway musical...
; it used the exterior pedestrian ramps for a motorcycle chase scene with Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
and Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
. The 1960s-style decorations were removed in 1980. The banks of ramps resulted in the outer wall of the stadium jutting out where the banks existed. In some of the recessed bays between the banks, huge neon lights formed the figures of baseball players.
The design also allowed for Shea Stadium to be expandable to 90,000 seats (by completely enclosing the grandstand), or to be later enclosed by a dome if warranted. In March 1965, a plan was formally announced to add a glass dome and add 15,000 seats. The Mets strongly objected to the proposal. The idea was dropped after engineering studies concluded that the stadium's foundation would be unable to support the weight of the dome.
Initially, the distances to the right and left field fences were each 341 feet (103.9 m). There was a horizontal orange line that decided where a batted ball was a home run or still in play. In 1978, Manager Joe Torre
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre is a former American professional baseball player and manager who currently serves as Major League Baseball’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. A nine-time All-Star, he played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, first baseman and a third baseman for the...
helped move the fences in to 338 feet (103 m) in the corners with a wall now in front of the original brick wall to help alleviate disputed calls.
Originally, all of the seats were wooden, with each level having a different color. The field boxes were yellow, the loge level seats were brown, the mezzanine seats were blue, and the upper deck seats were green. Each level above the field level was divided into box seats (below the portals) and reserved seats (above the portals). The box seats were of a darker shade than the reserved seats. The game ticket was the same color as the seat that it was for, and the signs in the lobby for that section were the same color as the seat and the ticket. Before the 1980 baseball season they were replaced with red (upper deck), green (mezzanine), blue (loge), and orange (field level) plastic seats.
Unlike the crosstown Yankee Stadium, Shea was built on an open field (on top of a garbage landfill), so there was no need to have it conform to the surrounding streets.
Before Shea Stadium closed in 2008, it was the only stadium in the Major Leagues with orange foul poles. This tradition is carried on at Citi Field as the foul poles there are the same color.
After the Jets left Shea, the exterior of the stadium was painted blue and white, two of the Mets' team colors.
In 2003, large murals celebrating the Mets' two world championships were added, covering the two ends of the grandstand. The 1986 mural was removed after the 2006 season because of deterioration (the wall was re-painted solid blue, and a window was opened on the Mezzanine level where fans could view the progress of Citi Field), but the 1969 mural survived until the final game in 2008.
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
were kept unlit, with a red-white-and-blue ribbon placed over them. The scoreboard was demolished in October 2008, but the skyline was preserved and is now located in Citi Field's "Taste Of The City" food court behind the giant scoreboard in center field.
For the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the construction of Citi Field was visible beyond the left and center field walls of Shea.
From 1973-1979, fans could estimate the distance of home run balls, since there were several signs beyond the outfield wall giving the distance in feet from home plate, in addition to the nine markers within the field.
Home Run Apple
Baseball
- 55,300 (1964-1986)
- 55,601 (1987-1993)
- 55,777 (1994-1997)
- 56,521 (1998-2000)
- 57,333 (2001-2002)
- 57,393 (2003-2004)
- 57,369 (2005-2006)
- 57,405 (2007-2008)
Homages
Three players in the National LeagueNational League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
named their children after Shea Stadium.
- Atlanta BravesAtlanta BravesThe Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
third baseman Chipper JonesChipper JonesLarry Wayne "Chipper" Jones, Jr. is a Major League baseball player for the National League's Atlanta Braves. Although initially a shortstop, he has spent most of his career as the starting third baseman for the Braves...
named his second son Shea after Jones' success in Shea Stadium against the Mets; he hit 19 home runs there, more than any other road park. - Former Cincinnati RedsCincinnati RedsThe Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
shortstop Barry LarkinBarry LarkinBarry Louis Larkin is a retired Major League Baseball player. Larkin played shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds from 1986 to 2004 and was one of the pivotal players on the 1990 Reds' World Series championship team...
named his eldest daughter Brielle D'Shea, as he enjoyed playing at Shea Stadium. - Former Houston AstrosHouston AstrosThe Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
third baseman Gary CooperGary Cooper (third baseman)Gary Clifton Cooper was born August 13, 1964, in Lynwood, California. Cooper was 27 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 15, 1991, with the Houston Astros.-College career:...
named his youngest daughter Shea after Shea Stadium. He also named his son Camden after Camden Yards in Baltimore.
External links
- Ballpark Digest Visit to Shea Stadium
- Shea Stadium Opening Day 2006 Photo
- A Photographic Documentary of the Final Summer of Shea
- ESPN: "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like Shea"
- In Mudville, Queens, Shea Scavengers Hunt Soggy Discarded Relics by Corey Kilgannon, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
(New York edition), September 30, 2008, page B3 [retrieved on October 3, 2008] - With Stadiums Going, Going, Ashes May Be Gone by James Barron, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, New York edition, October 11, 2008, Page A17, retrieved on October 12, 2008 [Relatives grieve over ashes smuggled into and left under or over Shea and Yankee stadiums.] - Pics from the 3B Side, 2008 Season