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Wikipedia

Shea Stadium

February 26, 2023

This article is about the former stadium in Queens, New York City. For other uses, see Shea Stadium (disambiguation).

Shea Stadium (/ʃeɪ/), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.[7] Opened in 1964, it was home to the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1964 to 2008, as well as the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1983.

Shea Stadium
Shea
Shea Stadium exterior in 2007
Shea Stadium
Location within New York City
Full nameWilliam A. Shea Municipal Stadium
Former namesFlushing Meadows Stadium
(1961–1962)[1]
Address123–01 Roosevelt Avenue
LocationFlushing, Queens, New York
Coordinates40°45′20″N 73°50′53″W / 40.75556°N 73.84806°W / 40.75556; -73.84806Coordinates: 40°45′20″N 73°50′53″W / 40.75556°N 73.84806°W / 40.75556; -73.84806
OwnerCity of New York
New York Mets
OperatorNew York City Department of Parks and Recreation (1964–1981)
New York Mets (1964–2008)
CapacityBaseball: 57,333[2]
Football:  60,372[3]
Field size
Left Field338 ft (103 m)
Left Field ('64-'77)341 (104)
Medium Left-Center358 (109)
Left-Center371 (113)
Left-Center (deep)396 (121)
Center410 (125)
Right-Center (deep)396 (121)
Right-Center371 (113)
Medium Right-Center358 (109)
Right Field338 (103)
Right Field ('64-'77)341 (104)
SurfaceKentucky Bluegrass
Construction
Broke groundOctober 28, 1961
OpenedApril 17, 1964 (1964-04-17)
ClosedSeptember 28, 2008 (2008-09-28) (Final game)
DemolishedOctober 14, 2008–February 18, 2009
Construction cost$28.5 million
($249 million in 2021 dollars[4])
ArchitectPraeger-Kavanagh-Waterbury[5]
General contractorCarlin–Crimmins J.V.[6]
Tenants
New York Mets (MLB) 1964–2008
New York Jets (AFL / NFL) 1964–1983
New York Yankees (MLB) 1974–1975
New York Giants (NFL) 1975
St. John's Red Storm (NCAA) 2000

The stadium was named in honor of William Shea, who was most responsible for bringing National League baseball back to New York after the Dodgers and Giants left for California in 1957. It was demolished in 2009 to create additional parking for the adjacent Citi Field, the stadium built to replace it and the current home of the Mets.

History

Planning and construction

The origins of Shea Stadium go back to the relocations of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants in 1957, which left New York without a National League baseball team.

Prior to the Dodgers' departure, New York City official Robert Moses tried to interest owner Walter O'Malley in the site as the location for a new stadium, but O'Malley refused, unable to agree on location, ownership, and lease terms. O'Malley preferred to pay construction costs himself so he could own the stadium outright. He wanted total control over revenue from parking, concessions, and other events.

New York City, in contrast, wanted to build the stadium, rent it, and retain the ancillary revenue rights to pay off its construction bonds.[8] Additionally, O'Malley wanted to build his new stadium in Brooklyn, while Moses insisted on Flushing Meadows. When Los Angeles offered O'Malley what New York City wouldn't—complete ownership of a stadium—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 San Francisco (although he originally considered moving them to Minneapolis), ensuring that there would be two National League teams in California, and preserving the long standing rivalry with the 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 stadium.

Soon afterward, Moses and William A. Shea, the New York lawyer who had led the effort to bring National League baseball back to New York, faced a problem. New York state law of the time did not allow cities to borrow money in order to build a stadium. The only way for the city to finance a stadium would be to demonstrate that the stadium could pay for itself. With this in mind, Moses and Shea proposed to have the new team pay substantial rent in order to pay off 30-year bonds. This provision would come back to haunt the Mets years later; they would never live up to that monetary commitment, and the ensuing financial woes would be an albatross around the team for years.[9]

On October 6, 1961, the Mets signed a 30-year stadium lease,[10] 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 reached $300,000 annually.

In their inaugural season in 1962, the expansion Mets played in the Polo Grounds, with original plans 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."[11] 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.

 
Shea during its inaugural 1964 season

It was originally to be called "Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium"[12][13][14] – the name of the public park within which it was built – but an ultimately successful movement was launched to name it in honor of Shea.[15]

Opening

After 29 months of construction and $28.5 million spent, Shea Stadium opened on April 17, 1964,[16] with the Pittsburgh Pirates beating the Mets 4–3 before a crowd of 50,312.[17][18][19][20] There were no prior exhibition games or events, and the stadium was barely finished in time for the home opener. Because of a jurisdictional dispute between Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Local 1106 of the Communications Workers of America, the telephone and telegraph wiring was not finished in time for opening day.[15][21] The stadium opened five days before the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, across Roosevelt Avenue. Although not officially part of the fair grounds, the stadium sported steel panels on its exterior in the blue-and-orange colors of the Fair, the same team colors of the Mets. The panels were removed in 1980.

Demolition

 
 
Demolition in progress. Top photo: close-up view of the stadium during demolition. Bottom photo: demolition as viewed from the IRT Flushing Line with Citi Field visible in the background.

In accordance with New York City law, in 2009 Shea Stadium was dismantled, rather than imploded.[22] The company with the rights to sell memorabilia was given two weeks after the final game to remove seats, signage and other potentially saleable and collectable items before demolition was to begin. The seats were the first ($869 per pair plus tax, a combination of '86 and '69, the team's two World Series championship years),[23] followed by other memorabilia such as the foul poles, dugouts, stadium signage, and the giant letters that spelled out "SHEA" at the front of the building.

After salvaging operations concluded, 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 shortly thereafter.[24]

By November 10, the field, dugouts and the rest of the field level seats had been demolished.[25]

 
Plaque commemorating the location of Shea Stadium's home plate, now in Citi Field's parking lot.

On January 31, Mets fans all over New York came to Shea Stadium for one final farewell. Fans took a tour of the site, told stories, and sang songs.[26] 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.[27][28]

The locations of Shea's home plate, pitcher's mound, and bases are marked in Citi Field's parking lot. The plaques feature engravings of the neon baseball players that graced the exterior of the stadium from 1988 onward.[29]

Redevelopment

On October 9, 2013, the New York City Council approved a plan to build a mall and entertainment center called Willets West in the Citi Field parking lot where Shea Stadium stood, as part of an effort by the city to redevelop the nearby neighborhood of Willets Point.[30][31] However, in 2015, the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court ruled that the site, considered parkland, could not be used for commercial development without permission from the New York state government.[32]

In 2022, Mets owner Steve Cohen was pushing to build a casino in the parking lot, which was supported by New York City mayor Eric Adams, but still needs final approval from New York State.[33]

Stadium usage

Baseball

 
A Mets game in 1969

Shea Stadium was the home of the New York Mets starting in 1964, and it hosted what would be its only All-Star Game that first 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 U.S. Senator Jim Bunning, pitched a perfect game against the Mets.[34]

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 had swiveled them into position for football.[35] Outfield seating was sparse, in part because the stadium was designed to be fully enclosed.

At one time, Shea's foul territory was one of the most expansive in the majors. This was very common for ballparks built during the 1960s, in part due to the need to accommodate the larger football field.[35] This was also because the stadium was designed to be fully enclosed. However, seats added over the years in the lower level greatly reduced the size of foul territory by the dawn of the 21st century. On the plus side, Shea always used a natural grass surface, in contrast to other multi-purpose stadiums such as Three Rivers Stadium, Veterans Stadium, and Riverfront Stadium, which were built in the same era and style and had artificial turf.

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. It had the distinction of being the home of the 1969 "Miracle Mets"— led by former Brooklyn Dodger Gil Hodges that defied 100–1 odds and won the World Series, after 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 World Series, as fans stormed the field in celebration. Similar scenes took place a few weeks earlier after the Mets clinched the National League East title, and then 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 hit post-season, walk-off home runs at Shea (although, while the ball hit by Ventura over the fence may have been the most famous of the postseason walk-off hits, it was famously called "the Grand Slam Single", because when he hit the game-winning ball over the fence, he was mobbed by his teammates before he could reach second base, and never wound up touching second base, third base and home plate. It was not ruled a home run as he never circled the bases completely. It probably made Ventura, known for his penchant for hitting grand slams, even more famous, and the hit itself more famous, because of the very fact that he never circled the bases fully, technically not making it a homer).

Agee was the only player in the history of the ballpark to hit a fair ball into the upper deck in left field. The spot was marked with a sign featuring Agee's number 20 and the date, which was April 10, 1969.[36] Teammate Cleon Jones said the ball was still rising when it hit the seats, so it very likely could have been the longest home run hit at Shea.[citation needed] It came in the second inning, and Agee hit another in the seventh over the center field wall; both solo shots were off of Montreal Expos starter Larry Jaster, and the Mets won 4–2.[36]

In 1971, Dave Kingman – then with the San Francisco Giants and 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 Thomas organ at Mets games for many years at the stadium.[37]

On October 3, 2004, it was the venue for the last game in the history of the Montreal Expos, and the Mets won 8–1.[38] Montreal's major league story ended where it had started 35 years earlier: at Shea Stadium.[39] The following year, the Expos relocated to Washington, D.C. and became the Nationals.

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 National League Wild Card berth. 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.[40][41]

 
A panoramic view of Shea Stadium from the upper deck behind home plate before a baseball game in 2008. The construction of Citi Field is visible beyond the outfield wall.

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.

^ The decisive seventh game of this series was played at Shea Stadium, marking the only time that the Mets lost the deciding game of a National League Championship Series at Shea.

Four World Series were played in Shea Stadium.

The Yankees' World Series win in 2000 was the only time that a visiting team 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).

 
Shea Stadium prior to the start of a New York Mets game in 2008. Shea had the best attendance in the National League that year, averaging over 51,000 fans per game.

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.[citation needed]

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.[42][43] 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.[44] 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, to the delight of the crowd.[45]

Shea Stadium also hosted the first extra-inning regular season baseball opener played in New York, on March 31, 1998,[46] 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 Major League Baseball since 1926.[47][48] The Mets won the game 1–0 in the bottom of the 14th inning.[48]

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".[49] The game was eventually completed on September 16, with the Cubs winning 5–2.[50]

Boxing

Shea Stadium held boxing matches in the mid-1960s.[51]

Football

 
A concept drawing of Shea Stadium in football configuration

The New York Jets of the American Football League and later, the National Football League played at Shea for 20 seasons, from 1964 through 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 (defeating the Oakland Raiders, 27–23), an AFL Divisional Playoff in 1969 (a 13–6 loss 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. For instance, in 1969, the defending Super Bowl champion Jets didn't play a home game until October 20 due to the Mets advancing to (and winning) the World Series. As a result, the 1969 Jets opened with five consecutive road games, and then played all seven home games in consecutive weeks before closing with two road games. Even after 1978, 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 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 more than 15,000 additional seats there. Fans ripped apart Shea after the last game of the 1983 season, which also was the last game for Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who threw two touchdown passes to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 34–7 victory.[52] Even the scoreboard operator had a field day, displaying the home team as the "N.J. Jets".[53]

 
O.J. Simpson pictured breaking the NFL's single-season rushing record at Shea Stadium.

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[54] (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 Giants played their final five home games of 1973 and all seven in 1974 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut; Yankee Stadium was closed in October 1973 for a massive renovation, which was completed in time for the 1976 baseball season.

On the night of October 9, 1965, Shea Stadium hosted the football rivalry between Army and Notre Dame for the first and only time. The Fighting Irish blanked the Cadets, 17–0, beginning a 15-game winning streak for Notre Dame in the storied series.

In 1966, the Brooklyn Dodgers of the minor Continental Football League unsuccessfully sued the Jets in an attempt to use the stadium; the team wound up playing on Randall's Island and soon folded. In 1974, the New York Stars of the nascent World Football League also made inquiries to play at Shea, whose schedule was already overcrowded by the Mets, Jets and Yankees (and the following year, the Giants; see below). The Stars also moved out to Randall's Island, playing only a handful of games before shifting to Charlotte.

The football field at Shea extended from around home plate to centerfield, with the baseline seating rotating out to fill left and right fields.

Soccer

The first soccer game at Shea Stadium occurred during International Soccer League tournament play on June 17, 1965.[55]

The original New York Cosmos beat the Washington Diplomats, 2–0, in an NASL playoff game at Shea on August 17, 1976.[56]

New York United of the American Soccer League called Shea home in 1980.[57]

Date Winning team Result Losing team Tournament Attendance
June 17, 1965   Portuguesa 6–3   West Ham United International friendly 5,130[58]
August 17, 1976   New York Cosmos 2–0   Washington Diplomats NASL playoffs 22,698[59]

Concerts

 
Shea Stadium and vicinity, with the Manhattan skyline in the distance, 1981

On Sunday, August 15, 1965, The Beatles opened their 1965 North American tour there to a record audience of 55,600.[60] "Beatlemania" was at one of its peaks at their Shea concert. Film footage 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 entered 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 August 23, 1966.[61] The attendance record was broken within the United States by the Grateful Dead concert at New Jersey Raceway in Englishtown of 107,019 purchases, on September 3, 1977.

The next major music event to play Shea Stadium after the Beatles' successful appearances was the Summer Festival for Peace on August 6, 1970.[49] 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 music show at Shea Stadium was the historic concert by Grand Funk Railroad in 1971, which broke the Beatles' then-record for fastest ticket sales. Humble Pie was the opening band. The same filmmakers for the documentary of the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont were commissioned to film it, but to date, a final film has not been released.

The stadium subsequently hosted numerous concerts, including Jethro Tull with opening act Robin Trower in July 1976 (billed as Tull v. Boeing because of the proximity to LaGuardia Airport), The Who with opening acts The Clash and David Johansen in October 1982 (two concerts), and Simon & Garfunkel in August 1983. On August 18, 1983, The Police played in front of 70,000 fans at Shea, a concert that the band's singer and bassist Sting described as "like playing the top of Everest", and announced near the end of the concert: "We'd like to thank the Beatles for lending us their stadium."[62] The Rolling Stones performed at Shea for a six-night run in October 1989, and Elton John and Eric Clapton played a concert in August 1992. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ended The Rising Tour with three concerts at Shea in early October 2003, with Bob Dylan making a special guest appearance at the final show to perform "Highway 61 Revisited" with Springsteen.[49]

The last concert event was a two-night engagement by Billy Joel on July 16 and 18, 2008. The concert was 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 shows 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 concert was the subject of a documentary film of the same name, which is used along with Shea's history to tell the story of changes in American suburban life.[63]

Pete Flynn was a Shea groundskeeper who did the improbable by driving the Beatles from the stage to a centerfield gate in 1965, then driving Paul McCartney from the stadium's rear entrance to the stage to perform at Billy Joel's "Last Play at Shea" concert 43 years later in 2008.[64]

Other events

The 1978 International Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses was held at Shea Stadium from July 12 to 16, 1978.[49] During his tour of America in October 1979, Pope John Paul II was also among those hosted by Shea Stadium.[65] 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 although the deep mud remained.

On December 9, 1979, as part of the halftime show of a National Football League 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 remote control airplane, weighing 40 lbs, made to look like a red flying lawnmower. The pilot lost control of the airplane, and it crashed into the stands, hitting Kevin Rourke, of Lynn, Massachusetts and John Bowen of Nashua, New Hampshire. Both suffered serious head injuries; Rourke survived but Bowen died four days later.[66]

Between 1972 and 1980, Shea also hosted a Showdown at Shea event three separate times, by the then World Wrestling Federation. In 1980, it hosted a simulcast of the first fight between Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard, won by Duran.

From 1970 to 1987, the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) played its annual all-star game at various major league stadiums. The games were interleague contests between the CCBL and the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League (ACBL). The 1982 and 1986 games were played at Shea. The 1986 contest starred game MVP and future Cincinnati Reds all-star pitcher Jack Armstrong.[67]

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.[68]

In popular culture

In the television serial drama Mad Men, the main character, Don Draper, has his secretary buy a pair of tickets for the Beatles' concert at Shea Stadium in 1965.[69]

The ballpark was parodied as being "named after the Cuban guerilla leader Che Stadium" in The Rutles film All You Need is Cash.[70]

Shea Stadium was parodied as Spray Stadium in an episode of Batman '66.

In 1987, Marvel Comics rented Shea Stadium to re-enact the wedding of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson.[71]

In the 2007 documentary series Seven 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 for filming the 1973 movie Bang The Drum Slowly starring Robert De Niro 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 and Diana Ross.

A scene in the 2002 movie Two Weeks Notice takes place at Shea.

In Men in Black, a Mets game at Shea was featured in the film, with outfielder Bernard Gilkey dropping a fly ball after being distracted by an alien spacecraft in the sky. Shea was also featured in Men in Black 3 which is where K and J intercept Griffin and the ArcNet in 1969 before Boris the Animal can capture it.

Shea Stadium was also the setting for two episodes of The King of Queens: "Doug Out" (1999) and "Catching Hell" (2005).

The exterior part of the Stadium is featured in the 2006 videogame Driver: Parallel Lines.

1975: Four teams, one year and one stadium

The Mets, Yankees, Jets and Giants all called Shea home in 1975, the only time in professional sports history that two baseball teams and two football teams shared the same facility in the same year.[5]

As Yankee Stadium was being renovated and Giants Stadium was nearing completion, there were scheduling clashes between the four teams once the calendar turned to September. Neither the Jets nor the Giants could play "home" games at Shea Stadium until the baseball season ended for the Mets and Yankees. The matter was simplified when neither baseball team qualified for the postseason; still, there was a two-week overlap as the NFL season started on Sunday, September 21 while the MLB campaign ended on Sunday, September 28. This meant the Jets opened at home on Sunday, October 5, the third week of the season, and the Giants on Sunday, October 12, the season's fourth week. It also meant that the Giants and Jets had to play a combined 14 home games in the final 12 weeks of the 14-week NFL season. To do so, the Giants played two Saturday afternoon home games, neither of which were televised, and both of which were played the day before a Jets' Sunday home game. New York football fans thus enjoyed either the Jets or the Giants hosting a Sunday home game every weekend from October 5 through December 21.[72] Shea wound up hosting all four teams on consecutive Sundays: Mets (September 21), Yankees (September 28), Jets (October 5) and Giants (October 12).

In total, the "Big Four" drew 3,738,546 customers to Shea: 1,730,566 by the Mets (76 home dates); 1,288,048 by the Yankees (71 home dates); 361,102 by the Jets (seven home games) and 358,830 by the Giants (also seven). Having both the Giants and Jets share Shea Stadium for one season foreshadowed what was to come in the future with the Meadowlands (a.k.a. Giants Stadium), after the Jets left Flushing Meadows for New Jersey following the 1983 NFL season.

Features

Design

Shea was a circular stadium, with the grandstand forming about two-thirds of a 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 bullpens, scoreboards, and a section of bleachers beyond the left field fence. The stadium boasted 54 restrooms, 21 escalators, seats for 57,343 fans (although as seating configuration changed constantly over the life of the stadium, that number varied often, dropping to 55,601 by the 1986 World Series, and then increased again over following years to between approximately 56,000 and 57,000, until its closing), and a massive 86' x 175' scoreboard. Also, rather than the standard light towers, Shea featured lamps along its upper reaches. Some deemed Shea a showplace, praised for its convenience, even its "elegance".[68] The stadium's scoreboard in right field, one of the largest in MLB when it opened, weighed over 60 tons. One of its distinctive features was a giant rearview slide projector screen on the top center of the scoreboard; it was intended to display a picture of the current player at bat (a groundbreaking innovation at the time); however, due to lighting issues (it only worked at night when the light was really low; during day games, the picture would not show up at all), it was not used very often and was eventually covered with a giant Mets logo (or a Jets logo when they played).[73][74]

The stadium was located close to LaGuardia Airport. For many years, interruptions for planes flying overhead were common at Shea; the noise was so loud that radio and television broadcasts could not be heard. Players would usually ask for time during noisy flight approaches and takeoffs.

 
One of the neon players on the outside of Shea Stadium.

Shea was originally designed with two motor-operated stands that allow the field level seats to rotate on underground tracks, allowing the stadium to be converted between a baseball and an American football/soccer configuration. In 1982, a new Mitsubishi DiamondVision screen was installed in left field. After the New York Jets football team moved to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, 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 signs of baseball player silhouettes were added to the windscreens prior to the 1988 season. Around the same time, the original scoreboard was removed, and a new one installed in its place (fitting into the shell left behind by the old one) allowing for a much greater space for information and entertainment after the original message board above the main scoreboard was covered up by the Budweiser advertisement in 1982. Also, after years of injuries to players crashing into the wooden outfield wall, most notably to 1973 star player Rusty Staub, where one injury caused a dislocated shoulder and forced him to miss or play severely injured during that Championship Season, the original wall finally had padding added to it, as most in baseball already did, greatly reducing injuries to outfielders.[5]

 
Shea's exterior, pictured here in 1964, was decorated with blue and orange panels from 1964 until their removal in 1980.

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 outside the stadium. The ramps were originally partly covered with many rectangular panels in blue and orange, the Mets' colors. These panels can be seen in the 1970s movie The Wiz, which used the exterior pedestrian ramps for a motorcycle chase scene with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. The 1960s-style decorations were removed in 1980.[5] The banks of ramps resulted in the outer wall of the stadium jutting out where the banks existed.

The design also allowed for Shea Stadium to be expandable to 90,000 seats, simply by completely enclosing the grandstand. It was also designed 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.[35][75] The Mets strongly objected to the proposal.[76] The idea was later dropped after engineering studies concluded that the stadium's foundation would be unable to support the weight of the dome.[35]

The distances to the right and left field foul poles were initially both 341 feet (104 m). There was a horizontal orange line that determined where a batted ball was a home run or still in play. In 1978, Manager Joe Torre suggested moving in the fences to 338 feet (103 m) in the corners with a wall in front of the original brick wall, to decrease the number of disputed calls.[77]

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 entrance/exit portals and reserved seats above the portals. The box seats were a darker shade than the reserved seats. The game ticket was the same color as the seat that it represented, 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.

 
Shea Stadium in 2005

Unlike Yankee Stadium, Shea was built on an open field, 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 at the end of 2008.

 
The skyline from Shea's scoreboard, now on top of the Shake Shack in Citi Field.

With its refurbishment in 1988, the scoreboard was topped by a representation of the New York Skyline, a prominent part of the team logo. After 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 on the Shake Shack in Citi Field's "Taste Of The City" food court behind the giant scoreboard in center field.[78]

During the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the construction of Citi Field was visible beyond the left and center field walls of Shea.

From 1973 to 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.[5]

Home Run Apple

Further information: Home Run Apple
 
Shea's home run apple

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).[79] A bigger apple was placed in center field at Citi Field. The original apple was installed inside Citi Field's bullpen gate and was visible from outside, on 126th Street. In 2010, the original Shea apple was relocated outside the Citi Field, in front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.[80]

Seating capacity

Homages

Four players in the National League named their children after Shea Stadium.[88]

Actor Kevin James, a devoted Mets fan, named his youngest daughter Shea Joelle.[89]

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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shea Stadium.
  • Ballpark Digest Visit to Shea Stadium
  • Shea Stadium Opening Day 2006 Photo
  • ESPN: "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like Shea"
  • Corey Kilgannon (September 30, 2008), "In Mudville, Queens, Shea Scavengers Hunt Soggy Discarded Relics", The New York Times, page B3, retrieved on October 3, 2008
  • James Barron (October 11, 2008), "With Stadiums Going, Going, Ashes May Be Gone", The New York Times, 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
Events and tenants
Preceded by Home of the
New York Mets
1964–2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Home of the
New York Jets
1964–1983 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Home of the
New York Yankees
1974–1975 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Home of the
New York Giants
1975 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Host of the All-Star Game
1964 		Succeeded by

February 26, 2023
shea, stadium, this, article, about, former, stadium, queens, york, city, other, uses, disambiguation, formally, known, william, shea, municipal, stadium, multi, purpose, stadium, flushing, meadows, corona, park, queens, york, city, opened, 1964, home, york, m. This article is about the former stadium in Queens New York City For other uses see Shea Stadium disambiguation Shea Stadium ʃ eɪ formally known as William A Shea Municipal Stadium was a multi purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park Queens New York City 7 Opened in 1964 it was home to the New York Mets of Major League Baseball MLB from 1964 to 2008 as well as the New York Jets of the National Football League NFL from 1964 to 1983 Shea StadiumSheaShea Stadium exterior in 2007Shea StadiumLocation within New York CityFull nameWilliam A Shea Municipal StadiumFormer namesFlushing Meadows Stadium 1961 1962 1 Address123 01 Roosevelt AvenueLocationFlushing Queens New YorkCoordinates40 45 20 N 73 50 53 W 40 75556 N 73 84806 W 40 75556 73 84806 Coordinates 40 45 20 N 73 50 53 W 40 75556 N 73 84806 W 40 75556 73 84806OwnerCity of New YorkNew York MetsOperatorNew York City Department of Parks and Recreation 1964 1981 New York Mets 1964 2008 CapacityBaseball 57 333 2 Football 60 372 3 Field sizeLeft Field338 ft 103 m Left Field 64 77 341 104 Medium Left Center358 109 Left Center371 113 Left Center deep 396 121 Center410 125 Right Center deep 396 121 Right Center371 113 Medium Right Center358 109 Right Field338 103 Right Field 64 77 341 104 SurfaceKentucky BluegrassConstructionBroke groundOctober 28 1961OpenedApril 17 1964 1964 04 17 ClosedSeptember 28 2008 2008 09 28 Final game DemolishedOctober 14 2008 February 18 2009Construction cost 28 5 million 249 million in 2021 dollars 4 ArchitectPraeger Kavanagh Waterbury 5 General contractorCarlin Crimmins J V 6 TenantsNew York Mets MLB 1964 2008New York Jets AFL NFL 1964 1983New York Yankees MLB 1974 1975New York Giants NFL 1975St John s Red Storm NCAA 2000The stadium was named in honor of William Shea who was most responsible for bringing National League baseball back to New York after the Dodgers and Giants left for California in 1957 It was demolished in 2009 to create additional parking for the adjacent Citi Field the stadium built to replace it and the current home of the Mets Contents 1 History 1 1 Planning and construction 1 2 Opening 1 3 Demolition 1 4 Redevelopment 2 Stadium usage 2 1 Baseball 2 2 Boxing 2 3 Football 2 4 Soccer 2 5 Concerts 2 6 Other events 2 7 In popular culture 2 8 1975 Four teams one year and one stadium 3 Features 3 1 Design 3 2 Home Run Apple 3 3 Seating capacity 4 Homages 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditPlanning and construction Edit The origins of Shea Stadium go back to the relocations of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants in 1957 which left New York without a National League baseball team Prior to the Dodgers departure New York City official Robert Moses tried to interest owner Walter O Malley in the site as the location for a new stadium but O Malley refused unable to agree on location ownership and lease terms O Malley preferred to pay construction costs himself so he could own the stadium outright He wanted total control over revenue from parking concessions and other events New York City in contrast wanted to build the stadium rent it and retain the ancillary revenue rights to pay off its construction bonds 8 Additionally O Malley wanted to build his new stadium in Brooklyn while Moses insisted on Flushing Meadows When Los Angeles offered O Malley what New York City wouldn t complete ownership of a stadium 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 San Francisco although he originally considered moving them to Minneapolis ensuring that there would be two National League teams in California and preserving the long standing rivalry with the 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 stadium Soon afterward Moses and William A Shea the New York lawyer who had led the effort to bring National League baseball back to New York faced a problem New York state law of the time did not allow cities to borrow money in order to build a stadium The only way for the city to finance a stadium would be to demonstrate that the stadium could pay for itself With this in mind Moses and Shea proposed to have the new team pay substantial rent in order to pay off 30 year bonds This provision would come back to haunt the Mets years later they would never live up to that monetary commitment and the ensuing financial woes would be an albatross around the team for years 9 On October 6 1961 the Mets signed a 30 year stadium lease 10 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 reached 300 000 annually In their inaugural season in 1962 the expansion Mets played in the Polo Grounds with original plans 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 11 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 Shea during its inaugural 1964 season It was originally to be called Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium 12 13 14 the name of the public park within which it was built but an ultimately successful movement was launched to name it in honor of Shea 15 Opening Edit After 29 months of construction and 28 5 million spent Shea Stadium opened on April 17 1964 16 with the Pittsburgh Pirates beating the Mets 4 3 before a crowd of 50 312 17 18 19 20 There were no prior exhibition games or events and the stadium was barely finished in time for the home opener Because of a jurisdictional dispute between Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Local 1106 of the Communications Workers of America the telephone and telegraph wiring was not finished in time for opening day 15 21 The stadium opened five days before the 1964 65 New York World s Fair across Roosevelt Avenue Although not officially part of the fair grounds the stadium sported steel panels on its exterior in the blue and orange colors of the Fair the same team colors of the Mets The panels were removed in 1980 Demolition Edit Demolition in progress Top photo close up view of the stadium during demolition Bottom photo demolition as viewed from the IRT Flushing Line with Citi Field visible in the background In accordance with New York City law in 2009 Shea Stadium was dismantled rather than imploded 22 The company with the rights to sell memorabilia was given two weeks after the final game to remove seats signage and other potentially saleable and collectable items before demolition was to begin The seats were the first 869 per pair plus tax a combination of 86 and 69 the team s two World Series championship years 23 followed by other memorabilia such as the foul poles dugouts stadium signage and the giant letters that spelled out SHEA at the front of the building After salvaging operations concluded 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 shortly thereafter 24 By November 10 the field dugouts and the rest of the field level seats had been demolished 25 Plaque commemorating the location of Shea Stadium s home plate now in Citi Field s parking lot On January 31 Mets fans all over New York came to Shea Stadium for one final farewell Fans took a tour of the site told stories and sang songs 26 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 27 28 The locations of Shea s home plate pitcher s mound and bases are marked in Citi Field s parking lot The plaques feature engravings of the neon baseball players that graced the exterior of the stadium from 1988 onward 29 Redevelopment Edit On October 9 2013 the New York City Council approved a plan to build a mall and entertainment center called Willets West in the Citi Field parking lot where Shea Stadium stood as part of an effort by the city to redevelop the nearby neighborhood of Willets Point 30 31 However in 2015 the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court ruled that the site considered parkland could not be used for commercial development without permission from the New York state government 32 In 2022 Mets owner Steve Cohen was pushing to build a casino in the parking lot which was supported by New York City mayor Eric Adams but still needs final approval from New York State 33 Stadium usage EditBaseball Edit A Mets game in 1969 Shea Stadium was the home of the New York Mets starting in 1964 and it hosted what would be its only All Star Game that first 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 U S Senator Jim Bunning pitched a perfect game against the Mets 34 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 had swiveled them into position for football 35 Outfield seating was sparse in part because the stadium was designed to be fully enclosed At one time Shea s foul territory was one of the most expansive in the majors This was very common for ballparks built during the 1960s in part due to the need to accommodate the larger football field 35 This was also because the stadium was designed to be fully enclosed However seats added over the years in the lower level greatly reduced the size of foul territory by the dawn of the 21st century On the plus side Shea always used a natural grass surface in contrast to other multi purpose stadiums such as Three Rivers Stadium Veterans Stadium and Riverfront Stadium which were built in the same era and style and had artificial turf 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 It had the distinction of being the home of the 1969 Miracle Mets led by former Brooklyn Dodger Gil Hodges that defied 100 1 odds and won the World Series after 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 World Series as fans stormed the field in celebration Similar scenes took place a few weeks earlier after the Mets clinched the National League East title and then 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 hit post season walk off home runs at Shea although while the ball hit by Ventura over the fence may have been the most famous of the postseason walk off hits it was famously called the Grand Slam Single because when he hit the game winning ball over the fence he was mobbed by his teammates before he could reach second base and never wound up touching second base third base and home plate It was not ruled a home run as he never circled the bases completely It probably made Ventura known for his penchant for hitting grand slams even more famous and the hit itself more famous because of the very fact that he never circled the bases fully technically not making it a homer Agee was the only player in the history of the ballpark to hit a fair ball into the upper deck in left field The spot was marked with a sign featuring Agee s number 20 and the date which was April 10 1969 36 Teammate Cleon Jones said the ball was still rising when it hit the seats so it very likely could have been the longest home run hit at Shea citation needed It came in the second inning and Agee hit another in the seventh over the center field wall both solo shots were off of Montreal Expos starter Larry Jaster and the Mets won 4 2 36 In 1971 Dave Kingman then with the San Francisco Giants and 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 Thomas organ at Mets games for many years at the stadium 37 On October 3 2004 it was the venue for the last game in the history of the Montreal Expos and the Mets won 8 1 38 Montreal s major league story ended where it had started 35 years earlier at Shea Stadium 39 The following year the Expos relocated to Washington D C and became the Nationals 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 National League Wild Card berth 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 40 41 A panoramic view of Shea Stadium from the upper deck behind home plate before a baseball game in 2008 The construction of Citi Field is visible beyond the outfield wall Three National League Division Series were played at Shea Stadium The Mets won all three and never lost a Division Series game at Shea 1999 against the Arizona Diamondbacks Mets won 3 games to 1 2000 against the San Francisco Giants Mets won 3 games to 1 2006 against the Los Angeles Dodgers Mets won 3 games to 0Seven National League Championship Series were played at Shea Stadium 1969 against the Atlanta Braves Mets won 3 games to 0 1973 against the Cincinnati Reds Mets won 3 games to 2 1986 against the Houston Astros Mets won 4 games to 2 1988 against the Los Angeles Dodgers Dodgers won 4 games to 3 1999 against the Atlanta Braves Braves won 4 games to 2 2000 against the St Louis Cardinals Mets won 4 games to 1 2006 against the St Louis Cardinals Cardinals won 4 games to 3 3 The decisive seventh game of this series was played at Shea Stadium marking the only time that the Mets lost the deciding game of a National League Championship Series at Shea Four World Series were played in Shea Stadium 1969 against the Baltimore Orioles Mets won 4 games to 1 1973 against the Oakland Athletics A s won 4 games to 3 1986 against the Boston Red Sox Mets won 4 games to 3 2000 against the New York Yankees Yankees won 4 games to 1The Yankees World Series win in 2000 was the only time that a visiting team 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 Shea Stadium prior to the start of a New York Mets game in 2008 Shea had the best attendance in the National League that year averaging over 51 000 fans per game 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 citation needed 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 42 43 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 44 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 to the delight of the crowd 45 Shea Stadium also hosted the first extra inning regular season baseball opener played in New York on March 31 1998 46 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 Major League Baseball since 1926 47 48 The Mets won the game 1 0 in the bottom of the 14th inning 48 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 49 The game was eventually completed on September 16 with the Cubs winning 5 2 50 Boxing Edit Shea Stadium held boxing matches in the mid 1960s 51 Football Edit A concept drawing of Shea Stadium in football configuration The New York Jets of the American Football League and later the National Football League played at Shea for 20 seasons from 1964 through 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 defeating the Oakland Raiders 27 23 an AFL Divisional Playoff in 1969 a 13 6 loss 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 For instance in 1969 the defending Super Bowl champion Jets didn t play a home game until October 20 due to the Mets advancing to and winning the World Series As a result the 1969 Jets opened with five consecutive road games and then played all seven home games in consecutive weeks before closing with two road games Even after 1978 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 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 more than 15 000 additional seats there Fans ripped apart Shea after the last game of the 1983 season which also was the last game for Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw who threw two touchdown passes to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 34 7 victory 52 Even the scoreboard operator had a field day displaying the home team as the N J Jets 53 O J Simpson pictured breaking the NFL s single season rushing record at Shea Stadium 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 54 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 Giants played their final five home games of 1973 and all seven in 1974 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven Connecticut Yankee Stadium was closed in October 1973 for a massive renovation which was completed in time for the 1976 baseball season On the night of October 9 1965 Shea Stadium hosted the football rivalry between Army and Notre Dame for the first and only time The Fighting Irish blanked the Cadets 17 0 beginning a 15 game winning streak for Notre Dame in the storied series In 1966 the Brooklyn Dodgers of the minor Continental Football League unsuccessfully sued the Jets in an attempt to use the stadium the team wound up playing on Randall s Island and soon folded In 1974 the New York Stars of the nascent World Football League also made inquiries to play at Shea whose schedule was already overcrowded by the Mets Jets and Yankees and the following year the Giants see below The Stars also moved out to Randall s Island playing only a handful of games before shifting to Charlotte The football field at Shea extended from around home plate to centerfield with the baseline seating rotating out to fill left and right fields Soccer Edit The first soccer game at Shea Stadium occurred during International Soccer League tournament play on June 17 1965 55 The original New York Cosmos beat the Washington Diplomats 2 0 in an NASL playoff game at Shea on August 17 1976 56 New York United of the American Soccer League called Shea home in 1980 57 Date Winning team Result Losing team Tournament AttendanceJune 17 1965 Portuguesa 6 3 West Ham United International friendly 5 130 58 August 17 1976 New York Cosmos 2 0 Washington Diplomats NASL playoffs 22 698 59 Concerts Edit Shea Stadium and vicinity with the Manhattan skyline in the distance 1981 On Sunday August 15 1965 The Beatles opened their 1965 North American tour there to a record audience of 55 600 60 Beatlemania was at one of its peaks at their Shea concert Film footage 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 entered 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 August 23 1966 61 The attendance record was broken within the United States by the Grateful Dead concert at New Jersey Raceway in Englishtown of 107 019 purchases on September 3 1977 The next major music event to play Shea Stadium after the Beatles successful appearances was the Summer Festival for Peace on August 6 1970 49 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 music show at Shea Stadium was the historic concert by Grand Funk Railroad in 1971 which broke the Beatles then record for fastest ticket sales Humble Pie was the opening band The same filmmakers for the documentary of the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont were commissioned to film it but to date a final film has not been released The stadium subsequently hosted numerous concerts including Jethro Tull with opening act Robin Trower in July 1976 billed as Tull v Boeing because of the proximity to LaGuardia Airport The Who with opening acts The Clash and David Johansen in October 1982 two concerts and Simon amp Garfunkel in August 1983 On August 18 1983 The Police played in front of 70 000 fans at Shea a concert that the band s singer and bassist Sting described as like playing the top of Everest and announced near the end of the concert We d like to thank the Beatles for lending us their stadium 62 The Rolling Stones performed at Shea for a six night run in October 1989 and Elton John and Eric Clapton played a concert in August 1992 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ended The Rising Tour with three concerts at Shea in early October 2003 with Bob Dylan making a special guest appearance at the final show to perform Highway 61 Revisited with Springsteen 49 The last concert event was a two night engagement by Billy Joel on July 16 and 18 2008 The concert was 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 shows 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 concert was the subject of a documentary film of the same name which is used along with Shea s history to tell the story of changes in American suburban life 63 Pete Flynn was a Shea groundskeeper who did the improbable by driving the Beatles from the stage to a centerfield gate in 1965 then driving Paul McCartney from the stadium s rear entrance to the stage to perform at Billy Joel s Last Play at Shea concert 43 years later in 2008 64 Other events Edit The 1978 International Convention of Jehovah s Witnesses was held at Shea Stadium from July 12 to 16 1978 49 During his tour of America in October 1979 Pope John Paul II was also among those hosted by Shea Stadium 65 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 although the deep mud remained On December 9 1979 as part of the halftime show of a National Football League 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 remote control airplane weighing 40 lbs made to look like a red flying lawnmower The pilot lost control of the airplane and it crashed into the stands hitting Kevin Rourke of Lynn Massachusetts and John Bowen of Nashua New Hampshire Both suffered serious head injuries Rourke survived but Bowen died four days later 66 Between 1972 and 1980 Shea also hosted a Showdown at Shea event three separate times by the then World Wrestling Federation In 1980 it hosted a simulcast of the first fight between Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard won by Duran From 1970 to 1987 the Cape Cod Baseball League CCBL played its annual all star game at various major league stadiums The games were interleague contests between the CCBL and the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League ACBL The 1982 and 1986 games were played at Shea The 1986 contest starred game MVP and future Cincinnati Reds all star pitcher Jack Armstrong 67 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 68 In popular culture Edit In the television serial drama Mad Men the main character Don Draper has his secretary buy a pair of tickets for the Beatles concert at Shea Stadium in 1965 69 The ballpark was parodied as being named after the Cuban guerilla leader Che Stadium in The Rutles film All You Need is Cash 70 Shea Stadium was parodied as Spray Stadium in an episode of Batman 66 In 1987 Marvel Comics rented Shea Stadium to re enact the wedding of Peter Parker Spider Man and Mary Jane Watson 71 In the 2007 documentary series Seven 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 for filming the 1973 movie Bang The Drum Slowly starring Robert De Niro 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 and Diana Ross A scene in the 2002 movie Two Weeks Notice takes place at Shea In Men in Black a Mets game at Shea was featured in the film with outfielder Bernard Gilkey dropping a fly ball after being distracted by an alien spacecraft in the sky Shea was also featured in Men in Black 3 which is where K and J intercept Griffin and the ArcNet in 1969 before Boris the Animal can capture it Shea Stadium was also the setting for two episodes of The King of Queens Doug Out 1999 and Catching Hell 2005 The exterior part of the Stadium is featured in the 2006 videogame Driver Parallel Lines 1975 Four teams one year and one stadium Edit The Mets Yankees Jets and Giants all called Shea home in 1975 the only time in professional sports history that two baseball teams and two football teams shared the same facility in the same year 5 As Yankee Stadium was being renovated and Giants Stadium was nearing completion there were scheduling clashes between the four teams once the calendar turned to September Neither the Jets nor the Giants could play home games at Shea Stadium until the baseball season ended for the Mets and Yankees The matter was simplified when neither baseball team qualified for the postseason still there was a two week overlap as the NFL season started on Sunday September 21 while the MLB campaign ended on Sunday September 28 This meant the Jets opened at home on Sunday October 5 the third week of the season and the Giants on Sunday October 12 the season s fourth week It also meant that the Giants and Jets had to play a combined 14 home games in the final 12 weeks of the 14 week NFL season To do so the Giants played two Saturday afternoon home games neither of which were televised and both of which were played the day before a Jets Sunday home game New York football fans thus enjoyed either the Jets or the Giants hosting a Sunday home game every weekend from October 5 through December 21 72 Shea wound up hosting all four teams on consecutive Sundays Mets September 21 Yankees September 28 Jets October 5 and Giants October 12 In total the Big Four drew 3 738 546 customers to Shea 1 730 566 by the Mets 76 home dates 1 288 048 by the Yankees 71 home dates 361 102 by the Jets seven home games and 358 830 by the Giants also seven Having both the Giants and Jets share Shea Stadium for one season foreshadowed what was to come in the future with the Meadowlands a k a Giants Stadium after the Jets left Flushing Meadows for New Jersey following the 1983 NFL season Features EditDesign Edit Shea was a circular stadium with the grandstand forming about two thirds of a 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 bullpens scoreboards and a section of bleachers beyond the left field fence The stadium boasted 54 restrooms 21 escalators seats for 57 343 fans although as seating configuration changed constantly over the life of the stadium that number varied often dropping to 55 601 by the 1986 World Series and then increased again over following years to between approximately 56 000 and 57 000 until its closing and a massive 86 x 175 scoreboard Also rather than the standard light towers Shea featured lamps along its upper reaches Some deemed Shea a showplace praised for its convenience even its elegance 68 The stadium s scoreboard in right field one of the largest in MLB when it opened weighed over 60 tons One of its distinctive features was a giant rearview slide projector screen on the top center of the scoreboard it was intended to display a picture of the current player at bat a groundbreaking innovation at the time however due to lighting issues it only worked at night when the light was really low during day games the picture would not show up at all it was not used very often and was eventually covered with a giant Mets logo or a Jets logo when they played 73 74 The stadium was located close to LaGuardia Airport For many years interruptions for planes flying overhead were common at Shea the noise was so loud that radio and television broadcasts could not be heard Players would usually ask for time during noisy flight approaches and takeoffs One of the neon players on the outside of Shea Stadium Shea was originally designed with two motor operated stands that allow the field level seats to rotate on underground tracks allowing the stadium to be converted between a baseball and an American football soccer configuration In 1982 a new Mitsubishi DiamondVision screen was installed in left field After the New York Jets football team moved to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford 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 signs of baseball player silhouettes were added to the windscreens prior to the 1988 season Around the same time the original scoreboard was removed and a new one installed in its place fitting into the shell left behind by the old one allowing for a much greater space for information and entertainment after the original message board above the main scoreboard was covered up by the Budweiser advertisement in 1982 Also after years of injuries to players crashing into the wooden outfield wall most notably to 1973 star player Rusty Staub where one injury caused a dislocated shoulder and forced him to miss or play severely injured during that Championship Season the original wall finally had padding added to it as most in baseball already did greatly reducing injuries to outfielders 5 Shea s exterior pictured here in 1964 was decorated with blue and orange panels from 1964 until their removal in 1980 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 outside the stadium The ramps were originally partly covered with many rectangular panels in blue and orange the Mets colors These panels can be seen in the 1970s movie The Wiz which used the exterior pedestrian ramps for a motorcycle chase scene with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross The 1960s style decorations were removed in 1980 5 The banks of ramps resulted in the outer wall of the stadium jutting out where the banks existed The design also allowed for Shea Stadium to be expandable to 90 000 seats simply by completely enclosing the grandstand It was also designed 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 35 75 The Mets strongly objected to the proposal 76 The idea was later dropped after engineering studies concluded that the stadium s foundation would be unable to support the weight of the dome 35 The distances to the right and left field foul poles were initially both 341 feet 104 m There was a horizontal orange line that determined where a batted ball was a home run or still in play In 1978 Manager Joe Torre suggested moving in the fences to 338 feet 103 m in the corners with a wall in front of the original brick wall to decrease the number of disputed calls 77 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 entrance exit portals and reserved seats above the portals The box seats were a darker shade than the reserved seats The game ticket was the same color as the seat that it represented 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 Shea Stadium in 2005 Unlike Yankee Stadium Shea was built on an open field 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 at the end of 2008 The skyline from Shea s scoreboard now on top of the Shake Shack in Citi Field With its refurbishment in 1988 the scoreboard was topped by a representation of the New York Skyline a prominent part of the team logo After 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 on the Shake Shack in Citi Field s Taste Of The City food court behind the giant scoreboard in center field 78 During the 2007 and 2008 seasons the construction of Citi Field was visible beyond the left and center field walls of Shea From 1973 to 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 5 Home Run Apple Edit Further information Home Run Apple Shea s home run apple 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 79 A bigger apple was placed in center field at Citi Field The original apple was installed inside Citi Field s bullpen gate and was visible from outside on 126th Street In 2010 the original Shea apple was relocated outside the Citi Field in front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda 80 Seating capacity Edit Baseball Years Capacity1964 1984 55 300 15 1985 1993 55 601 81 1994 2001 55 777 82 2002 2003 56 749 83 2004 57 405 84 2005 57 369 85 2006 2008 57 333 86 Football Years Capacity1964 1983 60 372 87 Homages EditFour players in the National League named their children after Shea Stadium 88 Former Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones 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 88 Former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin named his eldest daughter Brielle D Shea as he enjoyed playing at Shea Stadium 88 Former Houston Astros third baseman Gary Cooper named his youngest daughter Shea He also named his son Camden after Camden Yards in Baltimore Former New York Mets third baseman David Wright named his first daughter Olivia Shea Wright spent his entire baseball career playing for the Mets Actor Kevin James a devoted Mets fan named his youngest daughter Shea Joelle 89 References Edit History of Shea Stadium New York Mets Retrieved February 24 2020 Citi Field Side by Side Comparison Major League Baseball Advanced Media Archived from the original on April 18 2021 Retrieved February 20 2010 Brown Gerry Morrison Mike Morrison Michael 2007 ESPN Sports Almanac 2008 America s Best Selling Sports Almanac New York ESPN p 583 ISBN 978 1 933060 38 5 Retrieved September 26 2011 1634 1699 McCusker J J 1997 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States Addenda et Corrigenda PDF American Antiquarian Society 1700 1799 McCusker J J 1992 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States PDF American Antiquarian Society 1800 present Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Consumer Price Index estimate 1800 Retrieved April 16 2022 a b c d e History of Shea Stadium Major League Baseball Advanced Media Retrieved August 18 2010 Shea Stadium Ballparks com Retrieved October 15 2011 Scanned picture of the dedication handout that shows the stadium is in Flushing Meadows Corona Park Historic Documents September 12 1957 September 7 1962 walteromalley com Retrieved February 20 2010 Leslie Heaphy 2017 New York Mets team ownership history Society for American Baseball Research Mets Lease New Park Daytona Beach Morning Journal Associated Press October 7 1961 retrieved June 3 2014 Shea Stadium History Pt One the House That Shea Built 1964 1980 August 31 2013 Ground breaking for new stadium Lewiston Morning Tribune Idaho AP photo October 31 1961 p 8 Tinge of Brooklyn marked ground breaking for stadium Lewiston Morning Tribune Idaho Associated Press December 14 1961 p 16 Scanned image of the groundbreaking ceremony in which it is named Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium a b c Koppett Leonard April 18 1964 Shea Stadium Opens With Big Traffic Jam The New York Times p 1 Retrieved August 19 2013 Home of the Mets Spokane Daily Chronicle Washington AP photo April 17 1964 p 16 Pirates spoil Met opener Milwaukee Sentinel UPI April 18 1964 p 2 part 2 Biederman Lester J April 18 1964 Bob Friend continues mastery over Mets Pittsburgh Press p 6 Confusion problems reign in Shea park opener Spokane Daily Chronicle Washington Associated Press April 18 1964 p 16 Pittsburgh Pirates vs New York Mets April 17 1964 Box Score Baseball Almanac Retrieved January 2 2010 A Dispute Arises at Shea Stadium The New York Times April 14 1964 p 43 Retrieved November 3 2017 Richard Sandomir March 30 2008 You Can t Just Blow Up History The New York Times Retrieved January 13 2009 And explosive charges will not be set off to blow the ballparks to smithereens or more technically to implode them The city also prohibits implosions At 869 a Pair Shea Seats Sell Briskly The New York Sun Associated Press September 5 2008 Retrieved January 9 2010 Sandomir Richard October 23 2008 Demolition Takes Shea Stadium Piece by Piece The New York Times Retrieved August 26 2009 Photo Gallery Shea Stadium Dismantlement WFAN New York City November 10 2008 Archived from the original on August 9 2009 Retrieved February 20 2010 Warren Matthew R January 31 2009 On a Mound of Debris at Shea Stadium Mets Fans Kiss That One Goodbye The New York Times Retrieved August 26 2009 Baumbach Jim February 18 2009 Shea Stadium s Demolition Is Complete Newsday Retrieved October 24 2009 Wentworth Bridget J February 18 2009 Shea Stadium Demolition Ends The Star Ledger Newark Retrieved May 6 2010 Belson Ken Hine Chris August 15 2009 Signs of Glory Rise at Citi Field From 1969 1986 and 2000 The New York Times Retrieved July 27 2010 Neighbors Protest Plan For Mall In Citi Field Parking Lot CBS New York July 10 2013 Retrieved October 11 2013 City Council Approves Sweeping Redevelopment Plan For Willets Point CBS New York October 9 2013 Retrieved October 11 2013 De Blasio s Dilemma Fight for a Mall Near Citi Field or Disavow It The New York Times July 8 2015 Retrieved July 9 2015 Honan Katie April 5 2022 Adams Open to Mets Owner Steve Cohen s Pitch for Citi Field Casino and Willets Point Makeover The City Retrieved January 11 2023 White Gordon S Jr June 22 1964 Bunning Pitches a Perfect Game Mets Are Perfect Victims 6 to 0 The New York Times p 1 The Phils won the contest before 32 904 fans who were screaming for Bunning during the last two innings Yesterday s perfect pitching turned the usually loyal Met fans into Bunning fans in the late innings From the seventh inning on Bunning had the crowd behind him a b c d Smith Curt 2001 Storied Stadiums New York City Carroll amp Graf ISBN 0 7867 1187 6 a b Mets turn back Expos as Agee homers twice Schenectady Gazette New York Associated Press April 11 1969 p 22 Collins Glenn February 1 2010 Recalling a Meeting With the Pied Piper of Shea The New York Times Retrieved February 15 2012 Caldwell Dave October 4 2004 Zeile Exits on High Note Spoiling Expos Farewell The New York Times Retrieved January 16 2010 Durso Joseph April 9 1969 Mets Lose on Opening Day for 8th Time in Row as Expos Win 11 10 Montreal Victor in Its First Game The New York Times Retrieved January 16 2010 Shpigel Ben September 28 2008 Bitter Repeat on Stadium s Final Day The New York Times Retrieved August 15 2010 Robinson Joshua September 28 2008 Immersed in Gloom a Farewell to Shea Still Enchants The New York Times Retrieved August 15 2010 April 15 1998 Anaheim Angels at New York Yankees Play by Play and Box Score Baseball Reference Retrieved January 2 2010 Lin Albert 1999 The New York Yankees Greatest Hits Sports Illustrated Archived from the original on December 24 2009 Retrieved January 2 2010 Kleinfield N R April 16 1998 One Stadium Four Teams No Problem The New York Times Retrieved January 18 2010 Chass Murray April 16 1998 Strawberry Gets The Apple to Rise The New York Times Retrieved January 18 2010 Vecsey George April 1 1998 Mets Take An Opener For the Ages The New York Times p C1 Salisbury Jim April 1 1998 For Openers Zilch Phils Fall in 14th Without a Run The Philadelphia Inquirer p E1 a b Diamos Jason April 1 1998 A Midsummer Classic in March as Mets Nip Phillies The New York Times p C1 a b c d Noble Marty September 22 2008 Great Moments at Shea Stadium Major League Baseball Advanced Media Archived from the original on May 21 2010 Retrieved July 26 2010 Keese Parton September 17 1977 Mets Finish Two Month Loss to Cubs The New York Times Cassidy Robert August 9 2008 Remembering Shea stadium espn com Retrieved February 2 2018 Eskenazi Gerald December 11 1983 Unruly Fans Mar Shea Farewell As Jets Lose 34 7 The New York Times Retrieved July 26 2010 Groznik Brad Shea Housed The Jets For 20 Seasons Queens Tribune Archived from the original on June 17 2012 Retrieved January 9 2012 Chass Murray December 17 1973 Simpson Breaks Mark as Bills Rout Jets The New York Times Retrieved July 26 2010 Briordy William J June 18 1965 Portuguesa Upsets West Ham In Soccer at Shea Stadium 6 3 The New York Times Retrieved July 27 2010 Kilpatrick David April 28 2015 Cosmos Homes Away From Home New York Cosmos Retrieved December 10 2022 Yannis Alex February 21 1980 Soccer Team to Call Shea Stadium Home The New York Times Retrieved July 27 2010 Briordy William J June 18 1965 Portugesa Upsets West Ham In Soccer at Shea Stadium 6 3 The New York Times p 39 Retrieved March 16 2022 Cosmos Win 2 0 At Shea The New York Times August 18 1976 p 61 Retrieved March 16 2022 Badman Keith 2000 The Beatles Off The Record London Omnibus p 193 ISBN 0 7119 7985 5 Fleming Colin August 14 2015 Why Beatles Shea Show Was Even Greater Than You Knew Rolling Stone Retrieved October 9 2021 Police play Shea Stadium BBC Retrieved January 26 2014 Gamboa Glenn April 20 2010 Last Play at Shea Documentary Tells Stadium s Story Newsday Retrieved July 26 2010 Slotnik Daniel E June 23 2017 Pete Flynn Mets groundskeeper for almost 50 years dies at 79 The New York Times Quindlen Anna October 4 1979 At Shea A Moving Goodbye The New York Times Retrieved October 23 2009 A spectator at a football game was killed by a flying model lawnmower Snopes com October 31 2007 Retrieved November 7 2007 Cape League All Star Game capecodbaseball org Retrieved August 16 2019 a b Moehringer J R September 29 2008 One Last Trip Home ESPN Retrieved January 2 2010 Hinckley David April 27 2015 10 moments in history that helped shape Mad Men from the war to assassinations New York Daily News Retrieved December 10 2022 Kermode Mark February 1 2004 The 10 rock comedies The Guardian London UK Retrieved May 4 2020 Gross Michael June 2 1987 Spider Man to Wed Model The New York Times Topel Brett 2016 When Shea Was Home The Story of the 1975 Mets Yankees Giants and Jets New York Sports Publishing 1 The Beatles at Shea Stadium Archived from the original on December 22 2017 Retrieved December 19 2017 The Ballparks Shea Stadium Bennett Charles G March 18 1965 Dome Is Proposed for Shea Stadium The New York Times Retrieved August 20 2008 Montgomery Paul L October 12 1965 Glass Dome for Shea Stadium Mets Object Project Would Cost 9 Million and Add 14 000 Seats The New York Times Retrieved August 20 2008 Lukas Paul September 26 2008 Be It Ever So Humble There s No Place Like Shea ESPN Retrieved January 2 2010 Collins Glenn March 24 2009 For Mets Fans a Menu Beyond Peanuts and Cracker Jack The New York Times Retrieved August 26 2009 McCarron Anthony April 21 2008 Mets Home Run Apple Loved to Core Daily News New York Retrieved January 24 2010 Albanese Laura March 26 2010 Home Run Apple A Core Value for Mets Fans Newsday Retrieved March 27 2010 Berkow Ira November 13 1990 Sports of the Times An Empty Patch in Right Field The New York Times Retrieved August 19 2013 Acee Kevin April 14 1997 New York Awaits Robinson Tribute President Will Lead Mid Game Celebration Los Angeles Daily News Retrieved August 19 2013 Official Major League Fact Book 2003 Edition Vol 1 1 ed New York Sporting News 2003 p 60 ISBN 0 89204 701 1 Henninger Thom Nistler Tony Zminda Don January 10 2005 The Scouting Notebook 2005 Vol 1 1 ed New York Sporting News p 532 ISBN 0 89204 768 2 Palmer Pete Gillette Gary Shea Stuart Silverman Matthew Spira Greg 2006 The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia New York Sterling Publishing Company Inc p 1729 ISBN 1 4027 3625 8 Retrieved August 19 2013 Newman Mark March 30 2006 Big Bigger Biggest of the Big Leagues Major League Baseball Advanced Media Retrieved August 19 2013 Carroll Maurice April 21 1983 Jets Get City Offer On Shea The New York Times Retrieved August 19 2013 a b c Jones Has 17 Home Runs at Shea Stadium ESPN August 31 2004 Retrieved January 9 2009 2 inir Archived June 5 2009 at the Wayback MachineExternal links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shea Stadium 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 Corey Kilgannon September 30 2008 In Mudville Queens Shea Scavengers Hunt Soggy Discarded Relics The New York Times page B3 retrieved on October 3 2008 James Barron October 11 2008 With Stadiums Going Going Ashes May Be Gone The New York Times 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 SeasonEvents and tenantsPreceded byPolo Grounds Home of theNew York Mets1964 2008 Succeeded byCiti FieldPreceded byPolo Grounds Home of theNew York Jets1964 1983 Succeeded byGiants StadiumPreceded byYankee Stadium Home of theNew York Yankees1974 1975 Succeeded byYankee StadiumPreceded byYale Bowl Home of theNew York Giants1975 Succeeded byGiants StadiumPreceded byMunicipal Stadium Host of the All Star Game1964 Succeeded byMetropolitan Stadium Portals Baseball American football New York City Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Shea Stadium amp oldid 1135822953, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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