The stadium boasted 54 restrooms, 21 escalators and seats for 57, It was big, airy, sparkling, with a massive 86' x ' scoreboard. Also, rather than the standard light towers, Shea had lamps along its upper reaches, like a convoy of semis with their brights on, which gave the field that unique high-wattage glow. Praised for its convenience, even its "elegance," Shea was actually deemed a showplace.
The stadium was located close to LaGuardia Airport. For many years, interruptions for planes flying overhead were common at Shea, and the noise was so loud that radio and television broadcasts couldn't be heard. Later, flight plans were altered to alleviate the noise problem. Shea was originally designed to convert from a baseball field into a rectangle field suitable for football using two motor-operated stands that allow the field level seats to rotate on underground railroad tracks.
After the New York Jets football team moved to Giants Stadium in New Jersey in , 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 between and The original scoreboard was removed, and a new one installed in its place fitting into the shell left behind by the old one , in Also at that time, the original wooden outfield wall was removed and replaced by a padded fence.
Shea's exterior, pictured here in , was decorated with blue and orange panels from until their removal in Banks of ramps that provided access from the ground to the upper levels were built around the outside circumference of the stadium. The ramps were not walled in and were visible from the outside. The ramps were originally partly covered with many rectangular panels in blue and orange two of the team's colors. These panels can be seen in the s movie The Wiz ; it used the exterior pedestrian ramps for a motorcycle chase scene with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.
The s-style decorations were removed in In some of the recessed bays between the banks, huge neon lights formed the figures of baseball players. The design also allowed for Shea Stadium to be expandable to 90, seats by completely enclosing the grandstand , or to be later enclosed by a dome if warranted. In March , a plan was formally announced to add a glass dome and add 15, seats.
Initially, the distances to the right and left field fences were each feet m. There was a horizontal orange line that decided where a batted ball was a home run or still in play. In , Manager Joe Torre helped move the fences in to feet m in the corners with a wall now in front of the original brick wall to help alleviate disputed calls.
Originally, all of the seats were wooden, with each level having a different color. The field boxes were yellow, the loge level seats were brown, the mezzanine seats were blue, and the upper deck seats were green. Each level above the field level was divided into box seats below the portals and reserved seats above the portals.
The box seats were of a darker shade than the reserved seats. The game ticket was the same color as the seat that it was for, and the signs in the lobby for that section were the same color as the seat and the ticket. Before the baseball season they were replaced with red upper deck , green mezzanine , blue loge , and orange field level plastic seats. Shea Stadium from the air, Citi Field would later be built in the parking area to the right east of the stadium.
Unlike the crosstown Yankee Stadium , Shea was built on an open field on top of a garbage landfill , so there was no need to have it conform to the surrounding streets. Before Shea Stadium closed in , 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 , large murals celebrating the Mets' two world championships were added, covering the two ends of the grandstand.
The mural was removed after the 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 mural survived until the final game in The scoreboard was topped by a representation of the New York Skyline , a prominent part of the team logo. Since the September 11 terrorist attacks , the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were kept unlit, with a red-white-and-blue ribbon placed over them.
The scoreboard was demolished in October , but the skyline was preserved and is now located in Citi Field's "Taste Of The City" food court behind the giant scoreboard in center field. For the and seasons, the construction of Citi Field was visible beyond the left and center field walls of Shea. From , 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.
In , the Shea apple was relocated outside the ballpark, in front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Three players in the National League named their children after Shea Stadium. American Football Database Explore. Recent blog posts Forum. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Shea Stadium.
History Talk 0. This article is about the former home of the New York Mets. For other uses, see Shea Stadium disambiguation. Demolition in progress. Top photo: close-up view of the stadium during demolition.
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 7, Retrieved ISBN Baseball Almanac. The New York Times. The city also prohibits implosions. The New York Sun. Associated Press. September 5, November 10, January 31, February 18, The Star-Ledger. June 22, New York Times : p. 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 Storied Stadiums.
Once off the subway fans could get a glimpse of the stadium from the outside. Inside the ballpark, fans saw a massive super structure consisting of five seating decks that stretched from the left field foul pole to home plate and to the right field foul pole. The Mets Magic Hat was located behind the center field fence. A small set of bleachers were located behind the left field fence, along with a Diamond Vision video screen.
After the season, the Mets replaced the old Diamond Vision video board, replaced 1, field level seats and added two ribbon boards. In April , the Mets unveiled plans for a new ballpark, Citi Field, that was constructed in the parking lot beyond centerfield. The season marked the Mets 45th and final year at Shea Stadium. Shea Stadium was demolished after the season and is used for parking for Citi Field. Shea Stadium Pictures.
After salvaging operations concluded, actual demolition of the ballpark began on October 14, On October 18, the scoreboard in right field was demolished, with the bleachers, batter's eye and bullpens soon to follow. By November 10, the field, dugouts and the rest of the field level seats had been demolished. By mid-December, all of the Loge level seats and a good portion of the Mezzanine level seating were gone as well, leaving only the outer shell remaining.
Plaque commemorating the location of Shea Stadium's home plate, now in Citi Field's parking lot. Demolition work on the upper deck began by January 1, The next day, all that remained of sections of the upper deck was the steel framework. As of January 15, the far left field portion of Shea was completely demolished and the left field upper deck sections was stripped to its steel framework.
The remaining letters at the top of the ballpark behind home plate were taken down on January Approximately two-thirds of the stadium's outer superstructure was gone by January Fans took a tour of the site, told stories, and sang songs.
Fans stood in awe as the remaining structure of Shea Stadium one section of ramps was torn down at AM that morning. Shea's home plate, pitcher's mound, and the bases are immortalized in Citi Field's parking lot, and feature engravings of the neon baseball players that once graced the exterior of the stadium.
Shea Stadium prior to the start of a New York Mets game in Shea had the best attendance in the National League that year, garnering over 53, fans per game on average. The stadium was often criticized by baseball purists for many reasons, even though it was retrofitted to be a baseball-only stadium after the Jets left. The upper deck was one of the highest in the majors. The lower boxes were farther from the field than similar seats in other parks because they were still on the rails that swiveled the boxes into position for football.
At one time, Shea's foul territory was one of the most expansive in the majors, which was typical for ballparks that were built during this era. Also on the plus side, Shea always used a natural grass surface.
This stood in contrast to multi-purpose stadiums such as Three Rivers Stadium and Riverfront Stadium , which were built in the same era and style and used artificial turf instead of natural grass. Shea Stadium hosted postseason baseball in , , , , , and ; it hosted the World Series in , , , and Shea Stadium had the distinction of being the home of the "Miracle Mets" -- a team led by former Brooklyn Dodger Gil Hodges that defied odds and won the World Series, this after recording seven straight seasons in last or next-to-last place.
Shea became famous for the bedlam that took place after the Mets won the decisive Game 5 of the World Series, as fans stormed the field in celebration. A similar scene took place a few weeks earlier after the Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves in the first National League Championship Series to win the pennant.
Tommie Agee was the only player in the history of the ballpark to hit a home run into the upper deck in left field. The spot was marked with a sign featuring Agee's number, and the date of the event, April 10, Teammate Cleon Jones says the ball was still rising when it hit the seats, so it very likely could have been the longest home run ever hit at Shea Stadium. In , Dave Kingmanthen with the San Francisco Giants; later to play for the Mets on two occasions - hit a home run that smashed off the windshield of the Giants' team bus, parked behind the left field bullpen.
For many years, the Mets' theme song, "Meet the Mets", was played at Shea before every home game. Jane Jarvis, a local jazz artist, played the popular songs on the Hammond organ at Mets games for many years at the stadium.
On October 3, , the stadium was the venue of the last game in the history of the Montreal Expos when the Mets defeated the Expos However, the Mets were in the thick of the playoff chase until the last day. A win would have meant another game for Shea as the Mets were scheduled to play the Milwaukee Brewers in a one game playoff for the NL Wild Card had they won.
Following the game, there was a "Shea Goodbye" tribute in which many players from the Mets glory years entered the stadium and touched home plate one final time so that fans could pay their last respects to the players and the stadium the Mets called home for 45 years. The ceremony ended with Tom Seaver throwing a final pitch to Mike Piazza, then, as the Beatles "In My Life" played on the stadium speakers the two former Met stars walked out of the centerfield gate and closed it behind them, followed by a display of blue and orange fireworks.
The New York Yankees played their home games in Shea Stadium during the and seasons while Yankee Stadium was being renovated. The move to Shea had been proposed earlier in the decade, but the Mets, as Shea's primary tenants, refused to sign off on the deal.
However, when the city stepped in to pay for renovating Yankee Stadium, the Mets had little choice but to agree to share Shea with the Yankees. Separately, on the afternoon of April 15, , 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. Stadium operators partially raised the Mets' home run apple signal before lowering it back down, much to the delight of the crowd present.
Shea Stadium also hosted the first extra-inning regular season baseball opener ever played in New York, on March 31, , [25] when the Mets opened their season against their rival Philadelphia Phillies, playing the longest scoreless opening day game in the National League and the longest one in the MLB since During the New York City blackout the stadium was plunged into darkness at approximately p.
It occurred during the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Mets losing and Lenny Randle at bat. For most of the Jets' tenure at Shea, they were burdened by onerous lease terms imposed at the insistence of the Mets. Until , the Jets could not play their first home game until the Mets' season was finished.
Even after that year, the Mets' status as Shea's primary tenants would require the Jets to go on long road trips switching Shea from baseball to football configuration was a rather complex process, involving electrical, plumbing, field and other similar work.
The stadium was also not well maintained in the s. Fans ripped Shea apart after the last game of the season, which also was the last NFL appearance for Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw , who threw two touchdown passes to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a victory.
It was at Shea Stadium on December 16, that O. Simpson became the first running back to gain 2, yards in a single season [31] and, to date, the only player to do it in 14 games or fewer.
The Giants were that year at Shea. Their coach was Bill Arnsparger and their quarterback was Craig Morton. The football field at Shea extended from around home plate all the way to the outfield, with the baseline seating rotating out to fill left and right fields. The first soccer game held at Shea Stadium occurred during tournament play from the International Soccer League on June 17,
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