2008 is just around the corner and like many people, I hope the new year is a good one. 2008 will bring many joys and many sorrows, as any new year does. 2008 will mark some firsts, and some lasts. We will have to wait to find out what many of those firsts and lasts are, but some we already know about.
In the world of sports, 2008 will mark the last game played at Shea Stadium. The field, which the Mets have called home since 1964, since leaving the Polo Grounds, will be replaced by a new stadium. Certainly this is the way of sports. It is amazing that the Mets have not received a new stadium in their history. So, it is with a lot of joy, but also some sorrow, I look towards Citi Field.
The first time I saw Shea Stadium, I thought it looked like a donut with a bite taken out of it. The “Horseshoe” shaped stadium was something with which I was not familiar. It is probably something with which today’s fan is even less familiar.
I also am looking forward to seeing a stadium model after Ebbets Field, as I never saw the Brooklyn Dodgers play. My dad would have probably been excited, although he never forgave the Dodgers for leaving Brooklyn and deserting their fans.
Still, it is not with pure joy that I look forward to the opening of a new stadium. Shea holds lots of memories for me. The first live baseball game I ever saw was at Shea Stadium. I have memories of leaving school early on opening day and heading out to the park, with a few friends, to watch the game. I remember being in the stadium the day Pete Rose tied Tommy Helms for the longest hitting streak in the National League (at 37 games). I remember all the fans giving him a standing ovation, but I still refused to stand for the man who got into a fight with Bud Harrelson during the 1973 playoffs.
Perhaps the greatest Shea Stadium memory I have was September 17, 1986. That was the day the Mets beat the Chicago Cubs to clinch the NL East. I was at the game and, like the rest of the fans, following the victory made my way onto the field. I still have my grass and dirt from that day. It is protected, in a glass jar.
So yes, I acknowledge it is time to get a new stadium. Yes I am excited. Still, a part of me is sad to say goodbye to Shea Stadium.
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One of my greatest Shea memories is going when Doc Gooden was a rookie to see what all the commotion was about and being blown away. They were playing the Expos that day and I convinced my dad to go with me. Unfortunately, every time Rose came to the plate the fans serenaded him with "Rose Blows" and my dad was embarrased the fans did that.
Then there was that cold September night in 1973 when I was there and the Mets pulled ahead of the Pirates for the division lead that night, never to look back.
And of course, my first game as a four year old in 1968 when Nolan Ryan started for the Mets.
Sure, the new stadium will be "better" in all the modern amenity sort of ways, and a whole new generation of fans will embrace it as their first love, but I'll always love Shea.
Texmet out.
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