30 Years As a Mets Fan – Birthday Games

30 Years As a Mets Fan – Part 9

Birthday Games

I’m sure that all baseball fans born during the baseball season can relate to this – wanting to spend your birthday at the ballpark watching your favorite team in action. I’ve been able to do this a few times in my life. I’ve also gone to games near my actual birthday as the Mets schedule and my schedule allowed, but those aren’t the same. When I was younger, and only going to 2 or 3 games a year, something like my birthday was a big deal on the schedule. These days, a weekend home game is an occasion for me to go to Citi Field.

In 1987, I went to Shea Stadium for my 9th birthday. It was the first Mets game in person since becoming a fan 6 months earlier. I don’t remember a damn thing about that game other than one play by Len Dykstra in CF that made Warner Wolf’s plays of the year. I was enamored by the Shea Stadium scoreboard with the lineups and out of town scores and I probably got excited seeing the Home Run Apple rise 4 times in the Mets 11-3 win.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198704300.shtml

I honestly can’t recall any other birthdays spent at Shea when I was a kid. I think there might have been one or two that worked out.

I spent my 21st birthday at Shea with friends on a Friday night in 1999. That was a great night. Maybe one of the best I had at Shea. We were all into getting there at 4:30 pm to see batting practice and get autographs. It was around the time I started doing that. We had my favorite seats in the ballpark – Loge, Section 7, Row A. I even had another friend randomly walk up in the bottom of the first and claim the seats next to us, an unplanned surprise. We got to fight over a foul ball (I got bumped back into my seat and someone else broke their watch on the play). None of us got the ball. It’s still the closest I’ve ever come to getting one at a major league ballpark. And we got to heckle rising Giants star Jeff Kent from his days as a Met.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN199904300.shtml

As an adult, working for a living, it wasn’t as easy to just head into Flushing from New Jersey on a weeknight/day to celebrate my birthday. But for my 30th birthday, I decided I wanted to take off from work (baseball game or not). The Mets hosted one of those mid-week afternoon games (I think they were called “businessman’s specials” back in the day, but the politically correct term is really “get away day”) and this was a no-brainer. For it being a big birthday and the final season at Shea, I convinced my dad (who already had the day off from work) to get us seats behind the Mets dugout. It was one of the few places at Shea I hadn’t sat in yet, but I certainly knew the neighborhood from batting practice.

After our lunch in the Diamond Club and looking at some Citi Field previews, the start of the game ended up being delayed for about 45 minutes because of a broken water main nearby and the grounds crew couldn’t water down the field to get it ready for the game. Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa, always a good guy and good for an autograph or three, came out of the dugout during the delay to sign for fans. I think it was my fourth autograph of his that season alone (counting Spring Training). Mets post-season hero-turned-regular season goat Oliver Perez was the starting pitcher for New York. And after an uneventful first inning, things came unglued for the Mets starter. He gave up 7 runs in the top of the second to the Pirates and hero of the delay Figueroa had to come in and finish the inning. Figgy settled things down, but the game got worse after he left.

I still call it the day that “Ollie Perez ruined my 30th birthday at Shea” and call Figueroa the “hero” of the day.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200804300.shtml

I made it in for my birthday last year too. It was a Saturday and a big giveaway (one of the garden gnomes). It was another no-brainer. Friends all over the place. Some I planned to see, some I didn’t. It was lots of fun. I think I watched the game.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN201604300.shtml

Next year, I’ve said that no matter where the Mets are, I spend my 40th birthday there. It’s a Monday next year, so I might have to walk that statement back if I don’t want to travel some place to see a game alone.

30 Years As a Mets Fan – It’s Opening Day At Shea

30 Years As a Mets Fan – Part 8

It’s Opening Day At Shea

I can hear those words – “It’s Opening Day At Shea” – in Howie Rose’s voice (even if he’s never actually said them).

Opening Day probably should be a national holiday so we can all celebrate it together at the ballpark. But reality doesn’t work that way, and going is already an expensive endeavor (it’s usually one of the most expensive tickets of the season). If I think hard enough, I can probably remember where I was or what I was doing for most of my 30 Opening Days as a Mets fan. They’re mostly vague memories of watching the end of the game at home after school or trying to listen to the game at work.

1987 was my first (as a fan watching on TV), and still might be my most memorable. Not for the game, but for the pregame. The team’s most recent World Championship flag was raised behind the CF fence at Shea Stadium and the World Series rings were handed out before the game. That is the part I remember having on tape (since I was at school when it was happening live). That’s also one that lives on in Mets fandom as part of the bonus features of the 1986 World Series DVD set. That’s a good thing because I wore out that tape. The DVD is ready for its annual viewing.

1988 was when Strawberry hit the roof at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. 1992 was a night game in St. Louis (even after only 5 years of being a fan, I knew a night game for Opening Day seemed wrong). 1993 was the first game in Colorado Rockies history. 1994 saw Doc Gooden giving up 3 HRs to Tuffy Rhodes at Wrigley. 1995 was in late April after the lockout which followed the player’s strike, and it was the first game at Coors Field.

I remember cutting class in 1998 when I was in college so I could watch the Mets first March 31 game. That was the 14th inning walkoff hit by Alberto Castillo at Shea. I made a few sound bytes from that game which is part of my Opening Day blogging tradition.

Bob Murphy and Gary Cohen's intro

The winning hit from Opening Day 1998 at Shea

2000 was the series in Tokyo. I was still in college. I remember trying to get up at 5am to watch the games. I don’t remember much success in those attempts.

Starting in 2002, I was a working man and had to find a way to escape the office in order to listen to any portion of the game. I remember taking a long lunch or a mid-day break to go to my car to put on the radio just to hear a little bit of Opening Day.

2003 was the first Opening Day I experienced in person. I saw some tickets available the week before and said “what the hell, I’ll take off work and go”. It was a cold March 31 at Shea Stadium. This was a bad era for the Mets. Art Howe was the manager. It also turned out to be Bob Murphy’s last Opening Day. I’m glad I got to be there to see him introduce the Mets from my seat deep down the LF line in the Mezzanine box. I wish I had a camera (even without much of a zoom, as digital cameras were in those days). I won’t remind you of the score. You can click the link to the box score if you really want to know.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200303310.shtml

I remember working from home in 2005 and 2006 to watch Opening Day. After all, it should be a holiday. 2005 was the opener in Cincinnati with Pedro Martinez’s Mets debut. As a side note, some enterprising puzzle maker took a photo from the 2005 home opener against Houston and made a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of it. A few years later, I bought it, put it together, and had it framed. It hangs in my living room. 2006 was the debut of SNY.

Coming off the success of 2006 (I’ve repressed the memory of the final inning of that season) I wanted to be there for the 2007 home opener. This was back in the days of the Mets having ticket lotteries to get into Opening Day at Shea. I had a friend who got picked in the lottery and was able to get me a ticket so far down the right field line on field level that my seat faced the outfield wall and not the infield (if you really remember Shea, you’d know what I was talking about).

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200704090.shtml

2008 was the final Opening Day at Shea (after a road trip). 2009 was the christening of Citi Field (also after a road trip). By then, I also had MLB’s internet package so I could listen on radio on my computer at work (working around meetings). MLB.TV usually had technical difficulties that got in the way of celebrating Opening Day. Some of the more recent seasons are actually a blur. In researching this post, I noticed MLB had some weird schedules with late-week Opening Days for some reason. Real Opening Day is the first Monday in April.

In 2014, I went back for Opening Day, and it was March 31 again. It was cold at Citi Field. I remember sitting in what was then called Caesar’s Club for most of the game trying to defrost my hands and the rest of the game paying social calls to friends. I did see Parnell blow the save in the 9th. This was the year that Daniel Murphy missed the opener because of the birth of a child, and for some reason, people got in an uproar over it.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN201403310.shtml

2016 was a special one. The Mets were defending NL Champions. They started the season in Kansas City with a World Series rematch (dumb luck that it happened that way). Then on Friday came the home opener. In this day in age, that was cause to take off work and head to Citi Field. I don’t remember any of the game, but I do remember being there, moving around the ballpark making social calls to people. It was a day to tailgate and celebrate.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/2016-schedule-scores.shtml

30 Years As a Mets Fan – Part 7

30 Years As a Mets Fan – Part 7

One magic loogie

I remember the first time I went to a Mets game as a fan (see earlier post about going to a game before getting sucked in to this madness). I was 9 years old. It was Sunday, June 14, 1987, and the Mets were playing the Phillies at Shea Stadium. I can’t say I remember everything about the game. I do remember that the Mets lost even though Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry both homered. The Phillies scored 5 runs in the 9th off of Roger McDowell after Hernandez committed an error with 2 out. The game also marked my first encounter seeing rowdy fans at a ballgame. My dad and I were sitting in the right field seats near the Mets bullpen on the Loge level and these 2 guys sitting near us were pouring beer onto one of the pitchers in the Mets bullpen and cursing at them. Basically harassing people down there all game. We eventually moved away from them.

After the game, to help cheer me up from a bad Mets loss before heading home, Dad took me for a walk all the way around Shea Stadium. When we were outside the Mets players’ parking lot, we saw those same 2 guys yelling at some players – “Nice game, pretty boy” at Hernandez – before someone out of view threw something back at these guys, or did something. I’m still not sure what I watched. Dad shielded me and then hustled me out of there quickly and decided it was time for us to head home.



That was one magic loogie!

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT198706140.shtml

30 Years As a Mets Fan - Part 1

This is the first post in a longer series that I hope to launch in late October about my 30 years as a Mets fan.

30 years as a Mets fan

Intro

The Mets won the World Series on my second day as a fan, and I’ve been waiting 30 years for another one. It was October 25, 1986. This is my story of the past 30 years.

September 18, 1986

I went to my first Mets game on September 18, 1986. I was 8 years old at the time. My dad pulled me out of school to take me to a Thursday afternoon game at Shea. I still don’t know why he took me to the game, especially at that point in the season and school year. I don’t remember following the Mets before that day. I can’t say I remember following them after that day, at least not right away.

I only have a few vague memories of the game, some of which have been enhanced by some light research. Rick Anderson was the starting pitcher for the Mets. He went 5 innings. A rookie pitcher named Greg Maddux started for the Cubs. Howard Johnson hit a 3-run homerun. The Mets won the game 5-0. The image in my head of the game is the “green Band-Aids”, as my dad called them, all over the outfield grass.

If the date sort of rings a bell for Mets fans, it’s because the night before, the Mets finally clinched the division, formally setting the stage for an eventual world championship. I didn’t really know any of what was going on at the time. The “green Band-Aids” were the patchwork on the grass created by Pete Flynn’s Shea Stadium grounds crew after 50,000 fans tore up the field celebrating the division title about 14 hours earlier (a scene which Vin Scully described during the World Series as “sharks at feeding time”).

I don’t credit that game with making me a fan. That event came later.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198609180.shtml

It's the little things

It's the little things that count. Last night (Saturday night) I was at Citi Field. It was a big game, with lots of subtext. Enough that it was a sellout and near record crowd (a few people shy of 43,000). Citi Field has been around nearly 7 full seasons and there just haven't been many big games or even large crowds. But last night, there was an energy that I noticed (and several other people also felt) for the first time since Shea Stadium. Having 43,000 people should bring about an energy unlike what you'd see at a typical mid-week school night game. I think it was more than that.

On a personal level, last night was a little different from many other games I've attended at Citi Field. I usually go, and whether it's planned or not, I wind up running in to or meeting up with friends, and I don't always sit in my seat for the entire game. That's just how it's been at Social Citi Field. Kind of like watching a baseball game with Attention Deficit Disorder, where you can't simply focus on the game. Citi Field was built for that. It never used to be that way at Shea. At Shea, I would just sit in my seat and watch the game, keeping score along the way. That's what Shea was built for. Last night, despite 43,000 other Mets fans in the building (actually, quite a few Nationals fans were there), I couldn't find any friends to either go with or meet up with, but I still wanted to go because it was such a big game. So I went by myself, sat in my seat, and kept score. I attend about 10 games a year and get to do that maybe twice each season. I did that at almost every game I attended at Shea Stadium as well as at other ballparks. It's something I miss doing (and it actually forces you to watch the game, even from your seat). Since I don't get to do it often, I feel somewhat nostalgic of the old days at Shea when I do get to keep score at a ballgame.

The energy generated by spontaneous and loud "Let's Go Mets" chants also makes me feel nostalgic from the good old days at Shea. You hear it a bit at Citi Field, but nothing with the energy that I felt last night. It felt good to hear and take part in.

And there was a little scoreboard thing that I always liked at Shea which seemed to have been abandoned at Citi Field. They would take the scene from the movie "Network" where Howard Beale urged his TV viewers "I want you to go to the window, open it, stick your head out and yell:" with the last part replaced by the "Let's Go Mets" chant. I don't know when it started at Shea, but it feels like it was there for a long time. This is the scene from "Network" to help job your memory. Greg Prince referenced it earlier this year in a different context (and he writes better than I).

Anyway, the Mets brought it back last night...sort of. Branden, of Citi Field in-game hosting and Mets game promotions fame, tried to recreate it. He didn't do well, but I'll say that it's the thought that counts. It felt like Shea. They need to get the old video back.

These little things helped make Citi Field feel a lot like Shea last night. I could feel it. Not any single game, but just a flood of memories from various points, both in the winning days (there weren't many in my 22 years there) and all the others.

Do you feel it too?


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How Oliver Perez ruined my 30th Birthday at Shea

April 30, 2008, Flushing, NY.

I've spent several birthdays at Shea Stadium between 1987 (my first season) and 2008 (Shea's last). And I'd sat in almost every part of the ballpark. For my 30th birthday, I wanted to check off one of the elusive ones. I wanted dugout seats. It was a Wednesday afternoon game, getaway day, which was a perfect excuse for me to take off work, and my dad who was my faithful companion at games in the pre-social media days (heck, he did that in the pre-driving days for me too) also had the day off. The script couldn't have been written any better.

Oliver Perez wasn't quite the bad player we all think of him as. Yet. He was about 18 months removed from pitching well in Game 7 of the NLCS. He was still a couple of years away from his last pitch in a Mets uniform (hint, it was in Spring Training). But he was getting there. And he had the start on this beautiful Wednesday afternoon at Shea.

It was setting up to be a great birthday at Shea. We came in early for batting practice in my usual spot by the Mets dugout (no BP for a day game after a night game). Dad and I ate at the Diamond Club (very overrated if you ask me). There was something new behind the LF wall to see (Citi Field). And then, maybe 30 minutes before the game, there was a water main break in the area. I didn't quite get the reasoning, but it delayed the start of the game by about an hour. In hindsight, maybe we should have left at that point. There wasn't much to watch during this delay, other than an extra hour of being at Shea where the clock was ticking and an extra hour of being in really good seats 5 rows behind the Mets dugout.

I'm not really sure what prompted this next thing, but seemingly out of nowhere, popping out of the Mets dugout and basically offering to sign autographs was Nelson Figueroa, a Brooklyn-born player drafted by the Mets many years earlier and now part of the Mets ballclub for the first time after being away from the big leagues for 4 years and having 5 teams already on his resume. It's definitely not out of character for Nelson to come out of the dugout and sign autographs. This was definitely an unusual circumstance though, with a non-weather delay at the start of the game. I think he signed for anyone by the dugout who wanted an autograph, and probably more than that. Okay, NOW was probably the time to leave and cut our losses.

The game finally gets started, and Ollie being Ollie, he gives up 7 runs in the 2nd and doesn't make out of the inning (to be fair, only 2 runs were earned). It put the Mets in a really big hole, one they had absolutely no shot of digging themselves out of. Now pitching for the Mets, number 27, Nelson Figueroa. Figueroa had been a starting pitcher for the past 4 times through the early season rotation, but was coming in for long relief on short rest (he had started just 3 days earlier). Nelson comes in puts out the fire in the 2nd and ultimately gets through the 5th inning just giving up one run of his own. 3.1 inning total for Figueroa. Jorge Sosa comes in and gives up 5 runs (only 1 earned, so it's not all on the pitchers) in 1 inning. 2 other pitchers came in to finish the last 3 innings, giving up a total of 1 hit. The Mets only had 2 hits over the entire 9 innings. Mets lose the game 13-1.

I definitely give the player of the game for my 30th birthday game to Nelson Figueroa.

Dad and I sat in some real bad rush hour traffic getting back to NJ after the game. It certainly wasn't what I wanted for a game result, but I was certainly happy to spend my 30th birthday (and the last one I could possibly spend there) at Shea.



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Banner Day 2014

So most people have a 3 day weekend for Banner Day, the unofficial start of summer. Wait, that's Memorial Day Weekend. So today is the traditional Banner Day doubleheader with the parade in between games. Close? It's just Banner Day, with the parade of banners starting shortly after the ballpark opens at 11am. And thanks to mother nature and Friday night's rainout, we still get the doubleheader.

And for the 4th time in the 3 years since the return of Banner Day, I am entering the parade and contest (I had 2 banners last year). And I think I have the winner this time. I've thought my ideas were awesome before, but this is my best one yet.

So this is where I go on explaining what I did and why. First, in case you didn't recognize the game board and colors, and the logo in the middle, this year's banner is called "Shea Stadium Monopoly". 2014 is the 50th anniversary of Shea Stadium (an occasion really only celebrated by the Mets for one weekend in April with a price reduction and a giveaway that features a slightly modified version of the "Final Season at Shea Stadium" logo, which I used in the banner), so that was my theme. It's not necessarily about the Mets. It's about Shea Stadium. So let me give you a tour of the game board.

1. Instead of "Go" where you collect $200, I have "Kiner's Korner" where you collect $200. I don't know what the going rate for being on Kiner's Korner would be today, but I didn't adjust any prices in the game.
2. "Mediterranean Avenue" is replaced by "Shea Stadium Opens" with the 1964 World's Fair logo. All of the colored properties (ones which you can build houses and hotels on) are games or sporting events at Shea.
3. If I put everything in the correct places, "Community Chest" is Shea's blue and orange tiles, which were on the ballpark in the 1960s and 1970s. "Chance" is the neon ballplayers. The 4 shown are actually from my own pictures.
4. "Baltic Avenue" is replaced by "Banner Day at Shea". I couldn't leave that one out. I just couldn't.
5. "Income Tax" is replaced by "Ticket Fees". I didn't change the text/prices, so it's kind of funny that ticket fees are 10% or $200. Or maybe it's not so funny.
6. "Reading Railroad" here is the movie "Men In Black", representing all moments in film which took place at Shea. The picture is from the scene at Shea when then-Mets LF Bernard Gilkey is hit in the head by a popup because he is distracted by a spaceship overhead. All of the railroads in my game are non-Sports.
7. The next set of properties has "Agee's Upper Deck HR", "Bunning's Perfect Game" and "Len Dykstra's NLCS HR" replacing "Oriental Avenue", "Vermont Avenue" and "Connecticut Avenue" respectively. It's not all Mets moments here. I tried to use actual photos or video screenshots when possible, but more important, I wanted something that would make people instantly recognize what moment it was.
8. The only mean-handed spaces in this game are "Jail" and the corresponding "Go To Jail". Since this is a banner about Shea Stadium, "Jail" is Citi Field. Another one of my photos used here. These 2 squares are the only places in the entire banner in which you will see Citi Field. It's not even in the background of any pictures.
9. The next set sees "St. Charles Place", "States Avenue" and "Virginia Avenue" replaced by "Carter's Opening Day HR" (of course from his Mets debut in 1985), the "Grand Slam Single" and "The Imperfect Game" respectively.
10. The 2 utilities - "Electric Company" and "Water Works" are replaced by the "Ralph Kiner TV Booth" and the "Bob Murphy Radio Booth". That seemed to fit. Sorry there was no place for Lindsey Nelson here.
11. "Pennsylvania Railroad" in this game is "Grand Funk Railroad (1970)", a big concert at Shea.
12. The next set has "Buckner's Error", "Shea Goodbye" and "Piazza's Post 9/11 HR" instead of "St. James Place", "Tennessee Avenue" and "New York Avenue". Putting Piazza's HR on New York Avenue was a happy accident that I didn't realize until just now.
13. "Free Parking" is the "Home Run Apple", and that's the apple when it was in use at Shea, not in its location on the plaza outside Citi Field.
14. "Kentucky Avenue" here is the "1964 All Star Game". All of the remaining properties which belong to sets are home team clinchers which took place at Shea.
15. First, the Division Clinchers. 2006 first, in place of "Indiana Avenue", then 1988, in place of "Illinois Avenue.
16. Pausing for a moment, "B&O Railroad" here is Billy Joel's "Last Play at Shea (2008)".
17. Then up are the "1986 NL East Clincher" in place of "Atlantic Avenue" and the "1969 NL East Clincher" in place of "Ventnor Avenue".
18. On to NLCS Clinchers. 1973 is first, in place of "Marvin Gardens", then 1969 in place of "Pacific Avenue" and 2000 in place of "North Carolina Avenue".
19. I do include the Jets, with the "1968 AFL Title Game" (the one the Jets won sending them to Super Bowl 3) replacing "Pennsylvania Avenue".
20. The final railroad, "Short Line Railroad", is represented by arguably the most famous stadium concert ever - "The Beatles (1965)". If you don't know what I'm talking about, go research that one.
21. Jumping ahead by one space, "Luxury Tax" is "Stadium Parking", though the price was left at the game's $75 and not changed to today's $21 (or is it $22?)
22. "Park Place" is replaced by the "1986 WS Clincher" and "Boardwalk" is replaced by the "1969 WS Clincher". Enough said.

For all 40 spaces, they are hand-cut from poster board nearly to exact measurements. The labels are computer printed onto stickers and cut and placed on the spaces. And the same technique was used for the pictures. The colored areas, where applicable, are hand-colored using either sharpies or markers, based on what I had in stock that came close to matching the colors on the actual game board. The black boarders between the white space and colored space on each game space, when applicable, was hand drawn as well, using measurements as a guide. You can probably tell that it's hand-crafted by some of the labels, pictures, lines and even cuts being a little off. I like that it looks hand-made. Banner Day should have that look. The spaces were all laid out on the posterboard and taped down. The black spaces between each game space, which again look a little uneven, were based on how well I spaced out everything and then how much each piece shifted as I attempted to tape it down. After seeing the contrast between the clear scotch tape and the posterboard, I went in with a sharpie to basically hide as much of the tape as I could.

And then there's the centerpiece, which could be an awesome banner in and of itself. It's a black and white photo collage of pictures from Shea Stadium. It's mostly Mets, but it also includes the Jets, Yankees, concerts and even the Pope. None of the photos here are repeats from the actual game board. I won't even begin to list out what these pictures are. Nothing is completely hidden from view. There's probably a couple dozen in total of different shapes and sizes and orientations (slanted in different directions).

And in the center of it, bringing good color contrast, is the game's logo, which is the Shea Stadium final season logo combined with the Monopoly game logo, including Rich Uncle Pennybags (a.k.a. Mr. Monopoly). I was hoping to use the Shea Stadium 50th anniversary logo, which is the same as the one I used except for the text ("1964 * 2008" replaced by "50th Anniversary"), but I never found that logo in downloadable form. It was used on the Shea 50th Anniversary Canvas print. Anyway, the logo still worked. The Monopoly logo fit in nicely and covered up the Mets logo, which for once is good since this is about Shea and not the Mets.

You may or may not be able to tell from a distance (I hope not), but everything is taped down, gaps in the centerpiece were colored gray in order to blend in, and gaps between the game spaces and around the center of the gameboard were colored black over the tape.

It took me almost 4 weeks of nights and weekends to put together, and the original idea and initial design was dated 12/16/2013, with the idea for the centerpiece coming together just in the past week. It measures about 32 inches square, much larger from the 19 square inch sized gameboard from the manufactured games (in fact, the centerpiece is larger than the 19 square inch size). I wanted something larger so that the pictures on each game space could be seen from a distance, which is what would be necessary during judging and also in the parade.

And I hope you like it. Happy Banner Day.



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Well-written Mets fan and blogger liked Shea Stadium

Greg Prince ranked Shea 6th among the 34 Major League Ballparks that he's visited in his lifetime. He said so yesterday in his weekly ballpark review from his Flashback Friday ballpark review countdown.


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The Only All-Star Game at Shea Stadium

I asked my readers on facebook for an idea of what to write about as a feature for the All-Star Break. Something not related to the 2010 Mets, but still of interest. Last year, I posted something short about Gary Cohen called "Gary Cohen, Hockey Announcer". You get the idea. My friend Coop suggested that I write about the 1964 All-Star Game at Shea. Perfect.

So what do I know about it? From my Mets History classes, I know that the 1964 All-Star Game was played at Shea Stadium as part of the ballpark's first season, along with the 1964-65 World's Fair that was taking place next door. Ron Hunt was the first Met to start an All-Star Game (remember, it was only the 3rd year of the team's existence, and well, the Mets rosters of the 1960's overall were not filled by good players). I found out today that Casey Stengel was a coach for Walter Alston's NL squad.

I've never seen a highlight from this game. I've never seen a replay. Remember that it took place in a time in which there wasn't video tape of every game like there is now. Replays of live events from that era are pretty rare. MLB Network recently showed the 1965 All-Star Game. I wish that I could include a video clip of Ron Hunt getting hit by a pitch in the 1964 game (after all, that's one thing he was famous for as a Met). But that didn't happen. Hunt did go 1 for 3 with a strikeout playing second base.

Johnny Callison, Outfielder then with the Phillies hit what's know known as a "walk-off homerun". I highly doubt that Lindsey Nelson or Buddy Blattner used that term on the NBC telecast. Callison won the Game's MVP Award for his performance that day in front of 50,850 at Shea.

From Baseball-Almanac.com,

Red Sox ace Dick Radatz was on the mound and had already thrown two hitless innings. Willie Mays, in a tough at-bat, got the walk and then stole second. Orlando Cepeda followed with a soft looper to right field scoring Mays due to a bad Joe Pepitone throw to the plate. Two quick outs and a walk later, Johnny Callison hammered a fast ball into the right field stands scoring three runs, giving the Nationals their sixth win in seven games and finally evening up the series.

The winning HR went out towards the Subway in RF. Soon-to-be Hall of Fame Umpire Doug Harvey was officiating down the LF line.

Not much else has been written to tell the story. Nothing with pictures or video that I could find. Shea never hosted another All-Star Game for whatever reason. Citi Field is likely to receive the next game assigned (2013 I believe).


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Oh Beautiful Shea

I just have to say it. Watching the 1988 Mets Yearbook (debuting as I type) on SNY, Shea looks absolutely beautiful in the video. So blue, so colorful, so full of live, and almost completely advertisement-free.

And I should point out the brief cameo of my other favorite spot, the then-new complex in Port St. Lucie also showed off that blue (a lot of it is still there).

And I must say that I love the Mets Yearbooks narrated by Bob Murphy and that include audio highlights from both the TV and radio broadcasts. And the video quality looks so good compared to the other ones. It's too bad as that got better, and they moved into Mets seasons that I actually remember, they stopped making these videos.


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Happy Birthday Shea Stadium

I almost missed it. It was on this date in 1964 that Shea Stadium opened its doors. Shea would be 46 today.


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The last first anniversary at Shea

It was a year ago today that the walls came crumbling down for the last time at what was once Shea Stadum. This is how I marked the event last February 18

I just received word from the posters at baseball-fever.com that our beloved Shea Stadium has come down.

It came down around 11:25 am on February 18, 2009.

They've been posting pictures and video almost daily for at least a month of demolition. As a matter of principle, I look there but won't post any here (except for the day we all went to Shea a few Saturdays ago). But you can look.

Even wikipedia has been updated with the news of Shea's final pieces.

I also posted some pictures from some folks at baseball-fever.com, but I can't look at them right now.

Big Yellow Taxi, lyrics by Joni Mitchell
Look at the lyrics. You can take a lot of meaning from them here.




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Shea Flashback - a final farewell

It was a year ago today that a group of Mets fans, about 200 strong, came out to the see the remains of Shea Stadium, one last time together, a few weeks before the final pieces fell.

Here's the start of a multi-post recap that I wrote a year ago on the event. It's quite long, but there was so much to say.

I also took a lot of pictures.


Let's hear your stories...


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Meet the Mets

This morning I woke up and started reading the headlines and blogs and saw a few posts on the passing of Jane Jarvis this past Monday at age 94. Aside from her career playing jazz music, she was also known to the first generations of Mets fans as the organist from Shea Stadium.

Her playing days at Shea were before my time. I only know her from the history that I've learned in my 23+ years as a Mets fan. So I'll send you to two of my favorite blogs to get some perspective.

Greg Prince shares a story of meeting her a few years ago.
And over at loge13.com comes this post from almost 2 years ago about Jane. Update: - Loge13.com's post today marking her passing.

In honor of Jane, please take a few minutes to find your "Meet the Mets" CD, and play the organ version of the 1964 Meet the Mets song. For me, it comes 3 weeks earlier than I would normally go to find it.


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Shea was better than the cookie cutters

Watching some classic games and highlight films on MLB Network and SNY (including the 1976 and 1984 Mets Yearbook videos and a classic (1995) Mets loss on MLB Network) and reading some comments to the programming note I posted on the facebook version of this site, I realized that Shea was better than the cookie cutter ballparks of a slighly later vintage.

There was Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Vetrans Stadium in Philadelphia, Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, all opened in the early 1970s, and all had no charm. All were round, gray, and had artificial turf. They were multi-purpose stadiums. There was no character. The "cookie cutters".

They were all trying to follow Shea, Busch Stadium, Oakland-Alameda County Stadium, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Those were the multi-purpose stadiums of the 1960s.

The ballparks of the '60s had color. They all looked different. Most had natural grass. The ballparks of the '70s all looked the same. They all had artificial turf. No imagination.

Of them all, only Oakland's ballpark still stands (and still hosts both baseball and football). Of the others, Shea was the first to go up, and Shea was the last to come down. It widthstood the the other ballparks from the same era, and the next era. Most of those other places needed to be replaced, and have been, with something much nicer looking. Shea, well, I won't go there.


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My Last Days At Shea - Part 4 - In My Life

This is part 4 in a 4 part series on my last days at Shea Stadium. This is the story of the "Shea Goodbye" ceremony.

So the season is over. Playoff hopes are gone. And all in the blink of an eye. A day that started with a bit of uncertainty now has a concrete ending. Shea Stadium has seen its last official pitch, and all that was left was the closing ceremony. A bit of a wait to set up the field. Not a good wait. Most fans stayed around after the loss to see this. It looked like a few couldn't bear to watch the rest.

Mr. Met came out to tear down the last number to reveal a Citi Field logo at the end of the countdown. Boos, but not for Mr. Met, but rather what his actions revealed (oh what a telling sign that was).


There was a great parade of former Mets and those affiliated with the club since the opening of Shea. A good mix of the different winning eras and some of the losing eras. Howie Rose read with excitement each name as the player came out from a bullpen down the side warning track to the edge of the infield grass. Quite a collection of the different white Mets jerseys. I could sense an order towards the end when they got to what I call the Mets dignitaries (Strawberry, Piazza, Koosman, Gooden, Seaver). They're all a bunch of names who's numbers belong painted on the outfield wall with the other retired numbers. There were a few players that I felt should have been included and names mentioned in their absense (such as the only manager to take the Mets to the playoffs and not be represented in some way, the first basemen from the greatest infield ever, or the "ace" of the staff before they got good again a dozen years prior to this parade). There also should have been something for the other teams that played at Shea, especially the Jets (the program from the final game had all that). Imagine Tom Seaver and Joe Namath on the same field together.

The best name to appear in terms of sentiment was Doc Gooden. A long time in absence from the Mets and Shea (he last appeared at Shea in a day-night doubleheader pitching for the Yankees against the Mets the same day that Clemens beaned Piazza in the other now-defunct ballpark). That felt really good to see him back in the good graces of Mets fans.

A video tribute to Mets baseball at Shea. A great scene of former Mets and former teammates coming together behind 2nd base from their different respective entrance lines and embracing. Doc and Darryl together in Mets jerseys for the first time in about 18 years.



The players came off the field towards home plate to touch the plate one last time, each to more ovation, and then one last pitch. Tom Seaver, the "franchise", and best pitcher the Mets have ever had, throwing to Mike Piazza, the greatest catcher that the Mets have ever had. Then they walked into the sunset together and out through the centerfield fence (the same place that I entered the field myself the day before) to the music of The Beatles' "In My Life" (and briefly before it, Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World". I will never be able to listen to "In My Life" again without thinking of this moment. I started to break down into tears when the song came on. One year later, listening to the song typing this, the same thing is happening.


The lights went off, it was close to sunset, fireworks went off, and that was it. At 6:22pm on September 28, 2008, Shea Stadium was closed for business. Nobody rushed the fans out of the ballpark. I got to stay for some time before I felt like I had to get my dad home. I walked slowly out for the last time.

"In My Life" was a very fitting song. I vaguely remember it on a history of the Mets video from the 1980s. And of course the Beatles connection to Shea. I think "In My Life" came on right when Seaver and Piazza hit the spot where the Beatles stage was for their first Shea concert behind 2nd base.

But the lyrics. Click that link and read the lyrics and tell me that it isn't the best set of lyrics for that moment.

Photos from the day:



Photo Day at Shea | The Santana Game | Shea Goodbye | In My Life


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My Last Days At Shea - Part 3 - Shea Goodbye

This is part 3 in a 3 4 part series entitled "My Last Days At Shea", celebrating the first anniversary of the closing of Shea Stadium. This is my story of the final game at Shea.

This was a tough ticket to get. Every real Mets fan wanted one. I got mine through the luck of the draw. Since late in the 2006 season, I was part of a group that split up season tickets (4 seats in the Mezz box, first base side, just out from the camera well). We had enough people in the group so that everyone had tickets for 4 games. We also had a rule for the premium games that you could only take 2 tickets instead of 4 (with the tradeoff being 2 tickets to another game at the end of our draft, meaning probably a weeknight in April against the Nationals). For whatever reason, 10 people ahead of me passed on the finale. That made it kind of easy to get.

To gameday itself, I had my dad with me. We had been going to games together at least once per season since my first game in 1986. We arrived at the ballpark around 10am. In all the years of going to games at Shea, including a few opening days and playoff games, I had never seen the place so crowded that early. Lines to get in at every gate. People just kind of looking around. And it started raining, so batting practice was more of a quiet time for fans to walk around and reflect on however many years they had spent there. More chances to walk around taking pictures of "empty Shea". More time to have one last walk down each concourse.

I saw a bit of commotion in the Loge concourse where the MeiGray group was selling for the first time Shea memorabilia (I have many posts accounting my delivery of these items and visiting the warehouse a few times). I figured in order to get what I wanted, I needed to stop, look through the catalog, and figure out what I had written down in the past on my "wish list". I wish I had known they were going to be there selling things.

Rain delay and just too much time to kill before starting the game. You can only walk around slowly so many times. The Mets had a very important game to play. They could clinch at least a tie for the Wild Card, possibly making the game acutally not the last game at Shea (either a playoff game or the playoffs). Confusing. But the Mets by the 7th inning simplified matters, as did the Brewers in their game against the Cubs.

Just like many other games for what Gary Cohen called "team tightrope", the Mets had an early lead, things were looking good, and it didn't last. After the rain delay, the Mets game started around the same time as the Brewers game. Both games ended around the same time. Both games' results were set at about the same time a few innnings earlier.



The season was over. Shea was closing. And then a way for the closing act.

I've decided to make this a 4 part series

Photo Day at Shea | The Santana Game | Shea Goodbye | In My Life


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My Last Days At Shea - Part 2 - The Santana Game

This is part 2 in a 3 4 part series on my last days at Shea. I bring you now to the final Saturday of the season, the penultimate scheduled game at Shea. At the time, the Mets season was hanging on by a thread. One loss and it's over. Scoreboard watching to see what Milwaukee and Philadelphia would do to possibly get us in the playoffs desipte another late-season collapse.

I had never sat in the bleachers in left field. I'd always wanted to. Nothing special about being out there other than it was different. But I didn't want to leave Shea for the last time without having sat there. I'd sat just about everywhere else at Shea (speaking in terms of general areas). I'd been looking for a way in for probably the last 2 seasons. They didn't sell individual tickets out there, only groups. OK, how do I get myself into a group that can get me into the picnic area and bleachers? I can fake the interest if it gets me out there. I don't care what game it is.

And stepping up to the plate was GaryKeithAndRon, the charity organization run by Lynn Cohen, wife of Mets TV play-by-play man Gary Cohen. Their "main event" group outing, penultimate game at Shea. Too perfect. No need to fake interest here. If there's one group I'd want to support it's one affiliated with fan favorite broadcasters Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling. Picnic bleachers, 1,200 Mets fans, season on the line. This has the making of a great story. Let me add one thing, thrown in by the GKR group - anyone from the group wearing their t-shirt gets to walk on the warning track for the National Anthem. So now I get to sit in that elusive part of Shea, AND I get to be on the field. I was just glad the rain held off long enough to get the game in without much of a problem (there was about a 1 hour delay and the threat of heavy rain for the entire weekend).

I'm out at the ballpark early (as always, the first LIRR train from Penn Station to Shea), we get in and get our commerative pins and towels and I go to check out the sights (during BP). A different perspective on looking at "empty Shea" in its full vivid color. I get my food, GKR merchandise sale (I bought 3 more t-shirts), and appearances by Gary and Ron, all with a delay in the game while the fans are told to line up in the back to come out on the field. Somehow, with the delay and extra time and whatever else it was, I managed to be the first person standing in one of the two lines. I've got the camera ready to capture this one. First person on line isn't walking behind people to come on the field, only someone from the stadium security leading the group. First person on line gets to go as far down as they'll let us (which was to the foul line initially, then when the crowd swelled up so much, it was over the line and down a few feet).


For the game, well, it became known as "The Santana Game" in Mets lure, just like "The Imperfect Game" and some others. Our new ace Johan Santana came out on 3 days rest and pitched a complete game shutout (it was later revealed that he had a bum knee for at least that game and possibly even the entire month of September). Mets win 2-0. He kept the season going one more day. And that's another story.

A big "thank you" goes out to Lynn Cohen and the rest of the GKR group for setting this up, timing it perfectly in the Mets season, and allowing us onto the field. At the time of this writing, I have 5 of their t-shirts now and am looking forward to the 2009 "main event" group outing at the new ballpark on the final weekend of the season.


Photo Day at Shea | The Santana Game | Shea Goodbye | In My Life


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My Last Days At Shea - Part 1 - Photo Day At Shea

The first anniversary of Shea Stadium's final game is upon us. So it's time to write about my last days at Shea. And I don't mean to infringe upon the title of the new book "The Last Days At Shea" by fellow blogger Dana Brand (which you can buy from amazon.com linked to on the right half of this blog). This is my story.

I start with a less exciting game. Actually games. I was at Shea's final doubleheader, a "regular" doubleheader to boot (as opposed to those greedy day-night doubleheaders). The story starts back in August when I got a new digital camera (I had one already, but after almost 5 years, they've improved in quality to the point where pictures look good). I decided that I wanted to have a day to spend at Shea to say goodbye. Walk around the park, poping out from different sections in different levels, taking pictures, and just looking around. It was easiest for me to find a weekend game, and there was a 4:05pm game against the Braves in September, so I didn't have to be up early in the morning and I could get some nighttime photos after the game with the neon signs illuminated (and yet not have to rush back to make the last train back to NJ). Anyway, 4:05pm game, timing worked out. Until it rained the day before and the Friday game was cancelled (acutally, there were 6 games postponed on Friday including in both NY stadiums). That led to 21 games being played on Saturday (with 5 doubleheaders played and one postponed). I saw 2 games on the single, cheap, back row Mezzanine ticket I had for Saturday. Good. 2 games to spend walking around Shea taking pictures. I get both daytime and nighttime photos. Perfect.

The games, for as much as I saw (and listened to on the radio), were somewhat of a microcasm of the 2008 Mets season, especially in the first game. Santana pitched for national TV, the Mets had a lead in the 8th, Santana left the game ahead 2-0, and 2 pitchers later in the 8th, the Mets were down 3-2. Jon Niese pitched and won in the 2nd game going 8 strong innings and the Mets won 5-0 in front of about 10,000 fans left in the ballpark.

It was also my first glimpse of the MeiGray Shea catalog (which at the time seemed like picking out the items in Grandma's house that you wanted to take before she was put in the old folk's home). Some sort of pre-sale and preview of items. Enough about them for now, other than to say cataloging the items must have like being a kid in the candy store.

I think walking around the inner ramps of Shea was like walking a condemmed man down the Green Mile. It was a last look, somewhat captured on (digital) film, from just about every part of Shea. One thing in particular I wanted then, that I was thinking about this week reading some posts from other Mets blogs, was getting what I call "empty Shea", where I can see the broadness of the seating bowl and its different levels in their full colorful glory before the fans in their various colored jerseys filled in the seats. When I think about Shea, I want to remember the colors. Citi Field makes those memories even more colorful.

In the end, I walked the concourses on each level, I got out to see the field from different angles (just to have fresh pictures of what that all looked like), and I even got what I call my "postcard" shot from the last row in the Upper Deck looking out to the entire field. I got everywhere except to the outfield bleacher seats. At the time, I still hadn't been there. That was going to change.

This is a very small sampling of photos from that doubleheader day, as well as the final two games.



Photo Day at Shea | The Santana Game | Shea Goodbye | In My Life


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From Shea Stadium to Citi Field

From Marty Noble on MLB.com who has been covering the Mets for what seems like forever comes, in his words, Shea Stadium's Open Letter to Citi Field. Clever.


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