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Looking Back: My Favorite Shea Stadium Moment


By Mike Silva ~ December 28th, 2011. Filed under: NY Baseball Memories.

It’s cold and chilly and there is literally no Mets news outside of more snark/negativity regarding the Wilpons and team finances. Let’s change it up for a minute and do a nostalgia piece to get the fans warm and toasty.

Matt Cerrone posted a picture of the Shea Stadium warning track on Metsblog the other day. It got me to thinking about Shea and how people use to ask me my favorite memory from the old ballpark. It was always an easy answer as I would tell them Benny Agbayani‘s walk-off home run in Game 3 of the 2000 NLDS against the Giants.

Why this moment? Because I was present for the game and wanted to include a memory in which I was physically present in the ballpark. I remember a few things about that game:

- It was a Saturday afternoon game that started around 4pm. It was nationally televised on FOX so, naturally, it was long to begin with before extra innings.

- The Mets trailed 2-1 in the 8th and Dusty Baker brought in Robb Nen to face Edgardo Alfonzo with a runner on 1st (Lenny Harris) and 2-out. Nenn was nasty in 2000, finishing 4th in the Cy Young voting with his 41 saves and 1.50 ERA. He was probably the second best closer in baseball next to Mariano Rivera at the time. To keep this in perspective, I was sitting in the last row of the Upper Deck- literally. My back was against the grid so I could hear the wind swirling. Harris would steal second off Nen and Alfonzo would line a double down the left field line to tie the game.  The stadium shook after that hit, and I felt all of it from that last row. Shea always shook when it got loud in big games. It actually kind of spooked me because of the fact I was so high up.

- I remember thinking that Alfonzo was the perfect guy to be up against Nen in that spot. From 1998-2000 there wasn’t a better clutch hitter on the team than Fonzie.

- The fans were very tight throughout extra innings as the Giants had rallies seemingly every frame. In the top of the 13th, before the Agbayani homer, Rick White got Bonds to pop out to second base with two runners on. Looking back, Bonds with runners on against a RHP is kind of scary.

- When Agbayani hit the homer I knew the ball was rocked, but not until Bonds turned his back did we all let out a cheer. It was like the stress was released from the fans and was replaced with a joyous celebration.

- It was by far the coldest I had ever been at Shea. I was happy the Mets won an important game, but couldn’t wait to get to the warmth of my car that was parked in the Flushing Home Depot parking lot. Yes, I can admit years later I would illegally park in Home Depot and walk to Shea. I heard today they tow anyone who tries to pull a stunt like that.

- If you remember, home plate celebrations were just starting to be in vogue. The Mets also played “Who Let the Dogs Out” after every win. Yes, that was the big song from that year. Kind of silly looking back.

- For as much as I like the amenities at Citi Field, it has a long way to go before it sounds like Shea did in those big playoff games.

Lucky for you I found a replay of that home run on You Tube complete with the Gary Cohen radio call. Enjoy! If you were at that game or want to share a memory of your own- have at it!

http://youtu.be/ERnmRtWvqro

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com
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8 Responses to Looking Back: My Favorite Shea Stadium Moment

  1. Stu B
    December 28th, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    As great as that moment was, it didn’t compare to 3 for which I was present – Todd Pratt’s walkoff dinger to win the ’99 NLDS, Robin Ventura’s grand slam single, and Game 7 of the ’86 World Series – and 2 for which I wasn’t but saw on TV – Game 5 of the ’69 World Series and Games 3 (Rose-Harrelson fight) and 5 of the ’73 NLCS.

  2. RonOK
    December 28th, 2011 at 7:53 pm

    I was at the Pratt HR game and that is my #1 Shea moment because I was with my 12 year-old son (at the time) and the game and the HR clinched the NLDS.

    I was also at the Ventura Grand Slam single game, the Benny HR game as well as the Matt Franco pinch-hit single win against Mariano Rivera and the Yankees in 1999 — they were all very memorable, but there is just something about the Pratt game that moves me.

    The 1998-2001 teams were really a great group to watch and root for … that crew created so many wonderful moments.

    The 1985-1989 group was great too — what made the 1998+ teams so much more memorable is that I had season tickets during that span and spent a ton of time with my son … and we still talk about some of those memorable Shea moments today.

  3. Mike Silva
    December 28th, 2011 at 8:00 pm

    Ron

    I think that is what makes sports so much fun – the memories. You get to spend time with friends and family, and you remember based on a sports moment. I know exactly where I was for each of the moments you mentioned. The Franco pinch hit was one of the more “not at the game” moments I have ever experienced.

    I also remember where I was with bad moments too – like Game 5 of the 1993 Eastern Conf Finals (Charles Smith Game), Both the ’07 and ’08 Collapses, etc.. I was at the final game at Shea in ’08 and it was the oddest day at the ballpark that I could remember – tensest too!

  4. Stu B
    December 28th, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    I was at that final game too, Mike. Here’s what I posted on ultimatemets.com:

    Perhaps it was predictable that the Mets would lose again like this, given the fatally weak bullpen; they probably overachieved as it was.

    But the whole day was surreal for me… I cried as I walked into Shea, and several times during the game. I actually was OK with the loss after a few minutes as I contemplated the end of Shea and what it represented to me – my youth (I’m 48 and attended my first game in 1968) and a lot of memories, baseball and otherwise. I probably went to at least 250 games in the 41 seasons since ’68.

    The post-game ceremony was wonderful; I couldn’t stop sobbing, seeing guys like Ed Kranepool, Jim McAndrew, Cleon Jones, Yogi Berra, Tom Seaver, Rusty Staub, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter, Art Shamsky, Wayne Garrett, Dwight Gooden, Mike Piazza, etc. etc. on the field again in Mets jerseys.

    I completely lost it, looking around and realizing that I would never be in there again, watching each guy touch home plate for the last time, and Tom taking the mound and throwing the last pitch to Mike.

    Then there was nothing left but to leave, completely in tears walking down the ramp and into the parking lot, and I’m getting choked up all over again as I write this. I realize that I’m truly grieving for a lost loved one.

    So long and farewell, old friend.

  5. Chuck Johnson
    December 29th, 2011 at 12:18 am

    I was at the final game at old Yankee Stadium in 1973.

    As a fan, my best memory was in 1974, Tug McGraw started for the Mets and pitched his only career shutout against Hank Aaron and the Braves.

    We got there early to watch BP and sat in LF and tried in vain to catch an Aaron HR ball.

    But my all time best memory was in 1976 as a player at Southern Connecticut, playing a three game series in Shea against LIU.

    Being in a ML stadium is one thing, playing in one is something else entirely.

  6. Mike Silva
    December 29th, 2011 at 7:43 am

    I didn’t go to Yankee Stadium as much as a kid since I was a Mets fan, but I do have a memory from 1988.

    We went to a Yanks-Oakland game and we had seats down the LF line. I went down the line to get autographs- still remember how the kids started to bombard Mark McGwire so he ran off after signing a couple and I was probably 1 or 2 short.

    Dennis Eckersley came by and signed my Topps sticker book. It was his second year in Oakland and my dad said to him “the Cubs need you” and Eck grumbled and looked kind of ticked at the statement.

    Anyway, A’s built a 6-0 lead off the Yankees (Canseco hit a bomb off the upper deck). The Yanks battled back with 5 in the 9th to win it and guess who they beat in the 9th? Good old Eck, who didn’t blow many.

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA198808240.shtml

  7. Stu B
    December 29th, 2011 at 10:14 am

    “Being in a ML stadium is one thing, playing in one is something else entirely.”

    I imagine so, Chuck. The closest I ever got was singing the national anthem with my a cappella group at Shea on 6/17/88.

  8. Stu B
    December 29th, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    I just looked at Matt’s picture. This may be splitting hairs, but it’s more a shot of the OF grass than the warning track.

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