With the closing of Yankee Stadium, there has been very little written or spoken regarding the closing of Shea this year.  It may not be The House That Ruth Built, but it was the home to many, many great memories involving our New York area sports teams.

Firstly, the stadium itself could have single-handedly delayed the expansion of Major League Baseball to the west coast.  Back in the late 50’s, the Flushing Meadow Park location was offered to Walter O’Malley, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, as a location to build a new, state of the art stadium which would have taken the place of old Ebbets Field.  Could you imagine, if had agreed to the location, the Mets probably never would have come into existence and the Dodgers and Giants might still be here!

But the Mets DID come to fruition, and have played at Shea for the past forty-five years. Their two world championships were both clinched at Shea (has Jesse Orosco’s glove come down from the sky yet?).  The Mets also won the first ever National League Championship Series at Shea back in 1969 (they won the third of three straight games over Hank Aaron’s Atlanta Braves………….. a rookie named Nolan Ryan was the winning pitcher).  The fans also stormed the field after we beat the Reds in five games (one of which included the famous Bud Harrelson/Pete Rose “brawl”) to win the 1973 NL Championship.  And who can ever forget Mike Piazza’s memorable, cathartic home run ten days after 9/11/01?

Even Yankee Stadium needed some touching up back in the mid-70’s, so the Bronx Bombers became the Queens Bombers for two seasons back in 1974 and 1975.  Back in April of 1988, Shea once again bailed out the pinstripers when a beam fell at Yankee Stadium, causing the Yanks to move a home game to Queens for a day.

Shea also hosted the New York Jets until 1983.  The 1968 AFL Title Game, where the Jets beat the Raiders in one of the greatest championship games ever played, was played at Shea.  OJ Simpson became the National Football League’s first ever 2000 yard rusher (in only fourteen games) at Shea back in December of 1973.

The New York football Giants called Shea their home for one season (1975) while the Meadowlands was being constructed.

Other sporting events included Muhammad Ali’s controversial win over Ken Norton back in 1976.  Anyone remember wrestler Andre the Giant beating Chuck Wepner at Shea in that same year?

The Beatles held the first ever stadium concert at Shea back in 1965.  This concert became a landmark event in Rock and Roll history as this was also their first concert in North America.

Shea Stadium has a history that is unique unto itself.  So please fellow New York area Baseball Fans, do give Shea a second thought amidst all the hoopla surrounding the closing of Yankee Stadium.  There is much to remember, from the Orange foul poles (they are Yellow in all other stadiums), to the upside-down top hat in center field (yes, Citi Field will have one also), to the place where Banner Day was born.  Thanks for the memories Big Shea.

Tags: New York Mets, Shea Stadium