At the end of the 2008 season, the New York Mets will finally bid farewell to Shea Stadium as their new ballpark, called Citi Field, will be ready for Opening Day of the 2009 season. For most people, Shea Stadium is making a long overdue exit, having had 45 seasons of Mets baseball squeezed out of it. Shea Stadium had none of the lore or magic of a Fenway Park or a Wrigley Field and none of the amenities of the slew of newer ballparks scattered across the country. It was old, it was grimy and truthfully, its bright blue facade and oval structure made the place an eyesore. But, it was also home of the New York Mets, and after years of childhood trips to the ballpark I must say I will miss it.
Memories of Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium will always have a fond spot in my heart, despite some of the truly awful baseball I saw played there throughout the 1990s. The homerun apple beyond the outfield walls was always a favorite, and despite rumors to the contrary, I think that deep down, everybody was a fan of the giant neon baseball players that Shea Stadium was adorned with (see images). From spicy curly fries and ice cream in mini Mets plastic helmets, to level after level of excruciatingly lengthy exit ramps that you had to take to leave the park, Shea Stadium was, despite its inconveniences, a place for baseball fans.
I experienced all views and aspects of Shea Stadium, from $2 upper deck seats to 2nd row box seats behind home plate, to most recently this summer, seats under the mezzanine where the entire outfield and scoreboard were literally blocked from view by the overhanging mezzanine itself. Here are just a few of the more specific memories of New York Mets games at Shea Stadium that I will never forget:
-Before even being a teenager, shouting obscenities and generally harassing Dodgers 1st baseman Eric Karros, for no real reason besides him being the only player in shouting distance.
-Wandering around the ballpark trying to get an usher to let us improve our seats in an eternal struggle which lasted over half the length of the game, causing us to miss all of the game we were trying to watch in the first place.
-Selling an extra ticket to a fan outside of the Shea Stadium gates, only to have him come up next to us inside the ballpark and excitedly remark, “Funny running into you here!” The guy apparently had no concept of the fact that we did not have scattered, random, single seats throughout the stadium but a set of tickets next to each other.
The Final Trip to Shea Stadium
With Shea Stadium on its way out, I knew that a pilgrimage had to be made before time its time was up. My family, including my girlfriend and her father made plans to see the Mets play the Cardinals on Saturday, July 26th (the 31st game from the closing of Shea, as the photo shows). Little did we know that we had a 14 inning, 5 hour struggle before us. The game might not have felt that long if we weren't secluded from all forms of light, time and weather with the aforementioned obstructed view mezzanine seats.
The game began with lifelong minor leaguer Brandon Knight getting a start in the ailing Mets rotation and immediately giving up 4 runs in the top of the first inning. I was further disheartened to learn that the curly, spicy fries that were emblazoned in my memory as a child were no longer available. My spirits were lifted as the Mets managed to storm back and take the lead by the middle of the game… only to promptly surrender an additional 4 runs. Again, in a seesaw, whirlwind of a game in which we were lucky enough to witness the homerun apple appear out of its top hat resting spot not once, not twice, but four times, the Mets again tied the game in the bottom of the 9th. Perhaps, in my last ever trip to Shea Stadium, I would witness some magic?
That depends on your definition of magic. Fittingly enough for a lifelong Mets fan and a frequenter of Shea Stadium, the game was won with a 14th inning Albert Pujols homerun after the Mets squandered away seemingly dozens of golden chances to win the game. Somehow Skip Schumaker (Skip Schumaker!) of the Cardinals managed to tear up Mets pitching for 6 hits. Maybe this was indeed a magical evening. There could be no better way to leave Shea behind than to witness in one game what sums up the entirety of my fandom and allegiance to the Mets: excruciating defeat, false hope and missed opportunities.
Citi Field
Citi Field (see images) is directly adjacent to Shea Stadium, so fans have been kept to date with its progress since construction began. It's largely modeled after Ebbets Field, home of the Dodgers for the first half of the 20th century. One major change between Citi Field and Shea Stadium will be the amount of fans that get through the turnstiles. The seating capacity of Citi Field will be significantly smaller than that of Shea Stadium, dropping down to roughly 45,000 (from over 57,000 at Shea).
While ticket prices for the new stadium will soar, (Although not as high as for the New York Yankees, who will boast $2,500 front row tickets. Comparable tickets at Citi Field will be a ludicrous but not completely off the wall crazy, $495.), one thing that will remain similar is the size and layout of the field. Shea Stadium was long a pitcher's haven, deep to all sides, especially to centerfield. Citi Field will have near identical field dimensions, making fans of the New York Mets and their perennially homerun happy relief core happy.
And how much did Citigroup, Inc. pay for the privilege of owning the naming rights to the new digs of the New York Mets? They paid a record $20 million per year for 20 years to name the ballpark Citi Field, with an option to extend the license another 20 years. That's a minimum $400 million commitment! And as a fan of the New York Mets, I don't care if they're playing in Shea Stadium, Citi Field or Ebbets Field, that's an extra $400 million that better go directly into an over the hill, preferably obese, big name, free agent pitcher!
Sources:
“Top Citi Field Ticket”, Adam Rubin, Daily News
“Citi Field Facts”, New York Mets Website