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In his weekly piece on baseball history for The Hardball Times, Richard Barbieri gives a brief rundown of the history of Shea Stadium, which will inevitably be overshadowed by Yankee Stadium as both venues complete their service runs in 2008.
Meanwhile, the top baseball story at ESPN.com this morning links to a special section entitled “Remembering the House that Ruth Built.”
…the universal fanfare won’t be there when shea’s demolished…in fact, i wouldn’t be surprised if half the fans are happy to see it go…but as barbieri—a yankees fan, no less—reminds us, shea had some notable moments…
…i think—i hope—that mets fans are trying not to lose sight of shea’s historical value, despite the circus surrounding yankee stadium this year…
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Of course. leave it to the Yankees to steal our thunder and overshadow us at everything. There is only one way to take all of the lime light. Beat the Bronx bums in four straight games in the 2008 WS !!!!! That way the final game at Shea is the Mets winning it all and the final game at Yankees is them loosing :}
It bothers me that ESPN is ignoring the fact that Shea is also going down. I understand that Yankee Stadium has more history but I hate that they are being completely ignorant. Every time I have been watching any ESPN channel I have seen “Remembering the house that Ruth built”. I just hope that eventually do something for Shea.
P.S.
Last night I think on CBS there was a special on Shea so I was happy to see that was on.
Here’s the one thing that bothers me about this whole Yankee Stadium hoopla:
Yankee Stadium is closing and next year the Yankees are going to be playing in a place called Yankee stadium that looks almost exactly the same. In 50 years most people will probably not even realize there was a first Yankee stadium.
That’s a good thing.
Plus….the stadium they play in now is really a rebuilt stadium from 1975 built on the site of the old stadium….the house that Ruth built died in 74.
Whatever ….CitiField looks much nicer than the new Skankee Stadium.
Didn’t go through?
Guess I can’t link a pic in the comments section?
the problem is shea doesn’t have the history of yankee stadium. as much as i hate the yankees, they have 26 championships. they had countless exciting pennant races and let’s not talk about the plyers like ruth, lazzeri, gehrig, rizzuto, mantle, reggie, berra, and jeter. plus the football giants played there.
the mets have two championships, a couple of pennant races and a few noteworthy players with one clear cut legend (baseball-wide) in seaver. i guess you can also throw piazza in there if he goes into cooperstown as a met. heck, the mets don’t even honor their great players so what makes you think that everyone else is going to see the historical importance.
it hurts to say it but the only ones who see shea as an important touchstone in new york history are mets fans themselves. with the coming of citifield and the core of reyes, wright, beltran, santana and hopefully fernando martinez, we just may see a rebirth of the franchise and a further rise to prominence not just in new york but across the globe.
Let’s get something straight once and for all. The site where the current Yankee Stadium sits is linked to history. The edifice sitting there now was almost completely reconstructed in 1974-75. Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle never played there. Reggie, Jeter and Rivera did. The current field is some 4 feet higher than the original and home plate is about 20 feet forward. To remove all the obstructing posts required tremendous re-engineering. The upper stands had to be cantilevered. Once the frieze was removed most true Yankee fans were outraged. So suffice to say, this celebration is a huge marketing job that should have been carried out 34 years ago. For all practical purposes, Shea Stadium is the older of the two parks.
Shea is more special to me than Yankee Stadium because the Mets are the team I have rooted for my whole life. Sure I’m glad they are moving into Citi Field but the idea that Shea is a dump is unfair and insults those of us who grew up in that park. I will always have wonderful memories of Shea and regardless of how many people show up to its demise, I will shed a tear when she comes down.
true, that yankee stadium as it is currently constructed is not the same one but using that argument is faulty because they still won 5 ws in that park to our two in less time. they also have a bunch of great players who’ve played there in that time as well.
i was never a big fan of shea personally, i’m excited to see citi field as the mets deserve a park, not a mutli-purpose edifice which shea was. you can’t honestly tell me that just by looking at pics of both places for comparison, you’re not already salivating at the prospects of seeing a game at a new baseball-only ballpark.
Yankee Stadium undergoing changes is not a fair comparison. Shea looks nothing like it did in 1969.
As far as historical comparisons, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played in Yankee Stadium that link is inescapable and Babe is the most historic player in the entire history of the game.
However Shea has the Beatles in 1964 which may be one of the most well known concerts and it has Billy Buckner which may be one of the most memorable moments in the modern game.
It is all relevant to how well a team does. If the Yankees never won another pennant after 1964 they would view the stadium as an empty shell of its former self. However, if the Mets hosted 8 World Series at Shea it would be full of history.
Bottom line- Yankee Stadium has greater history but I would rather see a game in Shea any day.
don’t forget the beatles played a legendary concert at shea stadium, history that the whole world knows – i’m not american, so i’d heard of shea before i’d heard of the yankees (or the mets).
well if we want to go that route, the clash played shea too. in fact, the video for “should i stay or should i go” has them performing live from shea.
but in purely baseball terms, shea doesn’t have a leg to stand on in terms of relevance. i’m as die-hard a met fan as you will but i’m also a big baseball fan and there’s no way in terms of history of the sport that shea stadium can compete with the likes of yankee stadium.
i understand everyone wants to bash the skanks but outside of new york when people talk about new york, i bet you money they’re going to mention yankee stadium before they ever mention shea and why do you think that is?
i love shea. i have a personal connection to it that has nothing to do with the beatles or the pope or other historical moments people will bring up to somehow attempt to compare it to yankee stadium. guys it isnt. who cares if it isnt. can we stop complaining about coverage here? the yankees are the most famous team in baseball. their stadium has seen almost all of those historical events. shea is not in the same ball park, historically, but it can be personally, so i hope we all enjoy its last year that way.
I wish that everyone, including the Mets themselves, could get past this idea that the Mets don’t have a valuable history worth commemorating. The Mets have been around for almost 50 years and have meant an enormous amount to millions of people. There should be a powerful acknowledgement in the new stadium, and Shea should be getting the attention it deserves in its final year.
If you want to read my tribute to Shea, please visit my site and click on the link to “For Shea.” I am also writing a sequel to my book, Mets Fan, and it is going to be called The Last Days of Shea. Something of immense importance is ending, disappearing, and those of us who love it need to share what we’re going through. The NBC special last night was great to watch because of the wonderful footage they had. But there is a lot more to what we’re feeling and remembering than they got into those 22 minutes.
The way the Wilpons treat mets history is pathetic with a capital “P”!!! They are naming everything at Citi after old Brooklyn Dodger or NY (baseball) Giants related people or stadia (Robinson Rotunda, The Ebbets Club, The Orchard, Coogan’s Landing, etc etc).
Why not name things at Citi after, I dunno, METS people and METS related history? I have no problem with the Jackie Robinson rotunda – he transcends team affiliation and is extra appropriate at the home of the NY NL team – but why not name things after Seaver, Koos, Bill Shea(!), Casey, Gil, Tug, Mookie, Carter, Keith, Rusty, Agee, Bob Murphy, Lindsay Nelson, etc etc etc??
Coogan’s Landing? Ebbets Club? Puh-lease.
No BS;
My brothers and I “grew up” at Shea.
Some of the greatest days of my life and some of the greatest players….not just Mets players, but in baseball.
Such simpler times back in the 60’s and 70’s…
I will cry bitter tears that day
when we say solong to a old friend.
For those of us who grew up in the B&W TV age; you will never forget coming thru the tunnel and seeing that green, green grass; cut just so.
Seaver, Gibson, Mays, Clemente, Aaron, Rose, the list goes on and on….
i was thinking about buying that mini shea yesterday… haha…