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Following Sunday’s season-ending loss to the Marlins, the Mets honored Shea Stadium with a post-game ceremony that included more than 40 of team’s most revered players.
To check out video clips from the post-game ceremonies, go 
to the video pages for the Daily News, Newsday and MLB.com.
For some outstanding photographs, check out John Delcos’s NY Mets Report.
…from what i can gather, SNY will likely re-air the post-game celebration at some point this weekend, though they have yet to make that official…
For me, a few specific things stood out…
By giving Mike Piazza such a prominent role, having him catch the stadium’s final pitch from Tom Seaver, then walking off the field with Seaver, just the two of them, with no other players in sight, it suggests the team finally values Piazza in a proper way. It’s Seaver, the team’s best pitcher from their first era, and Piazza, the team’s best hitter from their second era, and then hundreds of other players behind 
them. In other words, I am now confident the Mets will eventually retire Piazza’s number, as they should, in Citi Field – and they should do it sooner than later.
There are a small group of people who seem to think the ceremony should have occurred before the game. From what I can tell, most people, including the city’s most stern media critics, all seem to agree that doing it afterwards was a good thing. I loved the image of Piazza and Seaver making one final pitch, which would have made no sense had it been done beforehand. The fireworks and the shutting down of the light towers, among other elements, all carried an poignant relevance that would not have been the case had it taken place earlier in the day.
The image of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry shaking hands on the infield gave me goosebumps, and 
brought a tear to my eye. Like I have written before, in a way, the excitement these two men provided in the 80s was like a friend to me, and to see them together again was very special.
Earlier in the day, I was given the amazing opportunity to spend time in the Player’s Suite in Shea Stadium, which is like a small banquet hall overlooking left field, where all of the players gathered during the game, before the post-game celebration. It was amazing and yet weird to see all of these men who I grew up idolizing, all within arm’s reach, just acting as normal people. Robin Ventura was not in uniform hitting a grand-slam single, instead he was in street clothes filling up his plate with Chicken Parm. John Franco was not warming up in the bullpen, he was in line for his third hot dog. Edgardo Alfonzo and his wife sat alone at a round table, moving their drinks around in silence, looking like the guests at a wedding who only know the groom through work. Todd Ziele’s hair was a mess, he was wearing a t-shirt and looked like he just rolled out of bed. Jesse Orosco was sporting a goatee, but looked like a jewel thief wearing black pants, black shoes and a black turtle neck. Like I said, amazing, but awkward.
Lastly, the game ended, the celebration ended, and I walked down the ramp with my dad for the final time. I’m excited 
about Citi Field, but there is something painful about knowing you can’t go home again…ever.
The ramp spiraled down to the press gate. I used my credential to walk through the tunnel and on to the field for the final time. It was amazing. There was a delicate hush in the air, as wide-eyed police officers, players, reporters, team employees and others wandered around the infield taking pictures, scooping up dirt and just spending one last moment in their home away from home.
Unable to help myself, I walked up the pitcher’s mound, stood on the rubber, set, and made a pretend pitch to the plate, pausing to look up at the lights, clinging to a sensation that will be as close as I ever come to being a major-league pitcher, on the mound I grew up dreaming about. Similarly, I nuzzled my feet in to the dirt in the batter’s box on the right-side of home plate. In my best mock batting stance, I took a swing, then kneeled down, touched home plate, and scooped up a hand-full of dirt that will help make these and 30 years of memories a bit more tangible.
I left through the tunnel, but not before stopping, turning around, and taking in one last look before saying goodbye.
For other experiences from Sunday, check out Brooklyn Met Fan, Faith and Fear in Flushing and Hot Foot.
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wow do i want hamels to get beat up today
Doc looked great… That was the best moment being a Met fan last Sunday seeing Doc back at Shea… Great to see him get his life back on track…
Good post Matt.
Another thing about people complaining how the ceremony was after the game and not before. When ceremonies like this happen they usually always occur after the game. The Yankees had theirs before the game because it was a night game.
The Yankees ceremony was also at night.
also, multiple callers calling out francessa on his Church comment..but he won’t back down 1 bit
fatcessa said something about someone told him in the mets dugout about Church being unhappy. what a bunch of garbage…… the only thing I know is that Adam Rubin said that church was unhappy with the mets relief pitchers ( sanchez and ricon ) arriving about an hour before saturday’s game.
Is it true they were in a taxi that got lost still looking for the restaurant? :)
I hope you realize just how LUCKY you are, Matt. 99.9% of Mets fans will never have the chance to do that…
you should probably add a couple of more .999’s to that percentage
Matt, I send you my sincerest congratulations on another post well done.
I also cannot tell you how jealous I am. It is beyond words!
Regarding Church why don’t they get some player or Manuel to ask him…
Why doesn’t Mike invite either 1) Church or 2) a beat reporter who has observed Church all year long to come on his show and address the question?
You know why he won’t do it? Because it would put to rest the phony idea, and he instead wants to get mileage out of it. He’s desperate for content to make his show relevant.
Doc did look really good. And I got chills when I saw he and Straw shaking hands behind 2nd base…
Like many of the Shea faithful, I was one of the last I’d say 300 to leave. I sat in my seats until security told me I had to leave and took it all in one last time. Walking down the ramp to leave Shea Stadium was weird. As much as I look forward to being at CitiField next year, I can only imagine that it’s going to be overrun with people doing corporate business and not ‘fans’.
As I was walking to the 7, I walked past the Press Gate when I looked over and said to my friend “Robin Ventura just walked by us.” We chased after him and he gave us autographs as he and Todd Zeile hopped into a back of a black SUV. (I knew I brought that baseball to the park for a reason.)
We went back to the Press Gate to see if we could catch a glimpse of anyone else, but no one came out. However, one of the security guards who had been dropping things and I helped him put it up gave me a handful of infield dirt…If you’re reading this thank you.
So while I’ve had great memories at Shea (Subway Series, double play at home plate, etc.), Shea still gave me it’s best on her last night out…I’ll miss it.
Ksuth, I wouldn’t worry too much about how ‘it’s going to be overrun with people doing corporate business and not ‘fans’.
From they way you wrote it, it makes it sound like you think Citifield is going to be more of a company meeting, rather than a baseball game. All those box seats around the infield are owned by corporations already. ‘Real’ fans are going to find a way into citifield one way or another. There are plenty of real fans who work for corporations who will have seats at citifield, and they will find a way to use those tickets. The real fan will find his way into the new park one way or another. I’m already makings sure I’m a real good friend to all my friends that work at Citi (and hoping they don’t lose their jobs).
Look at MSG as example that you can still have a great atmosphere, even if it’s more ‘corporate.’ Real Ranger and Knick fans still find there way into the building.
I’m a die-hard and most of us STH’s are sitting in the Promenade Reserve IF…
Thats right, plus the honeymoon will be over with the nesw stadium in a year or two. Real fans will always find their way in, no question. We also arent the tourist attraction the team in the Bronx is.
I work at Citi but I don’t get no free tickets.
I’ve often wondered if “real” fans pay the same amount for their tickets as “pretend” fans. :)
Are the ‘pretend’ fans the ones who dressed as empty seats last week?
My family and I drove down from Vermont to see The final Piazza Game and we had upper deck seats. A Dude walked up to us and sold us tickets to the Diamond Suite. When we got there we found out it was the Verizon Box and they had all the food and drink you wanted FREE. All the people there where sales people from Verizon and some where not even METS fans. They all got the tickets free.
I get ya, but I was talking to a friend (a Philly Phan, I know I know) and he was saying how much the atmosphere changed when they moved to CBP. It became much harder to get “cheap” tickets or show up on gameday and find tickets…I’m just hoping that doesn’t happen.
That’s baloney… CBP has a greqt pricing system where most prices plateau around $35…
At Citi, seats that are $35 in CBP will cost $75 per game…
Very well written post! Nice job, Matt.
“I loved the image of Piazza and Seaver making one final pitch, which would have made no sense had it been done beforehand. The fireworks and the shutting down of the light towers, among other elements, all carried an poignant relevance that would not have been the case had it taken place earlier in the day.”
I rather it all not have made ’sense’ if the Mets had one that darn game! The lights towers wouldn’t have been shut down for the last time, and Seaver wouldn’t have been the last pitch. We all would be happier fans for it.
Agreed. (sigh)
ditto on retiring piazza’s number.. i’m glad they gave him such a prominent role during the closing ceremonies. the whole thing was heartbreaking
that whole day was heartbreaking…Unfortunately I was unable to watch the ceremony, but I guess that kept my heart from breaking again.
Well done Matt, excellent piece of writing. Your description of everything just hits home. Our beloved Shea Stadium is going away forever, no matter how bad it was, it was still our home away from home. Keep up the good work Matt, I appreicate all the hardwork you do for this site.
i thought the ceremony was done very well…i thought the last pitch by seaver to piazza was awesome…everyone toaching home plate was pretty cool…i wanted to see someone slide into the plate but i thought it was really cool….at first i thought it would have been horrible after the game but it really turned out great
Sunday pregame I was walking by the Press Level and came upon Ron Darling… We chatted for about 10 minutes or so… He did not have a good feeling about that day…
Post game on the way out after the ceremony, I saw Rusty Staub get into his minvan…
It was a day I won’t soon forget…. And I lost it when ‘What a Wonderful World’ and ‘In My Life’ played…
I think the Piazza focus in the ceremony was also a nice way for the Mets organization to tell the Hall that he should be in a Mets jersey, not a Dodgers jersey, when he’s elected.
amen my friend
Fred Wilpon will retire Piazza in Dodger blue in Citifield.
im actually amazed Doc showed up. I was at the autograph signing the day before at Brunos (btw getting married there gets you a ton of pull at events like that), and they said Doc wasn’t showing up b/c he “missed” his flight. Either way, im glad he was there… LGM ‘09
*glad he was there sunday..
I was going through DC on college visits this spring and stopped to see the Mets take on the Nationals in their new stadium. The stadium is beautiful but I found myself saying, ‘This is nice but I could never get used to this’. The way I see it, it was more of a baseball theatre than a baseball stadium and albeit it was the Nationals, i felt as if there was a lack of baseball atmosphere.
I think that has more to do with the fact that thier are no real Nationals fans. They have only been around for a couple years and most fans in the area root for the Orioles or someone else.
I was also at the Nationals Stadium in August. One thing I found that was outstanding there was the bleacher area before the game. During batting practice , the players in the OF would toss balls to the fans. The Nats players did it and The Mets players as well. It was great seeing Pedro, the Ollie and even Sho tossing balls to lvery ittle kids. Myself and another guy spoke with Jerry in the OF . The other guy asked how many innings will Johan pitch , Jerry put up 8 fingers. I said to better make it 9. He shook it off and put 8 up again. I only hope that Citi-field will have the bleacher area open during batting practice. That relationship between players and the next generation of fans was priceless!!!!!!
Matt,
Try and get SNY to put the whole ceremony online. Those of us out of market missed the whole thing (it wasn’t covered on Extra innings or MLB.tv).
Please!
I second that.
I also second that. So I guess I third that.
fourth that.
Matt: 99.9% of the time, I’d have no problem with them doing the ceremony after the game. Had they gotten eliminated even just a day earlier, it would have been ok. The problem was doing it after the game on the day the team was eliminated from the postseason. It made it bittersweet. Now, I know there’s nothing the organization could have done about that, it’s the players on the field’s fault, but still, that’s where the problem comes from.
For most of us on this blog and in the 30 year old range Doc & Darryl are THE reason we became Mets fans. All you have to say is the numbers 1986 and immediately I think of one thing. The love affair we have with that team is probably unmatched in all of sports.
PLEASE tell me someone had the sense to arrange these guys for a group pitcure at some point that will be available someplace?
Why was there no John Olerud???
i said the same thing .. wouldve been fun to see ordonez too
Rick Reed is the only Met to win a WS game in the last 22 years….
And Bobby V. the only manager…