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The beginning of the end for Shea Stadium

By Ryan Chatelain, amNewYork Associate Editor | ryan.chatelain@am-ny.com

April 8, 2008

The New York Mets field crew put the last final touches on the field at Shea Stadium. The Mets final home opener at Shea Stadium (as Shea will be torn down to make way for Citi Field) is scheduled for Tuesday 8, 2008 at 1pm against the Philadelphia Phillies. (RJ Mickelson / April 7, 2008)

Ron Darling had just broken his thumb fielding the bunt single that ended his no-hit bid in the sixth inning. He headed to the hospital, first making the trek to his car parked behind Shea Stadium's famed center-field apple. Just then, St. Louis' Terry Pendleton delivered a game-winning, two-run homer that bounced off Darling's car before striking him.

"I not only broke my thumb that night, but that it was a double-whammy that Pendleton's home run ended our chances ... and hit me as I was going to the hospital," said Darling, a Mets pitcher from 1983-91.

Shea Stadium is set to host its final home opener Tuesday, which will follow a pregame ceremony to honor the arena's namesake, lawyer William Shea. While the stadium may lack the history of its cross-town counterpart, it still packs plenty of memories -- and as Darling proves, not all of them worthy of the highlight reel.

But despite having a special place in their hearts for the big blue mecca in Flushing, fans and past players say they welcome a new Mets home.

Next April, the Amazin's will move next door to Citi Field, which boasts improved sight lines as well as restaurants and lounges with views of the diamond. The 45,000-seat, $800 million new stadium's exterior will be modeled after the Brooklyn Dodgers' Ebbets Field.

"You're driving a VW Bug, and you've got a Maserati in the parking lot," Darling, now a Mets television analyst for SNY, said in comparing the two stadiums. Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964 and is often criticized today as an outdated, cookie-cutter multi-purpose arena, will be torn down to make room for a Citi Field parking lot.

"Everyone loves Shea, but it's a dump," said fan Owen Molloy, 28, of Inwood. "We need an upgrade."

The Amazin's enjoyed four World Series runs at Shea, including the two years -- 1969 and 1986 -- when they won it all. The Jets called it home for nearly two decades starting in 1964. The Yankees and Giants even temporarily sought shelter there in the 1970s while their stadiums were undergoing work. Shea also hosted one of the Beatles' most famous concerts in 1965 and a visit from Pope John Paul II in 1979.

But most will remember Shea as the Mets' house, and its defining moment came in 1986 when a ground ball skipped between Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner's legs, allowing the Mets to rally for a World Series Game 6 victory. The Amazin's capped their second world title two nights later.

For Ron Swoboda, an outfielder best known for his game-saving diving catch in Game 4 of the '69 Series, his fondest Shea memory is the unique connection shared between players and fans in the stadium's early years -- cultivated in part by the now-defunct banner days, when fans paraded large homemade signs around the field before games and players judged them.

"The fans back then had an incredible level of expression that was allowed," said Swoboda, now a radio announcer for the Mets' Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans. "We felt like we knew the fans, and they knew us in Shea."

Even though, by all accounts, Citi Field will be a superior venue to Shea, that doesn't mean saying goodbye will be easy for Eddie Boison, who as the "Cowbell Man," strolls Shea while beating on a cowbell in an attempt to rouse the home crowd into a chorus of "Let's go, Mets."

"I'm going to miss the old girl," said Boison, 50, of the Bronx. "It's the only stadium I've gotten to know."

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Shea, Hey!

Opened: April 17, 1964

Named after: William Shea, a lawyer instrumental in bringing National League baseball back to New York

Seating capacity: 55,777

Field dimensions: 338 feet to left field, 410 to center, 3338 to right

Construction cost: $25.5 million

World Series hosted: 4