Why it was built?

• The New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers left New York after the 1957 season.

• Since the Giants and Dodgers left the only team in New York was the Yankees

• There was no National League team in New York and many Dodgers and Giant fans refused to root for the Yankees.

• William A. Shea an attorney was an important figure in bringing a National league team to New York

• The new stadium would be named after Shea for what he did

• www.mets.com

Location, Location, Location

• One of the reasons that the Brooklyn Dodgers left New York was because they wanted to build a new stadium and they were very particular about where it should be and didn’t want it in Flushing.

• The location of Shea Stadium was going to be at one of the spots the Dodgers were shown, in Flushing Meadows, Queens. It is located close to the Worlds Fair.

• They didn’t anticipate that the flight paths from LaGuardia would take planes over Shea during the summer

• The Newly established New York Mets would play at the Polo Grounds for 2 years

Construction• Shea Stadium would be built with a “cookie cutter” design, a

popular design in the 60’s and 70’s. But unlike most other “cookie cutters” the stadium ends just after the foul poles.

• At one point a roof was proposed but it was scrapped due to cost overruns.

• It cost $28.5 million and first opened on April 17, 1964• It had 2 movable stands in order to convert from baseball to

football

Teams

• Many people forget that the Mets aren't the only team to play at Shea. The Jets called Shea home from 1964-1983

• The New York Yankees played at Shea during the 1975 and 1976 seasons. They were awaiting the completion of renovations to Yankee stadium.

• In 1975 the Giants played at Shea while waiting for their new stadium to be completed

• In 1975 both baseball teams and both football teams played at Shea for home games.

Layout

• Shea had 4 different levels, they were different colors. Most recently the colors were orange, blue, green and red.

• The field level was able to swivel out in order for them to be parallel for football games. It was the first stadium that could do that.

• It had one of the highest upper decks in the majors (noise bleeds)

• Shea was a pitchers ball park because it was difficult to hit homeruns out of.

Some memorable momentsIn 1969 after never finishing above 9th place the Mets win the World Series against the heavily favored Orioles. That team is remembered as the Miracle Mets.

The Beatles played at Shea for over 60,000 fans on August 15, 1965, they returned again in 1966.

December 10, 1983 the final jets game at Shea is played

Game 6 of the 1986 world series, Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner lets a grounder up the first baseline go through his legs causing the winning run to score. The Mets win the World Series in game seven.

More memorable moments• April 15, 1997 Jackie Robinsons number is retired by all clubs. Bill Clinton

and many of the Robinson family attend a ceremony at Shea

• October 19 2006 – The last playoff game at Shea stadium is played. The Mets lose to the Cardinals but The game is remembered by one of the greatest catches in playoff history made by Endy Chavez. ( By the way I was there)

• July 2008, Billy Joel plays the last two concerts to be held at Shea

Shea and 9/11

• After the events on 9/11 Shea stadium was set up as a relief center. Food, supplies and temporary lodging was set up in the parking lot

• On September 21, 2001 the Mets played the first regular season sporting event against the Atlanta Braves. It showed the world that we were ready to move on.

Demolition• After the 2008 baseball season the demolition of Shea

stadium commenced. • The Seats were sold off to those who wanted them as

memorabilia• It had to be taken down piece by piece because a full

demolition isn't allowed in New York, Plus it was too close to Citi field anyway.

New Era

The 2008 baseball season was the last for Shea

The New York Mets would move into their new home Citi Field

The front resembles the façade of Ebbets field home of the Brooklyn Dodgers

Questions?