It’s a trend that’s not only happening here in Flushing, but over in the Bronx and across the country. Newer, not necessarily bigger, but oh so much more expensive ballparks for baseball, basketball, football, and even soccer teams.
The New York Mets have played in Shea Stadium for 45 years. Shea Stadium is literally in my backyard. From my sixth floor apartment window in Flushing, I can see the lights. With a pair of binocluars, I can see the game and fans in attendance. It’s no surprise that I’m one of the biggest Mets fans there are.
So when the Mets played their final game ever at Shea Stadium on Sept. 28th, guess where I was? That’s right, upper deck behind home plate. I wasn’t going to miss this for anything.
The game was rain delayed for a good hour or so and when the tarp came off the whole place erupted, because surely we were going to win and make the playoffs. The Cubs and Brewers score only strengthened that belief when the crowd of over 55,000 saw 1-0 Cubs lead. My team, the Mets, came out firing against the Marlins, a division foe. Then it seemed that Oliver Perez got hurt from a stray hit via Dan Uggla. From there everything got blurry. It was last season all over again. The Marlins took the lead, the Cubs blew their lead, and before I could stop yelling and cursing, the game was over. To say that the environment was enraged is an understatement. I’ve never seen Shea Stadium so let down, so blatantly blunt and profane, so… delusional.
The post game called for a ceremony bringing back Met Hall of Famers and some of the most famous players to ever dawn a Mets jersey. A third of the fans left after the final out in the 9th. The guy sitting to my left, a season ticket holder, who had at least seven beers, booed Shea on its final day. He booed the Mets. He booed and booed and then finally he started chanting Moo. The ceremony started. Moo was the chant for Mookie Wilson, a great Mets outfielder in the 80’s. He came out along with Yogi Berra, Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza to name a few. The Hall of Famers came out, lined up for autographs and while some still booed, most were clapping and cheering and crying for the faces they grew up loving. The players then stepped on home on last time and Tom Seaver threw out a final pitch to Mike Piazza and walked to the outfield and kissed and waved good night to Shea forever.
The Mets aren’t the Yankees, they have two World Series championships compared to 26, but the Mets are still my team. Great memories in my nine years as a Mets fan and more to come. Welcome to the family Citifield, and may the memories start anew in six months.
