As the Mets look to open their new season in a new park, I look back on the old one. Shea Stadium was home to many memories for many people including my very first game, a 4-0 loss to the Astros behind a complete game from Nolan Ryan. I went to the game with my father, my best friend and his father. Our memories of the game are hazy, but the disappointment of the loss lingers and in many ways brings us together as Mets fans. The game was played on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 1982 and I was eight-years-old.
Some 26 years later I would see my last game at Shea. Fittingly, it was a 9-5 loss against the Cubs. David Wright homered for the 33rd time that season and Kerry Wood recorded his 33rd save.
While I feel like I sat in every section of the park, my first game's seat was at field level behind first base and my last game's seat was a bench in the picnic area.
The tearing down of the old to make way for the new is nothing unusual for baseball. This year the famous House That Ruth Built will move in the shadow of its predecessor and that of the Polo Grounds and the kids will line up outside McDonald's not far from where Jackie Robinson made history in Brooklyn, but the memories will some how remain enshrined in the hearts of millions of fans, some broken, some hopeful, some ready to love again.
1 comments:
I am torn. The sentimental side of me is extremely upset that I will not be able to take my children's children to a game in the same place that I cheered for my team. The practical side of me realizes that Shea was a dump and needed to be replaced.
I have had many memories at that stadium. My all time favorite is a Mets loss. Game seven of the 2006 NLCS. The "Endy Catch" game. I sat in the left field upper decks in the last row. What made it special was that my cousin had finally arrived home relatively safely from Iraq. When he was there, the only real escape that he had was talking about the Metsies. When he and I finally were able to attend that game together, the emotions were high and many tears were shed. I will not miss Shea stadium as a whole, but I will forever miss Row 'V'.
-tom
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