| Vilan Trub. 6th June, 2005 - 2:44 pm
 After reading the ESPN Page 2 list of worst Baseball fields I was surprised and happy not to see my hometown Shea Stadium not on the list. After several seconds of unnecessary glee I recognized the word Shea and immediately followed of course by Stadium under the “dishonorable mention” section of the list.
Dishonorable Mention, how does Shea Stadium constitute a dishonorable mention. Granted it is outdated, most likely violates many health and safety codes, and is painted in oddly chosen colors; it is still a gem in the hearts of New Yorker’s who violently and unintelligibly hate the Yankees, and I say this being such a New Yorker myself.
Built in 1964 for a two-year-old expansion team, Shea Stadium was a long time coming for fans of the former Brooklyn Dodgers, and then, in an even more surprising move, the New York Giants.
After playing two years in the former home of the Giants, Polo Grounds, the New York Mets were ready for a home of their own. The stadium also housed the Beatles 1964 shows, the New York Jets, and even the unwelcome Yankees themselves, while there own landmark of a stadium underwent its first major remodel since its opening in 1923.
ESPN’s Page 2 received 185 letters discrediting Shea Stadium as anything more than the worst stadium in current existence. There were even complaints about the upside down top hat that spits out a Mets logoed apple every time a Met hits a home run. Is this really what it’s coming down to, bashing a stadium based on an apple.
What people tend to forget is the atmosphere at Shea. When fans arrive, and they usually arrive early to see their team play, they come to have fun. The attitude at the end of every win at Shea is the same as that of the climax of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The ritual that I maintain to is only taking the train back home after a loss, this ritual might only seem strange to those who are not from Queens. During a walk back you are greeted by numerous fans and are questioned about the game as if you had just come back from a victorious hundred-year war. Jackson Heights, Corona, Rego Park, all the neighborhoods welcome you as if you are their own, which in reality, you basically are. This is why the train is only for days of a loss; it is far too difficult to look fans in the face as they ask you to explain to them how the collapse of the afternoon went down, it’s easier on the train because they are the ones who already know.
After all of this I can not understand why Shea Stadium makes most lists of unappealing Baseball fields, I can understand the reasoning even less. The arguments against Shea are the same ones used to praise both Chicago’s Wrigley Field, and even Boston’s Fenway Park. It houses musicians, athletes, and even the occasional rivalry. Shea Stadium, to her loyalists, is someone worth defending. |
