Kelso, of Editorials from Hell's leading daily newspaper, is a good friend of mine living down in Panama, who is also happens to be one of the biggest fans of the New York Mets. So, when me and my boys Zeb and Rick went out to Shea Stadium to catch the opening game of their three game set against their National League East rivals the Philadelphia Phillies, I thought of him. Circumstances being what they are. it just not possible for Kelso to get to one last game at Shea before it's torn down. Here's a photo essay I put together to bring one last game at Shea to him.
Enjoy!
Zeb and Rick before the game got underway. Zeb is a *gasp!!!!* Yankees fan and Rick is a Mets fan. So, when the game finally got underway, Zeb gets up and shouts "Let's Go Phillies!!!" He's got some pair, that Zeb, and I'm not talking baseballs.
Play ball! Notice the new stadium - Citifield - the background? This pic does it no justice because my Sony Cybershot has no real zoom feature, but the presence of the new structure in the outfield changes the whole feel of being at Shea. In fact, it no longer felt like we were at Shea at all.
No game at Shea is complete without a jet plane taking off from one of the scariest airports in the world -- LaGuardia Airport.
Only true Met fans know where to catch a game -- The Upper Deck!
Can you tell that the batter is Carlos Delgado right before he cranked out a dinger to deep left? Neither could we from the upper deck...at least not without the help of the scoreboard.
Poor kid! How was he to know that five Met relivers would come on in the 9th inning, fall to their knees and blow the game by giving up six runs. His mom told me this was his first game. I could have sworn I heard him say "fucking Jimmy Rollins!" as the final out was made on this pathetic 8-6 loss.
Hey K-man. I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you. Peace bro!
P.S. - The Mets redeemed themselves tonight beating the Phillies 6-3 to move back into a tie for 1st place.
One More Article / Un Altro Articolo
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Over the years teaching at La Scuola d’Italia NY, I have learned that
children are not just students; they are careful observers of the world,
full of q...
6 months ago
I wonder how "true" Mets fans feel about the whole "Citifield" thing. I'm not a baseball fan per se, but I grew up with it as a big thing in my house as a kid, and as a New Yorker (via the Jersey Shore) I feel a certain knot in my stomach at the thought of both Yankee stadium and Shea going down. To me, it's just another example of the greed of the "Owners" who want to sell high-priced, luxury boxes to corporate clients, and to hell the little guys, like your kids whose parents just want to pay a few bucks to see a great ball game with their families. The "Big Sports" mentality is, in my mind, on a par with the stereotypical "Big Business" model.
ReplyDeleteYuppers. What Anita said. I am not a baseball fan.... but I love old stadiums..... Milwaukee's old County Stadium was a great place to catch a game...and I was there more for the 'tail-gate' & the 'hang-out with buddies' than the game.
ReplyDeleteI was able to the Old Comisky Park before it was torn down. Lambeau Field in Green Bay is a fantastic 'old' stadium' though newly renovated.
I wish there was a way to save the old stadiums rather that tearing them down. There should be a way to start a "Save Fenway" campaign right now. What would baseball be without Fenway?
Hey, it was great to take the kids, I'm sure....I hope you didn't spend the mortgage money doing it. ;)
Anita - Rick's a true Mets fan and he can't wait to catch a game at Citifield? Me. I'm dubious about it for both nostalgic and financial reasons. I caught my first ballgame there with my Dad and brother Ralph back in 1974. They played the Big Red Machine and won. I also don't like the fact that with a City rich with baseball history, why they would sell the stadium naming rights to a bank (that's not doing so well these days) is beyond me. I guess it gives them an excuse to double the price of a ticket come 2009.
ReplyDeleteokjimm - I got the tickets for $10 (a steep discount) through the audit professionals association to which I belong. The face value was $40 bucks. Like you, I wish there was a way they could have saved, and perhaps, refurbished Shea Stadium (the way Yankee Stadium was redone in 1974-75) to modernize it. But they gotta have them Corporate suites... Like you, I can't imagine a day when there's no more Fenway Park...add Wrigley Field to that mix as well. But if Yankee Stadium can be torn down (this year), then anything is possible.
It's one thing if a place is legitimately crumbling, but it's all greed. "Oh, the Sonics need to move, they can't compete financially. By the way, Seattle is a first-class NBA city." Sure, Dave.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to take my kids to a Cavs game, but I'm not sure I want to have to sell a kidney to do it. At least baseball is, relatively speaking, sort of cheap. The nosebleeds, anyway.
The Mets broke my heart in 1969. I think I will forever call them the vile, loathe and disgusting Mets. And the only team I hate more is St. Louis. Followed by Milwaukee. Ugh. Mets. Phooey.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I remember watching many games at Shea. I liked when the stadiums were given names that had meaning. I guarantee that next year I will still call the new stadium Shea as opposed to Citifield. Oh well, at least you guys all had a good time even though the Mets stunk up the joint.
ReplyDeleteRandal - I agree. But Shea is not crumbling. I'll admit, it's not an aesthetically pleasing stadium, but it's serviceable. As for taking my kids to an NBA or NHL Game, I agree. I'll take them if someone offers me free tickets or at a discounted price. But once Citifield opens up, the era of the cheap seats in New York will be gone.
ReplyDeleteDivajood - I take it you're a Cubs fan, right. Well, let me ask you this: Have the Cubs ever loved you back? And take heart in the fact that, over the years, the Mets have been broken more hearts in NY than the combined population of 10 Chicagos. And, of course, you're forgetting the 1984 pennant race when Jody Davis, Ryne Sandberg, and Rick Sutcliffe kicked the crap out of the Mets to take the NL East title.
Skippy - I'm so with you on meaningful names for stadiums. But you know as well as I do that the choices were either Shea or the Flushing (NY) Toilet Bowl.
Spartacus, I am NOT forgetting when the 1984 Cubs humiliated and undid the Mets. Jody Davis, Ryno, Leon Durham, Sutcliffe (he's got cancer), Bobby Dernier, Sarge Matthews, Ronnie Cey, Larry Bowa, Keith Moreland, Lee Smith, and, be still my heart, Dennis Eckersley - I lived at Wrigley that year. And the Cubs always love me back.
ReplyDeleteDon't even go there. Do.Not.Go.There. ;)
DJ - I can see why they loved you back. I'd love you, too, if I were a member of the Cubs in 1984. But it troubles me that I had to remind you about 1984 after telling me about your heartbreak in 1969. Now, please don't tell me you were a Pirates or Reds fan in 1973.
ReplyDelete// I liked when the stadiums were given names that had meaning.//
ReplyDeleteoh, oh, oh,....god bless you (or whoever it is that blesses people &stuff!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank You, Skippy!!!
Shhitttt....Shea meant sumptin....Wrigley Field means SUMPTIN.......Citifield....may as well call it Wal-Mart field.
Looka...I still hate baseball....but I love tradition....and some names, traditions ARE FUCKING SACRED....except Cleveland teams....sorry Randal.... :P
Spartacus, Never, Never, my heart beats Cubs pinstripes, my blood runs Cubs Blue, and I have only had one momentary lapse in 1959 when I was a White Sox Fan for a year.
ReplyDeleteBut I was 11, so it doesn't count.
okjimm - Skippy says she'll respond tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteDJ - I wasn't even born in 1959, but there's no sin in momentary lapses. I had one for two three years when I was Yankees fan from 1976-78. Hey... I was 14 and they were winning.
@ ANITA: I'm a true Met fan and have wonderful memories of Shea but the truth is that Shea is a horrible place to see a baseball game. It's just too big. And the sight-lines are screwed-up. It was modeled on Dodger Stadium which is another crappy place to see a game.
ReplyDeleteI saw the original mock-up of the Citifield stadium and it looked very cool. Smaller. Better sight-lines and is kind of an ode to Ebbets' Field.
I don't know WHEN I'll see a game there but I WILL and I'm looking forward to it.
The real problem is not the upgrading of the Mets' facilities, it's NO MORE YANKEE STADIUM. As much as I hate Rudy Giuliani's Girls, I love their stadium. Unlike Shea, it's small and the sightlines are great. You can see the action and feel up close from almost anywhere. Plus, it's one of the few remaining ballparks that's in the middle of a city.
I love going there to root against Rudy Giuliani's Girls, get a Gyro across River Avenue, buy a cap at Stan's and drink in any number of cool Domenican bars nearby. Some of them even have a "gallera" in the back!
@ SPARTACUS: What can I say? I'm crying, bro. My son got me some Mets stuff and he's coming in a week or so to stay for the month of August. As much as I criticized Shea, my memories of the place and fondness for it know no limit. I wrote you before about how Jerry Koosman used to LOVE pitching when a plane had just taken off from LaGuardia. You countered by reminding me how much Keith Hernandez HATED the planes when he was at bat.
I'll never forget my first game there. Tom Seaver pitched a shut-out against Tom Phoebus and the San Diego Padres and I think Seaver struck out Nate "The Iguana" Colbert 4 times.
When I was in 11th grade, my buddy Mikey and I cut school to see a rare mid-week afternoon game against the Giants. We took some mescaline before we got on the 7 and by the first inning we were tripping pretty good. Falcone was pitching for the Mets but I don't remember who was pitching for the Giants. It might have been Bud Black. At any rate, in the bottom of the second the Mets have two outs and nobody on. Falcone's up. The Giant SS blows a routine grounder. The next Met walks. The next Met (it might have been Backman) walks on a 3-2 count. The pitch could have been a strike. OK, so Montanez comes up and the count gets to 3-0. Now, Montanez is a hacker and it gets to 3-2. There are a series of fouls. He's hits a slow tapper to 3rd and it looks like he's out at first but the ump calls him safe and a run scores. The Giant first baseman is holding the ball and arguing while the play is live and another run scores.
Giant manager Joe Altobelli drags this huge cooler of either cherry Gatorade or Kool-Aid onto the field. Kicks it until it opens and spills and runs back into the dugout.
Seeing something like that in any condition is funny. Seeing it with your best friend who's as fanatical as you when you're tripping on mesc creates the kind of laughter you never recover from. You are sure you're going to die from lack of oxygen. To this day, I've never laughed harder.
The next year, Mikey and I were at another midweek game. Just stoned, not tripped. We bought general admission tickets and with a crowd of maybe 5000 against a really weak Braves team, we tried to sneak down to field level but a security guy stopped us. Just as this was happening about 10 little kids get waved through.
We complained to the guy "why won't you give us a break? you like those kids in?" The guy looked at us with the most serious expression on his face, like we had said "God didn't create man; man created God." And he says "THOSE...AREN'T...'KIDS'...THOSE...ARE...THE...MIDGET-METS?"
We just fell out laughing and said "like the players' kids or something?"
He said "No, dammit. Not the players' kids. The Midget Mets! Are you guys retarded or something? Get the hell out of here."
SPARTACUS: I was never a big Willie Randolph fan but at least he's a New Yorker. Manuel's a fool. And my fantasy of Carlos Delgado being a playing manager is ruined.
ReplyDeleteSpartacus: I'm not a sports fan, but I have a good friend from work who is and he is a huge Mets fan. After that game he sent me e-mails that were the equivalent of ripping one's hair out. He had to rant, so he called some sport line to rip the owner a new asshole. Now that's passion. I don't understand it, but I know it's real. Here's hoping the Mets manage to win this year. He's waited so long.
ReplyDeleteP-I-N: During the Subway Series of a few years ago they did a fan attitude poll and not surprisingly the majority of Met fans were Democrats and the majority of Rudy Giuliani's Girls' fans were Republicans. And I assume you know the geographical breakdown. There are only a few areas which are Met country. Manhattan K-town and below. Brooklyn from Fort Greene and Clinton Eastward. Queens and most of Long Island. The rest of the metro area is all Yankee.
ReplyDeleteAs with the Democratic Party, the Mutts always find newer and more creative ways to break your heart, I swear. I didn't think it could get any worse than their blowing game 7 of the Pennant to StLouis on a YADIER MOLINA home run! Not Pujols. Not Edmonds. Fuckin Yadier Molina.
But last year was something out of the Blackwater torture manual. They've got an 8 1-2 game lead on the Phillies with two weeks to play. All they need is ONE EXTRA WIN. There's a game in there against Washington in which the Mets are losing 10-0 and make a huge comeback in the bottom of the 9th to LOSE 10-9. It truly was a slow motion holocaust. I was almost glad Glavine got pounded in the first by Florida, so the whole thing was settled there. I don't think I could have handled a 1-run loss in that one.
I cannot imagine what they've cooked up to torture us with this year.
spartacus, where do these fictions about baseball history get their start? The glorious and sublime past? Those fabled times when young men would have played the game for free, if asked?
ReplyDeleteStadium names that meant something? Like Shea Stadium. Shea -- that's a trivia question. Who was Shea?
Or those sweet days when the game of baseball was free of the greed plaguing it today? For a number of years the Brooklyn Dodgers were inches from bankruptcy and control of the team was acquired by the Brooklyn Trust Bank. The team was run from the bank's offices on the corner of Montague and Court Street in Brooklyn Heights.
Meanwhile, when was baseball ever free of corporate interests? Were the Cubs the property of another owner before Wrigley? I think the only change in baseball is the relative amount of money in the game. The people and their motivations have remained constant.
No_slappz: I agree with you on this one. It's a cultural problem. Every American man thinks that for a break here or a break there HE could be playing a professional sport and would gladly do it for $8/hr.
ReplyDeleteVery few American men think that they can be a CEO of a large corporation or a Hollywood star. So, they don't worry about CEOs' or stars' compensation packages.
i obviously go on vacation and miss a lot....
ReplyDeletei am not a sports fan at all, but the whole world knows that -- but even worse are the stadiums with corporate names. the whole citifield sucks if you ask me, at least the yankees (which are are a big time corporation anyway) didnt name their new park with some obvious name
i still love Enron field in Houston
Kelso - Your response leaves no doubt about your Mets fan pedigree. I loved your stories about getting high and watching a game. And what true Mets fan has not experienced the pain of denial when trying to encroach upon a virtually empty section of the "orange" seats at Shea? I'm glad I've revived those good memories for you. My work is done here.
ReplyDeleteno_slappz - it's been awhile since you've been here and color me unsurprised by your attempt to draw me into a pissing match. But I agree with you on the baseball ownership matter. Ownership greed has always been a part of this game. What better example than the Red Sox sale of Babe Ruth? I am guilty of waxing nostalgic about what is essentially a business like any other. But because the business is a game and not, say, an equities firm, the product had the ability to mask the reality of what baseball and all professional sporting concerns really are. But these days, and this is my own take, it appears that the veil has been lifted and that the business of baseball has subjugated the game.
PiNYC - Oy! That's all I can say about Monday's game. But it was Rick that felt the sting of the loss more than I did. I am nowhere near the fanatic I once was, but I still enjoy a well-played contest no matter what teams are playing. As I asked DivaJood, ask your friend this: Have the Mets ever loved you back?
DCap -
What's in a name? That which we call a stadium by any other name would still house the same teams owned by corporate interests..
Sorry to paraphrase Shakespeare so, but it's the blatancy of the way new stadiums are named that gall me. Nothing says "you're not welcome here" and "go watch it on TV" like a stadium named Enron and Citifield.
okjimm, you jelly donut bastard. Well, I can't argue with you on Chief Wahoo. That monstrosity needs to go. But don't be babbling about Art Fucking (yes, that is his real middle name, I checked) Modell or I'll get Madame President to make you official horseshit pail and shovel man. ;-)
ReplyDeleteEvery American man, Kelso? With ten thousand breaks, I couldn't play professional sports. Well I could, but I'm not sure a GM wants me going 1-for-542 (I'm assuming I'd get an infield hit; law of averages).
i'm not a big sports fan myself, but i tend to keep up (marginally) with the new york teams.
ReplyDeletehowever, i really do hate this on-going trend of naming sports stadiums and performing arts arenas after big corporations.
ok, so citibank spends big bucks to help build a new shea stadium. and pnc bank put its name on what used to be the garden state arts center in holmdel new jersey; coors stadium in colorado (i think??), and on and on and on.
to me, being marginally interested in sports (but very interested in the arts, nonetheless) that makes me less likely to see any particular event.
why can't these people just do a good thing and let the arena or the stadium get the glory and stand back a bit and not splatter their name all over the place.
i'm not saying they shouldn't get any credit or pr out of the deal, but show some moderation and allow the facility itself, the functions of the facility, the history of the facility or the team or the artistic space, be the main attraction, the main event.
i know that's asking a lot and it will never happen, but that's just my $0.02 for the day.
@ EVERYONE: On the corporate naming rights issue, I have mixed feelings. I was the beneficiary of it a long time ago when I owned thoroughbred race horses in England and as the purses are pretty low relative to the training fees, I was happy to let some company called "DANKA" pay me almost my full nut to put it's ugly patch on my beautiful silks: Scarlet and Fawn Diamonds, Scarlet Cap.
ReplyDeleteBaseball is in a unique situation which it exploits to the utmost. It is both a public trust and a trade association of private or public corporations and carries a rare anti-trust exemption. With all of these privileges and with the economics of the game as strong as they are, owners' shouldn't NEED the extra dough from the corporate names of the stadia. The owners are in business to make a profit. The sale of naming rights is allowed by law. The issue's closed, really. The two highest earning teams in the MLB, the Sawx and Rudy Giuliani's Girlz, have enough to keep their original names, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium. We think of Wrigley Field or Busch Memorial Stadium as classic names but they were named after corporate owners back in the day.
The soccer system has an interesting approach. The stadia retain their original names but the jerseys are practically corporate banners. Hard to imagine Boca Juniors without the huge Quilmes Cerveza logo. Or The Arsenal without JVC all over every jersey or Newcastle without the Newcastle Nut Brown Beer logo. Still, the names of the places are cool. Tottenham Hotspur plays at WHITE HART LANE. Fulham plays at CRAVEN COTTAGE (how cool is that? and how funny given what "cottaging" means in slang?). Derby County plays at the oddly-named BASEBALL GROUND.
Sometimes, though a corporate name can fit. I think CITIFIELD suits the Mets well. I think THE "TROP" suits the Rays well.
In horse racing, I think the Marlboro Cup is better than the old Governor's Cup. And I think the Jim Beam Stakes is A LOT better than the Spiral Stakes. During the dotcom boom, the Jim Beam distilleries got outbid for the naming rights of the race and it was known for two years as The www.galleryfurniture.com Stakes! URGH. It's the Beam again.
"The www.galleryfurniture.com Stakes" ??? ... ha ha ... I think I'll stick with Citifield !!
ReplyDeleteNothing beats Fenway in my mind for pure entertainment. Your basically on the field if you get good seats but those will cost you your first born child nowadays. Please don't hate me for being a Red Sox fan Randal...
ReplyDeleteSpartacus, nice site mate. Just stumbled in from Okjimm's. Your comments on other blogs consistently make me laugh so you are now added to our roll. Keep up the good work and let me know if the fence can be of assistance. HEH
I'll ask Spartacus. I think his love for the sport has to do with the love for his dad. It's something they share. Always have.
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved to Providence my husband and his dad reconnected through their shared memories of great baseball players and great games. We made many trips to Fenway where I was carefully and happily instructed about the intricate dance of the game.
ReplyDeleteNow that we're out west we've made a few trips to Safeco in Seattle but it's just not the same.. way too sterile and made-up hysteria.
Ugh, even horse racing got that URL crap? I remember the Insight.com Bowl. The United States of Google.com.
ReplyDeletebradda, Red Sux? Well, at least it ain't The Fucking Yankees. ;-)
Wow! I didn't realize people were so passionate about the names of stadiums. I have to say that the whole naming thing bothers me because of the overtness of it all. Yet, it does not bother me one bit that players on most soccer teams (including here in the US) are human bill boards.
ReplyDeletePiNYC touched on where it comes from. My dad took me to my first professional game at Shea and that is where I took my kids to see their first game. I was just trying to share memories of a place that soon will no longer exist.
And maybe that's it. Maybe the reason why naming rights for stadiums draw such impassioned comments is because of the memories we associate with places like Shea and Fenway and the old Comiskey and Wrigley. I'll wrap it up by saying this -- long after Shea is gone, I'll still have the moments with my dad and my kids.
Bradda - welcome to my site. Thanks for blog rolling me. I'll have you on mine shortly.
@ EVERYONE: If anybody here has kids and is interested in a "real" baseball experience rather devoid of all but advertising for small local businesses, I would strongly recommend taking a family vacation to Florida or Arizona to see some spring training games. Most of the players are really great with the kids. They're generous about signing autographs and posing for pictures and a lot of these guys really talk to the kids not DOWN to them.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I thought Mark McGwire, Matt Morris, Ray Lankford and Mike Timlin when the were with the Cardinals were fantastic with the kids. Scott Stewart and Tony Armas, Jr, as well with the old Expos.
Vladimir Guerrero and Orlando Cabrera were just mean and indifferent.
I really don't care how much money the players make because it happens in a market with willing participants. I don't care if they like to party and screw around on the road because that's what young men do. I don't care if they take steroids. If they want to risk their health for short-term gains, well...they're freed-adult-men; they can weigh it up on a cost-benefit basis and decide.
There is only one thing that I INSIST ON from pro athletes: THE MUST BE NICE TO CHILDREN.
( KELSO above is right- they must be nice to kids..must...)
ReplyDeletegreat post- so envious...so cool to see Shea...
( but the METS ....really???? seriously ? really ???? )
E4E - yes....Mets.. M-E-T-S!!!!! Or as my nephew JB is fond of saying My Entire Team Sucks... ha ha
ReplyDelete