matthewweaver.com | mlb ballparks

Ballpark:
A shabby ballpark from the dreaded "Cookie Cutter Era," Shea Stadium is a horseshoe-shaped park that originally housed the football Jets and the baseball Mets. The park became baseball only in 1984, but the team did little to improve the stadium, unlike what the Cardinals did with Busch Stadium in the 1990's.

The outfield portion has a gaudy scoreboard and a few bleachers seats, but due to the layout of the stadium, there is no view of the amazing New York skyline. The park is quite dingy and dirty and - believe it or not - there are many seats in the upper decks covered in pigeon crap!

The intense and knowledgeable Mets fans do make the baseball experience in Shea decent, but the ballpark itself does little to add to the aura. The sightlines are decent, but the park has little character...except for the fans, of course. I'm giving it a break with a "C" rating.

How to get there:
From LaGuardia Airport, follow the Grand Central Parkway South to the Shea Stadium exit. From JFK Airport, follow the Grand Central Parkway North to the Shea Stadium exit. You can miss the place. Its right next to the Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium and the New York World's Fair site (made famous again in the first Men In Black film).

City:
New York City is the largest city in America and one of the world's greatest cities. There are people from all over the world that live there and their cultures seem to mesh seamlessly inside the boundaries of the city. The people that care about sports are rabid in their support of their teams and that showed in the 2000 "Subway" World Series between the Yankees and Mets.

Stuff to do while there:
There are so many things to see and do in New York City that I cannot do it justice here.

Story:
I flew to Islip, NY on Long Island to visit my cousin Jennifer and her husband Tylor. Besides just visiting my family members, I talked them into heading all the way across the island to see the game. Despite the rainy weather, we hopped the Long Island Railroad and then the Subway to reach the stadium. We sat through that huge rain delay and were rewarded with a good game. They were very good sports about the long delay.

I caught a lot of crap from the New York fans due to my Miami jacket. They thought it was a Miami Heat jacket and the Knicks fans were salty about that. However, it was a Miami University (you know, where Ben Roethlisberger played) jacket and I let the meathead hecklers know that.

Fun facts:
The Yankees played in Shea Stadium during the 1974-75 seasons while Yankee Stadium was being remodeled.

The New York Jets football team played in Shea until 1984, when they moved to Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.

When a home run leaves the park, a "big" apple rises from a box that looks like an upside down top hat.

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4-photo Shea Stadium mosaic
May 20, 2000

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Matt outside Shea Stadium
May 20, 2000

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We had a 3-1/2 hour rain delay
May 20, 2000

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The first pitch between the Mets and D-Backs came at 4:35pm
May 20, 2000

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Matt inside Shea Stadium
May 20, 2000