Craig Mitchell -- Shea Stadium, 50 years of Memories.....

While the Mets search for their 2014 identity. I find myself thinking of something. No, it’s not whether the Mets should have traded Lucas Duda instead of Ike Davis or whether Anthony Recker should start over Travis d’Arnaud or even if Chris Young should be relegated to part time to accommodate Juan Legares.

It’s why the Mets had a 50^th anniversary party for a structure they tore down almost 6 years ago.

This past weekend the Mets paid homage to their former home by rolling back their box seat prices on the promenade deck to the 1964 price of $3.50. This is plainly a testament to the love of Shea. Meanwhile like this year’s Mets, Citi Field also is struggling for an identity of its own.

Built to be reminiscent of Ebbets Field and also designed to pay homage to the history of National League baseball in New York, Citi Field has had a tough time shaking the shadow of Old Shea. In 2009 Citi Field was discovered to the horror of most Met players and Met fans to not only be bigger in dimension, but also played bigger than Shea, way bigger, and Shea was considered a pitchers park to boot.

In 2009 Citi Field was blamed for the biggest Met power shortage since the late 70’s to early 80’s. The Mets only managed 95 homers on the entire year, led by 12 homers by Daniel Murphy. David Wright went from hitting 30 and 33 homers in the previous two seasons managed only 10 in 2009 as the Mets won just 70 games.  Club officials claimed it was a “mental” thing and that the players were being psyched out by the dimensions. Well, after the 2011 season, a season where the Mets only managed 108 homers (led by 15 by Carlos Beltran) the walls were moved in to make Citi a bit cozier.

But still, Citi Field, with all its amenities has not grown on the average Met fan as of yet. There are several reasons for that. One is, Citi is modeled after the Dodgers old home and even features The Jackie Robinson Rotunda.  It does house The Met Hall of Fame and Museum, but fans have questioned the rotunda. Sure, Jackie Robinson is a giant in the world of baseball and probably deserves a museum all to himself. Wouldn't this rotunda be more at home in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium? The home of the team he actually played for.  A Willie Mays rotunda would have been more fitting. Mays famously played his last two seasons for the Mets and also played his early career in the Mets first home The Polo Grounds. (Just a thought)

But I digress. All of the above can be considered minor to moderate quibbles.  The biggest reason why Citi Field lacks a connection with its fans lies in the fact that it had a hell of a tough act to follow.  Shea Stadium became the grandstand for an improbable movement that showcased the Mets blossoming from a joke to a champion. While being created in an era of “Cookie Cutter” ball parks Shea managed to completely ingrain itself on the fan base with a personality all its own,  quirks and all.

With its proximity to the LaGuardia airport glide path a visit to Shea would feature the regular drone of 707’s, 727’s and even 747’s as they came in for a landing. (That’s the same with Citi Field obviously)  Opposing players hated it,  as did some of the Mets players, however some of the pitchers loved it. The loud flying metal birds were a big part of the Shea home field advantage. Tom Seaver admitted to timing his pitches with the approach of planes hoping to blow one by a player preoccupied and unnerved by the 100 decibel distraction. Hell, even video games featured the occasional planes flying by. (Talk about an added feature)

Shea was an incredibly exciting and loud place to be. When the Mets were hot there wasn’t a better place to watch a game.  When the fans got up on their feet and started chanting and clapping you could feel the stadium move and sway. It was alive. Fans noticed it, the players noticed it. The Mets were buoyed by it.

From opening day 1964, to Billy Joel in 2008 there was a lot of history packed into Shea in those 44 years. Mostly it was what happened during games that get romanticized the most.  Starting in 1964 the list is impressive

April 17^th 1964 – Mets open their new park.  Jack Fisher faces Bob Friend. The Pirates win 4-3.

April 19^th 1964 – Mets first win at Shea. Al Jackson throws a 6 hit shutout as the Mets blank the Pirates 6-0.

July 21^st 1964 -- The Phillies Jim Bunning tosses a perfect game in the first game of a Father’s day double header.

July 7^th 1964 – Johnny Callison hits a game winning 3 run homer off Dick Radatz to give the National league a 7-4 in the All-Star Game.

August 15^th, 1965 – The Beatles play at Shea Stadium

July 9^th 1969 – Tom Seavers imperfect game. He retired 25 straight Cubs only to have Jimmy Qualls break up the perfect game with a single to right.

September 24^th 1969 – The Mets clinch the National League East Title

October 6^th 1969 – The Mets beat the Braves 7-4 to win the very first NLCS and advance to the World Series.

October 16^th 1969 – the Miracle Mets beat the Orioles 5-3 in Game 5 to become the 1969 World Series Champs

April 22^nd 1970 – Tom Seaver strikes out 10 straight Padres and goes on to set a NL record with 19 strikeouts.

May 14^th 1972 – Willie Mays plays his first game as a Met.

October 9^th 1973 – The Mets beat the Reds 7-2 in a decisive game 5 of the NLCS to go on to face the Oakland A’s in the World Series.(The day before Pete Rose and Bud Harrelson had their famous fight at 2nd base)

April 9^th 1985 – Gary Carter hits a bottom of the 10^th walk off home run off the Cardinals Neil Allen in his Met debut on opening day.

September 17^th 1986 – the Mets beat the Cubs behind Doc Gooden to Clinch the NL East title.

October 11^th 1986 – Lenny Dykstra hits a walk off 2 run homer in the bottom of the 9^th to beat the Astros 6-5 in Game three of the NLCS

October 25^th 1986 – the Mets stage a miraculous comeback to win Game 6 of the World Series

October 27^th 1986 – The Mets beat the Red Sox 8-5 to win their 2^nd World Series Title.

October 9^th 1999 – Todd Pratt hits walk off homer in game 4 of the NLDS to beat the Diamondbacks.

October 17^th 1999 – Robin Ventura hits his famous “Grand slam single” in the bottom of the 15^th inning to beat the Braves in Game 5 of the NLCS.

October 7^th 2000 – Benny Agbayani hits a solo homer in the bottom of the 10^th to beat the Giants in Game 3 of the NLDS.

October 8^th 2000- Bobby Jones 1 hits the Giants as the Mets win 4-0 and advance to the NLCS.

September 21^st 2001 – Mike Piazza hits a titanic home run to center field to help lead the Mets to victory inNew York’s first game back after 9/11.

July 16^th, 18^th 2008 – Billy Joel’s last play at Shea.

Citi Field is only just beginning its 6^th season.  By Shea’s 6^th season they were raising a World Series banner already, but time will be the tale of the tape for Citi Field. For now and for the foreseeable future it lives in the shadow of Shea Stadium. Gone 5 years and it’s like remembering an old friend.  I personally have never been in Citi Field; I have only seen it on TV.  I will rectify that one day. Until then my memory of Shea is vital and fresh to me. Citi Field has had a rocky start. I have a feeling the next few years that all will change drastically.