Shea Stadium Remembered: The Mets, the Jets, and Beatlemania

by Matthew Silverman author of Swinging ’73: B

Few remember that Shea Stadium—and indeed the Mets baseball club itself—arose out of a dispute between two oversized New York City official Robert Moses and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley. While O’Malley wanted complete control over a new stadium and all of its concessions in Brooklyn, Moses insisted that the stadium be built by the city in Queens and leased to the Dodgers. The impasse led to the Dodgers following the Giants out to the West Coast, where The City of Los Angeles granted O’Malley all of the concessions he had sought in New York. With now no National League team in the New York area, the National League office awarded a new franchise to the city in 1960 on conditional that it fund and build a new stadium, which the Mets (and later the AFL Jets) would lease. The stadium was named in honor of William Shea, the person most responsible for returning National League baseball to New York.

Over its forty-four year existence Shea Stadium witnessed a colorful cavalcade of sporting and entertainment events, all detailed in this lively, skimable tribute to a memorable New York landmark.

It’s all the memorable games; the unforgettable characters such as Tom Seaver, Joe “Willie” Namath, and Seinfeld buddy Keith Hernandez; and even the solemn moments such as when Shea was used as a staging area for first responders after 9/11. By the time of its demolition in 2008, the Mets had played more games at Shea than the Dodgers had ever played at Ebbets Field, and the stadium had hosted seven National League Championship Series, four World Series, three Jets playoff games, and the American Football League Championship game in 1968.

Genres: History, Baseball, Sports

256 pages, Hardcover

Published January 15, 2019

Reviews

[Bill Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shea Stadium, for many older fans, has come to represent a bridge between 1950s baseball and today’s game that features stadiums named after banks and players who often seem more concerned with launch angles, hair styles and hugs than they are with advancing a runner with less than two out or catching a fly ball.

I remember Shea as being a cathartic for fans still mourning the loss the of the Dodgers and the Giants, but also as an informal place, kind of hokey and primitive at times, but with none of the superior take it or leave it attitude one was likely to encounter at Yankee Stadium. At Shea, you were likely to meet an usher with his jacket buttons misaligned to the button holes and vendors who merged the athleticism of a Harlem Globetrotter with the wit of Johnny Carson.

This history of Shea Stadium starts with the Ice Age 75,000 years ago and ends with construction of Citi Field and the conversion of Shea Stadium into a parking lot. In between, Silverman hits all the highlight events and key personalities and does so with clear and concise writing. The baseball Mets and the football Jets are the featured players, but Silverman’s text is rich in cultural context and the discussed events include the Vietnam War, the Beatles concert and a papal visit.

Built on a former dump site and the site of the New York’s World’s Fair of 1939-1940, Silverman presents a balanced history (warts and all) for the Shea Stadium era (1964-2008), starting with a piece on the stadium’s namesake, Bill Shea and concluding with the dismantling of the stadium during the winter of 2008-2009. Highlights include the Mets championship seasons and 1969’s miraculous Jets team, but my favorite chapters are those recalling anecdotes about the many characters that played, coached and managed there. Shea Stadium certainly had its low moments (ask Elliot Maddox), including the 1975-76 invasion by the Yankees and football Giants while Yankee Stadium was being renovated. Shea “cuisine”, mascots, airplane flyovers and promotions all receive due attention and most of these accounts are laced with an affectionate and wry humor.

A marvelous book for sports fans, both for those who lived through the era and those who are younger and might want to know what “the ancient ones” are talking about when they mutter about today’s game going to hell in a shopping basket. Matthew Silverman’s SHEA STADIUM REMEMBERED is an interesting, insightful and fun trip back to those less hysterical times before media hype and marketing has emerged to subsume the sport by relentlessly battering both ballgame attendee and TV viewer alike with the grandiose importance of just about everything except the game itself.

Sixteen pages of photographs, most in color. Three appendices (including all time records), index & bibliography (includes youtube video links, one to the infamous Jets-Raiders Heidi Bowl fiasco).

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a useful as a summary of the Mets' history during the years of Shea Stadium (with some obligatory Jets history thrown in) but this book does leave something to be desired. Silverman clearly wrote for a Mets audience, so there isn't always enough detail for unfamiliar readers to fully understand key moments. At times the chapters almost feel intentionally vague, like Silverman was afraid to add too much detail. But if you're a Mets fan and want a brief history of the franchise's Shea years, this is a solid choice.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a trip down memory lane!

I remember when Shea Stadium opened in 1964, alongside the NY Worlds Fair. I remember when the Beatles played at Shea. I was there for Banner Day, Old Timer’s Day, and Camera Day. I was lucky enough to see a World Series game against Oakland in 1973, and I was extremely fortunate to be there when the Mets won game 7 of the 1986 World Series. The stadium was shaking with excitement. I’ll never forget it. I have a small replica of the stadium, complete with the iconic blue and orange “chiclets”, sitting on a shelf in my home.

It was a bucket of bolts, to be sure. The planes from LaGuardia were impossibly noisy, the seats were sticky, and the food was lousy.

But, it was my bucket of bolts! I have nothing but great memories of days spent at Shea Stadium. I will forever proclaim that it never should have been replaced. It was one of my favorite places in the world, just ten minutes from my childhood home in Queens.

[Scott Breslove · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically, it is what it is. You’re reading this book because you’re a Mets fan, and that’s obviously what this book caters to. It doesn’t get very descriptive, but because you’re a Mets fan, you should already know what the author is talking about. There’s nothing really new, or jaw dropping, but it’s a good summation of Shea Stadiums lifespan.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice nostalgic look at Shea Stadium from its first day to its last. So many events happened there and I'm happy to say I was there for some of them.