QUEENS, N.Y. — Sixty years to the day of Shea Stadium’s inaugural game — the Mets hosted the Pirates on April 17, 1964 — the same two NL clubs were on a patch of grass and dirt just a long toss away from the site of the old ballpark, which now serves as the parking lot to Citi Field.
Toeing the rubber on Wednesday to throw out a ceremonial first pitch, just as he did 60 years earlier, was the man who started the first-ever game at Shea Stadium, Jack Fisher.
“It was the newest ballpark that we played in,” Fisher, now 85, recalled of the Mets’ former home. “It was just beautiful. Our clubhouse was fine, it was a lot better than when we went to Chicago or Philadelphia. The steps were all put together properly. This was state-of-the-art at the time. We were very happy for it.”
Completed just in time for the World’s Fair, the vast 55,000-seat stadium was the crown jewel of the majors when it opened. It was immediately awarded an All-Star Game in its first season while its 175-foot by 86-foot scoreboard in right field was the biggest in Major League Baseball until the opening of Citizens Bank Park in 2004.
It was also designed with two motor-operated stands that allow the field-level seats to rotate on underground tracks. That helped convert the stadium from hosting baseball to football, which it did with the New York Jets from 1964-1983.
It did have its quirks, though, which Fisher had to contend with during that home opener against the Pirates.
“It was a fair ballpark. I didn’t think that the fences were too short or too far. If you hit the ball well, you could hit it out of the ballpark, but there were no cheapies,” Fisher said. “It was in great shape for being a brand-new ballpark. I did remember when I got on the mound, the backdrop behind the catcher was all cement. White cement. Seeing the ball come off the bat a few times was a little scary, so they did get that painted.”
The most famous of oddities at Shea was the air traffic that bombarded the space above. With LaGuardia Airport just three miles away, low-flying planes were a worrying fixture.
“I could remember more times being in the dugout and seeing the plane coming and wondering if it was going to be high enough to get over the lights to get to LaGuardia and land there,” Fisher said. “There were a couple planes that came close early.”
On that day, the right-hander went 6.2 innings while allowing three runs on 11 hits — including the first-ever home run at the ballpark by an up-and-coming star in Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell, who went on to become a Hall of Famer — with four strikeouts and a walk in a 4-3 Mets loss.
Shortstop Ron Hunt, who became the team’s first-ever All-Star that season and hit the first home run at Shea by a Met six days later also scored the first-ever run for the home team during that home opener.
He was one of the very few bright spots for Casey Stengel’s squad, which went 53-109-1 and often heard it from the fans.
“I remember going out to center field and there was this five-year-old kid looking over here and he said, ‘Hey, whose rejects are you?” Hunt, 83, said with a grin. “We played for the fans. I loved the fans. I still love them.”
But those fans came out and supported the Mets, regardless. Shea Stadium’s attendance ranked second in all of baseball that season with over 1.7 million fans.
“They were absolutely fabulous,” Fisher said. “They could tell that we were trying our best. Boy, when we won a game, it was big time. That was so much appreciated by the ballplayers.”
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Shea Stadium underwent plenty of changes throughout its 44-year history before closing its doors in 2008. The iconic exterior placards were replaced by a blue facade featuring neon-lit silhouettes of ballplayers in various action poses, which became the indelible trademark of the old building.
“I remember always being into that,” Mets reliever and Brooklyn native Adam Ottavino recalled from his childhood days visiting Shea Stadium.
“The light silhouettes on the outside were a staple in my life,” infielder and life-long Mets fan, Zack Short, said. “We have pictures all around my house with me and my brothers and my dad standing outside with it.”
Mitsubishi installed DiamondVision beyond the left-field seats while the walls also changed their hue from green to blue.
But the soul of the structure never changed. Rising from the endless asphalt that was its parking lot, Shea featured a seemingly endless network of pedestrian rampways, an open backdrop at the top of the stadium that made for remarkably windy conditions, and a cavernous layout that often made fans feel far from the action.
The older it got, the more dilapidated it became, whether it was crumbling amenities or an unmistakable smell that greeted the fans during its final years.
“The stands were pretty pushed back at Shea Stadium, particularly the upper deck,” Ottavinos aid. “You felt very far away… but it had a lot of charm to it.”
Serving as the setting for some of baseball’s most iconic moments certainly helped build Shea Stadium’s charm.
The Mets shocked the world by clinching the 1969 World Series there. Four years later, Buddy Harrelson and Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose brawled at second base during the 1973 NLCS. Mookie Wilson’s little roller snuck behind the bag and through Bill Buckner’s legs at first base to end one of the most remarkable World Series games ever in 1986.
Tom Seaver, Keith Hernandez, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter, Mike Piazza, and David Wright called it home.
Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 was retired in perpetuity there by MLB commissioner Bud Selig, President Bill Clinton, and Rachel Robinson in 1997. It hosted Robin Ventura’s “Grand Slam Single” in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS, and a portion of the first and only Subway Series Fall Classic since 1956 in 2000 when the Mets fell to the Yankees.
“I went to Game 5 of that World Series with my dad,” Short, who was five years old at the time, said. “I remember walking up to the upper deck. I don’t know why, but I asked my dad recently why we sat all the way up there and he said ‘You wanted to.’
“It’s funny, today I actually went up to the upper deck here and it’s pretty cool being up there… I always have a soft spot for the upper deck, but man it’s pretty windy up there.”
For more on the Mets and Shea Stadium, visit AMNY.com
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