Shea Stadium And New York Mets Finished
Mets Lose Playoff Spot On Final Game At Flushing Ball Park
Sep 30, 2008
The fictional baseball gods use to smile on the New York Mets.
Now, it seems like they are paying the team back to all the good fortune bestowed upon them.
The Mets played their last game at Shea Stadium last Sunday, losing a 4-2 game to the Florida Marlins to be eliminated from the National League playoffs.
New York suffered a similar fate last year, losing to the same Marlins on the last day of the season, allowing the Philadelphia Phillies to win their first of consecutive National League East championships.
After this year's heartbreaker, the Mets went ahead with a ceremony closing their home since 1964. Past players from the team's 46 year history were on hand, including members of the World Series Champions of 1969 and 1986 and National League champions of 1973 and 2000.
The Mets did all of their winning at Shea Stadium and are still called "The Amazing Mets" for the miracle seasons they had with most of their winning teams.
Now, the Mets are known for choking when it matters the most.
They will go into their new stadium, Citi Field, hurting from their last two seasons at Shea Stadium.
Site of Shea Stadium meant for Brooklyn Dodgers.
The New York Mets came into existence in 1962. They were an expansion team and were meant to fill the void left by the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, the cities two National League teams, that moved to San Francisco and Los Angeles respectively in 1957.
Before the Dodgers moved, the franchise was considering building a new stadium to replace Ebbets Field.
However, the borough of Brooklyn did not have enough available land for the Dodgers to build.
The current site of Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadow, was offered to the Dodgers.
However, Flushing is in the borough of Queens and outside of Brooklyn. The Dodgers turned down the deal and took the offer from Los Angeles.
New York Jets at Shea Stadium
The Mets played its first two seasons in the Polo Grounds, the former home of the New York Giants, and moved into their brand new park in 1964 in conjunction with the Worlds Fair held in the same location. The globe from that world's fair is still standing.
The New York Titans of the American Football League also moved from the Polo Grounds to Shea Stadium, The team was renamed the Jets, because LaGuardia Airport is nearby.
The Jets moved out of Shea Stadium in the early 1980's to share the New York Giants stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
New York Mets at Citi Field
The Mets will still play their games in Flushing in 2009 since their new stadium is being built beyond the outfield fence at Shea Stadium.
Shea Stadium will then be imploded to make way for a parking lot of the new digs.
The main entrance of Citi Field will feature a replica design of Ebbets Field to remind New Yorkers of its baseball past.
