TNMC

Today I travelled down to New York City with the family to see a Mets game. This annual ritual has been part of my life since my very first trip in 1986. The Mets record that year was 108-54, meaning they won exactly two thirds of all their games that season, and yet I still managed to see them lose. I still remember that game clearly, like it happened recently, rather than over two decades ago. The first image is of coming out of the tunnel into the stadium and being shocked by that vivid patch of perfect green grass. Our seats were upper deck, more typically known as nosebleed seats, or Uecker seats for those old enough to know what that means. There was an actual sense of fear climbing the stairs to our seats. That's how steep the deck was and how high we were. We sat behind an old guy who seemed to have learned the workings of the game from the likes of Ty Cobb. "They never gonna win it all if they don't learn how to bunt!" That line stuck in my head instantly and permanently. Perhaps I was amused by his doom saying in a year the Mets won it all. Well, all but that game. They dropped it to the Cardinals in 11 innings. Apparently they didn't bunt.

We'd go once or twice every year and sat all over the stadium. Eventually I was old enough and successful enough to turn the tables and take my dad for once and even scored field level seats for the first time. The Mets have traditionally done poorly when I visited. I believe they were 2 for the 80s and 90s when I was in the house. Luckily things have turned around since I started taking my kids to the games. Those kids have yet to see a loss. And last year we showed up on a day when the kids could actually go down to the field and run the bases after the game. Sadly, this offer was not extended to fathers. But we still were able to go down on the field, which was a thrill.

This is the end of the line though. The Mets are rapidly constructing a new stadium in the Shea Stadium parking lot and it will open next year. Citi Field looks like it will be beautiful and hopefully a great place to watch a ballgame. But it won't be Shea. Now, most people will take that to be a compliment. But it's not. Sure, Shea has some ugly bits and is feeling pretty worn out and unloved right now. But it has history and character, something the new stadium just can't match. Shea has history, not just in general for the club, but for me specifically. It's the first place I saw a big league game. It's marked the progression of life as I went from a kid taken to the stadium by dad, to an adult who could afford to take dad to a game and finally to a parent who can now take his own children.

After the game ended, a sparkling 3-0 victory in which the Mets allowed the Rockies just a single hit, I stood and stared at the field. Taking it all in and realizing that this is probably the last time I would visit this wonderful place. Pretty soon, the home to all my cherished memories will exist only in my mind. I actually had a lump in my throat at the thought. Actually, I can feel it now as I write this. I will genuinely miss the place. An old friend will be passing on. But instead of flesh and bone, this friend is of steel and concrete. And it makes no difference to me, I love it just the same.

Goodbye old friend.

- John Shea

P.S. - As a snotty aside, I'd like to point out that I went to a Mets/Yankees exhibition game at Yankee Stadium back in the 80s and hated it so much that I vowed never to return. And since Yankee Stadium will also be torn down after this season, I can proudly declare it mission accomplished.