Baseball Shea Stadium was the home of the New York Mets starting in 1964, and it hosted its only
All-Star Game that first year, in which
Johnny Callison of the
Philadelphia Phillies hit a
walk-off home run in the ninth inning to win the game. A month earlier, on Father's Day, Callison's teammate, future
Hall of Fame member and
U.S. Senator Jim Bunning, pitched a
perfect game against the Mets. The stadium was often criticized by baseball purists for many reasons, even after it was retrofitted to be a baseball-only stadium after the Jets left. The upper deck was one of the highest in the majors. The lower boxes were farther from the field than similar seats in other parks because they were still on the rails that had swiveled them into position for football. Teammate
Cleon Jones said the ball was still rising when it hit the seats, so it very likely could have been the longest home run hit at Shea. It came in the second inning, and Agee hit another in the seventh over the center field wall; both solo shots were off of
Montreal Expos starter
Larry Jaster, and the Mets In
1971,
Dave Kingman – then with the
San Francisco Giants and later to play for the Mets on two occasions – hit a home run that smashed the windshield of the Giants' team bus, parked behind the left field bullpen. For many years, the Mets' theme song, "
Meet the Mets", was played at Shea before every home game.
Jane Jarvis, a local jazz artist, played the popular songs on the Thomas organ at Mets games for many years at the stadium. On October 3, 2004, it was the venue for the last game in the history of the
Montreal Expos, and the Mets won Montreal's major league history had also started at Shea Stadium, 35 years earlier. The following year, the Expos relocated to
Washington, D.C., and became the
Nationals. The last game played at Shea Stadium was a 4–2 loss to the
Florida Marlins on September 28, 2008. However, the Mets were in the thick of the playoff chase until the last day. A win would have meant another game at Shea as the Mets were scheduled to play the
Milwaukee Brewers in a one-game playoff for the National League Wild Card berth. Following the game, there was a "Shea Goodbye" tribute in which many players from the Mets' glory years entered the stadium and touched home plate one final time so that fans could pay their last respects to the players and the stadium the Mets called home for 45 years. The ceremony ended with
Tom Seaver throwing a final pitch to
Mike Piazza; then, as the
Beatles' "
In My Life" played on the stadium speakers, the two former Met stars walked out of the centerfield gate and closed it behind them, followed by a display of blue and orange fireworks set to
Fanfare for the Common Man. is visible beyond the outfield wall. Three
National League Division Series were played at Shea Stadium. The Mets won all three, and never lost a Division Series game at Shea. •
1999 against the
Arizona Diamondbacks – Mets won 3 games to 1 •
2000 against the
San Francisco Giants – Mets won 3 games to 1 •
2006 against the
Los Angeles Dodgers – Mets won 3 games to 0 Seven
National League Championship Series were played at Shea Stadium. •
1969 against the
Atlanta Braves – Mets won 3 games to 0 •
1973 against the
Cincinnati Reds – Mets won 3 games to 2 •
1986 against the
Houston Astros – Mets won 4 games to 2 •
1988 against the
Los Angeles Dodgers – Dodgers won 4 games to 3 •
1999 against the
Atlanta Braves – Braves won 4 games to 2 •
2000 against the
St. Louis Cardinals – Mets won 4 games to 1 •
2006 against the
St. Louis Cardinals – Cardinals won 4 games to 3 The decisive seventh game of this series was played at Shea Stadium, marking the only time that the Mets lost the deciding game of a National League Championship Series at Shea. Four
World Series were played in Shea Stadium. • '''''' against the
Baltimore Orioles – Mets won 4 games to 1 • '''''' against the
Oakland Athletics – A's won 4 games to 3 • '''''' against the
Boston Red Sox – Mets won 4 games to 3 • '''''' against the
New York Yankees – Yankees won 4 games to 1 The Yankees' World Series win in 2000 was the only time that a visiting team won a World Series at Shea Stadium. The Mets won both their World Series titles at Shea Stadium (in Game 5 in 1969, and Game 7 in 1986). . Shea had the best attendance in the
National League that year, averaging over 51,000 fans per game. The
New York Yankees played their home games in Shea Stadium during the 1974 and 1975 seasons while
Yankee Stadium was being renovated. The move to Shea was helped by the city and the Mets, with the former helping in setting up office space in Flushing Meadows Park.
Joe DiMaggio participated in his final
Old Timers Day game in 1975 at Shea. On the afternoon of April 15, 1998, the Yankees also played one home game at Shea, against the
Anaheim Angels after a beam collapsed at Yankee Stadium two days before, destroying several rows of seats. With the Mets playing a game at Shea that evening against the
Chicago Cubs, the Yankees used the visitor's locker room and dugout and the Angels used the home dugout and old locker room of the New York Jets. Former Mets star
Darryl Strawberry, by then playing for the Yankees, hit a home run during the game. Stadium operators partially raised the Mets' home run apple signal before lowering it back down, to the delight of the crowd. The Yankees won the game, 6–3. Shea Stadium also hosted the first extra-inning regular season baseball opener played in New York, on March 31, 1998, when the Mets opened their season against their
rival Philadelphia Phillies, playing the longest scoreless opening day game in the National League and the longest one in Major League Baseball since 1926. The Mets won the game 1–0 in the bottom of the 14th inning. The game was eventually completed on September 16, with the Cubs defeating the Mets 5–2.
Boxing Shea Stadium held boxing matches in the mid-1960s.
Football The
New York Jets of the
American Football League and later, the
National Football League played at Shea for 20 seasons, from
1964 through
1983 (excluding their first home game in
1977, played at
Giants Stadium). The stadium hosted three Jets playoff games: the AFL Championship in
1968 (defeating the
Oakland Raiders, 27–23), an AFL Inter-Divisional Playoff in
1969 (a 13–6 loss to the
Kansas City Chiefs) and the
1981 AFC Wild Card Playoff game (lost 31–27 to the
Buffalo Bills). For most of the Jets' tenure at Shea, they were burdened by onerous lease terms imposed at the insistence of the Mets. Until 1978, the Jets could not play their first home game until the Mets' season was finished. For instance, in
1969, the defending Super Bowl champion Jets did not play a home game until October 20 due to the Mets advancing to (and winning) the World Series. As a result, the 1969 Jets opened with five consecutive road games, and then played all seven home games in consecutive weeks before closing with two road games. Even after
1978, the Mets' status as Shea's primary tenants would require the Jets to go on long road trips (switching Shea from baseball to football configuration was a complex process involving electrical, plumbing, field, and other similar work). The stadium was also not well maintained in the 1970s. The Jets moved to
Giants Stadium for the
1984 season, enticed by the more than 15,000 additional seats there. Fans ripped apart Shea after the last game of the 1983 season, which also was the last game for
Hall of Fame quarterback
Terry Bradshaw, who threw two touchdown passes to lead the
Pittsburgh Steelers to a 34–7 victory. Even the scoreboard operator had a field day, displaying the home team as the "N.J. Jets". It was at Shea Stadium on December 16, 1973, that
O. J. Simpson became the first running back to gain 2,000 yards in a single season (and, to date, the only player to do it in 14 games or fewer). In the 1983 season, a Jets game against the
Los Angeles Rams featured an 85-yard touchdown run by rookie
Eric Dickerson, as well as a brawl between Rams offensive tackle
Jackie Slater and Jets defensive end
Mark Gastineau when Slater blindsided Gastineau after the Jet performed his infamous "Sack Dance" over fallen Rams quarterback
Vince Ferragamo. The
NFL's
New York Giants played their
1975 season at Shea while
Giants Stadium was being built. The Giants were that year (2–5 at Shea). Their coach was
Bill Arnsparger and their quarterback was
Craig Morton. The Giants played their final five home games of
1973 and all seven in
1974 at the
Yale Bowl in
New Haven, Connecticut; Yankee Stadium was closed in October 1973 for a massive renovation, which was completed in time for the
1976 baseball season. On the night of October 9, 1965, Shea Stadium hosted the football
rivalry between
Army and
Notre Dame for the only time. The Fighting Irish blanked the Cadets, 17–0, beginning a 15-game winning streak for Notre Dame in the storied series. In 1966, the
Brooklyn Dodgers of the minor
Continental Football League unsuccessfully sued the Jets in an attempt to use the stadium; the team wound up playing on
Randall's Island and soon folded. In 1974, the
New York Stars of the nascent
World Football League also made inquiries to play at Shea, whose schedule was already overcrowded by the Mets, Jets and Yankees (and the following year, the Giants; see below). The Stars also moved out to Randall's Island, playing only a handful of games before shifting to
Charlotte, North Carolina. The football field at Shea extended from around home plate to centerfield, with the baseline seating rotating out to fill left and right fields.
Soccer The first
soccer game at Shea Stadium occurred during
International Soccer League tournament play on June 17, 1965. The original
New York Cosmos beat the
Washington Diplomats, 2–0, in an
NASL playoff game at Shea on August 17, 1976.
New York United of the
American Soccer League called Shea home in 1980.
Concerts skyline in the distance, 1981 On Sunday, August 15, 1965,
The Beatles opened their
1965 North American tour there to a record audience of 55,600. "
Beatlemania" was at one of its peaks at their Shea concert. Film footage shows many teenagers and women crying, screaming, and even fainting. The crowd noise was such that security guards can be seen covering their ears as the Beatles entered the field. The sound of the crowd was so deafening that none of the Beatles (or anyone else) could hear what they were playing. Nevertheless, it was the first concert to be held at a major stadium and set records for attendance and revenue generation, demonstrating that outdoor concerts on a large scale could be successful and profitable, and led the Beatles to return to Shea for a successful encore on August 23, 1966. The next major music event to play Shea Stadium after the Beatles' successful appearances was the Summer
Festival for Peace on August 6, 1970.
The Rolling Stones performed at Shea for a six-night run in October 1989, and
Elton John and
Eric Clapton played a concert in August 1992.
Bruce Springsteen and the
E Street Band ended
The Rising Tour with three concerts at Shea in early October 2003, with
Bob Dylan making a special guest appearance at the final show to perform "Highway 61 Revisited" with Springsteen. Pete Flynn was a Shea groundskeeper who did the improbable by driving the Beatles from the stage to a centerfield gate in 1965, then driving Paul McCartney from the stadium's rear entrance to the stage to perform at
Billy Joel's "Last Play at Shea" concert 43 years later in 2008.
Other events The 1978 International Convention of
Jehovah's Witnesses was held at Shea Stadium from July 12 to 16, 1978. On the morning of the Pontiff's visit, Shea Stadium was awash in torrential rain, causing ankle-deep mud puddles, and threatened to ruin the event. But as the
Popemobile entered the stadium, the rain stopped although the deep mud remained. On December 9, 1979, as part of the halftime show of a
National Football League game between the
New York Jets and
New England Patriots, a model airplane group put on a remote control airplane display. The grand finale was a remote control airplane, weighing 40 lbs, made to look like a red flying lawnmower. The pilot lost control of the airplane, and it crashed into the stands, hitting Kevin Rourke, of
Lynn, Massachusetts and John Bowen of
Nashua, New Hampshire. Both suffered serious head injuries; Rourke survived but Bowen died four days later. Between 1972 and 1980, Shea also hosted a
Showdown at Shea event three separate times, by the then
World Wrestling Federation. In 1980, it hosted a
simulcast of the first fight between Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard, won by Duran. From 1970 to 1987, the
Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) played its annual all-star game at various major league stadiums. The games were interleague contests between the CCBL and the
Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League (ACBL). The 1982 and 1986 games were played at Shea. The 1986 contest starred game MVP and future
Cincinnati Reds all-star pitcher
Jack Armstrong. In the aftermath of the
September 11 attacks, the stadium became a staging area for rescuers, its parking lots filled with food, water, medical supplies, even makeshift shelters where relief workers could sleep. Ten days later Shea reopened for the first post-attack sporting event in New York where the Mets beat the
Braves, behind a dramatic home run by Mets catcher
Mike Piazza.
The Rutles film
All You Need is Cash refers to the ballpark as Che Stadium, "named after the Cuban guerilla leader,
Che Stadium." In the
1966-1968 live action Batman TV series, Shea Stadium was parodied as Spayed Stadium in the episode "Catwoman Goes to College". In 1987,
Marvel Comics rented Shea Stadium to
re-enact the wedding of
Peter Parker/Spider-Man and
Mary Jane Watson. In the 2007 documentary series
Seven Ages of Rock, Shea Stadium was named the most hallowed venue in all of
rock music. In
Godzilla: The Series, the stadium was destroyed in a fight between
Godzilla and the electromagnetic dream monster Crackler. Shea Stadium was used for filming the 1973 movie
Bang The Drum Slowly starring Robert De Niro and Michael Moriarty and the 1978 film
The Wiz. In the latter film, the exterior pedestrian ramps were used for a motorcycle chase scene with
Michael Jackson and
Diana Ross. A scene in the 2002 movie
Two Weeks Notice takes place at Shea. In
Men in Black, a Mets game at Shea was featured in the film, with outfielder
Bernard Gilkey dropping a fly ball after being distracted by an alien spacecraft in the sky. Shea was also featured in
Men in Black 3 which is where K and J intercept Griffin and the ArcNet in 1969 before Boris the Animal can capture it. Shea Stadium was also the setting for two episodes of
The King of Queens: "Doug Out" (1999) and "Catching Hell" (2005). The exterior part of the Stadium is featured in the 2006 videogame
Driver: Parallel Lines.
1975: Four teams, one year and one stadium The Mets, Yankees, Jets and Giants all called Shea home in 1975, the only time in professional sports history that two baseball teams and two football teams shared the same facility in the same year. As Yankee Stadium was being renovated and Giants Stadium was nearing completion, there were scheduling clashes between the four teams once the calendar turned to September. Neither the Jets nor the Giants could play "home" games at Shea Stadium until the baseball season ended for the Mets and Yankees. The matter was simplified when neither baseball team qualified for the postseason; still, there was a two-week overlap as the NFL season started on Sunday, September 21 while the MLB campaign ended on Sunday, September 28. This meant the Jets opened at home on Sunday, October 5, the third week of the season, and the Giants on Sunday, October 12, the season's fourth week. It also meant that the Giants and Jets had to play a combined 14 home games in the final 12 weeks of the 14-week NFL season. To do so, the Giants played two Saturday afternoon home games, neither of which were televised, and both of which were played the day before a Sunday Jets home game. New York football fans thus enjoyed either the Jets or the Giants hosting a Sunday home game every weekend from October 5 through December 21. Shea wound up hosting all four teams on consecutive Sundays: Mets (September 21), Yankees (September 28), Jets (October 5) and Giants (October 12). In total, the "Big Four" drew 3,738,546 customers to Shea: 1,730,566 by the Mets (76 home dates); 1,288,048 by the Yankees (71 home dates); 361,102 by the Jets (seven home games) and 358,830 by the Giants (also seven). Having both the Giants and Jets share Shea Stadium for one season foreshadowed what was to come in the future with the
Meadowlands, after the Jets left Flushing Meadows for New Jersey following the 1983 NFL season. ==Features==