Shea Stadium was home to the New York Mets from 1964 to 2008.
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Located in Flushing, New York, adjacent to the former grounds of the 1964 Worlds Fair, Shea was the second of the so-called “cookie cutter,” multi purpose stadiums, following RFK stadium (formerly D.C. Stadium), which opened in 1961.
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Stadium access by subway was behind the stadium via stairs to the Willets Point subway stop.
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The stadium facade was for the most part a series of walking ramps from the ground floor to the upper reaches of the stadium.
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Out beyond center field was a large parking lot which, thankfully, was not visible from lower seating bowl.
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Prior to construction beginning on Citi Field, the area beyond center field seemed almost bucolic.
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Shea Stadium’s home run apple, which rose out of an upside down top hat, sat just beyond right-center field.
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The right-field scoreboard included a lighted-neon panoramic outline of the New York City skyline.
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On a clear, summer afternoon, Shea Stadium was a great place to watch a ballgame.
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The distance from home plate to dead center field was 410 feet, one of the longest in the majors.
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The view from inside the stadium seating area changed dramatically when construction began on Citi Field.
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The juxtaposition of the two stadiums provided plenty of interesting camera angles for capturing the past and the future of baseball in Flushing, NY.
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From 2006 until its closing in 2008, every visit to Shea Stadium was a reminder that the ballpark’s days were numbered.
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It seemed a shame that the team couldn’t have found a way to incorporate part of the old stadium structure in the new ballpark.
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Still, Citi Field does pay homage to its predecessor in several ways. The former site of Shea Stadium is marked in parking lot B of Citi Field.
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Arrive several hours before game time and you should have no problem running the bases of old Shea Stadium.
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In addition to home plate and the pitcher’s mound, each base is denoted with a bronze marker. The figurine etched into the marker denotes the neon ballplayers that once graced the gate entrances of Shea Stadium.
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The home run apple was moved from its former location beyond Shea Stadium’s right-center field to Citi Field’s front entrance just beyond the Willets Point subway stop.
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The NYC Neon skyline was removed from the top of Shea Stadium’s right-field scoreboard and placed atop Citi Field’s Shake Shack located beyond center field.
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Also located beyond the outfield is the Shea bridge, a pedestrian walkway honoring William Shea.
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A plaque on the side of the bridge pays homage to Mr. Shea, the namesake of the Mets’ former ballpark.
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Although Shea Stadium has joined the ever-growing list of lost ballparks, its memory lives on at the Mets’ new home, Citi Field. It’s ghost now sits in Citi Field’s shadow, more specifically, parking lot B.