Shea Stadium -
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Recent
Visits |
Al Lang Field, Tampa Bay
Rays
St.
Pete's Al Lang Field has been in the news a lot
lately, but for the wrong reasons: the Tampa Bay
Rays will train there one last time in 2008 before
shifting spring operations to Charlotte County in
2009, and the old ballpark is slated to be torn
down to make way for a new waterfront home of the
Rays. Now, Al Lang Field isn't the same venue it
was in the 1940s and 1950s when it was a landmark
in spring training, but it's still a great place
to catch a spring-training game. We hope the Rays
catch the spirit of the original Al Lang in their
designs for a new ballpark, For the rest of us, a
trip to Al Lang Field will be a mandatory event in
Spring Training 2008.
Trustmark Park, Mississippi
Braves
There's
nothing wrong with Trustmark Park, the home of the
Mississippi Braves (Class AA; Southern League).
The wraparound concourse, luxury
boxes, big scoreboard and varied concessions are
all standard issue for a new minor-league ballpark
these days. So why aren't we more excited about
the two-year-old ballpark? Because there's nothing
unique about it: except for a few Southern menu
items at the concessions, there's nothing to link
the ballpark to its surroundings. At a Mississippi
Braves game, you could be watching a game anywhere
-- and going local is one of the great joys of the
minor leagues. Dustin Mattison reports.
Alliance Bank Stadium,
Syracuse Chiefs
The
biggest news at Alliance Bank Stadium, the home of
the Syracuse Chiefs (Class AAA; International
League): the current artificial turf will be
replaced by real grass. That's good news for
Syracuse baseball fans in terms of aesthetics, as
well as players who need to field on an old,
sometimes unpredictable surface. Otherwise,
Alliance Bank Stadium is a perfectly serviceable
ballpark: the Chiefs front office does things the
old-fashioned way (i.e., not much in terms of
between-innings shenanigans), but the ballpark is
a comfortable place to watch a game, and the food
is pretty good. Steve Kapsinow reports.
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The
Fine Print |
Obligatory legal information:
This site is copyright 1998-2007 Kevin Reichard/August
Publications. All rights
reserved. My wife is a lawyer, so she will come and chop off
your hand in a legal fashion if you rip off this site
in any form. All logos are the property of their respective
owners. |
Broadcasts |
Virtually every MiLB team now streams broadcasts over the
Internet, which makes it easy to follow your favorite team when
you're on the road. In addition, you can catch MLB game broadcasts at
MLB.com or via XM Radio.
More
on Internet radio and TV broadcasts here! |
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Shea Stadium / New
York Mets
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
Year Opened |
1964 |
Capacity |
57,369 |
Architect |
Praeger-Kavanaugh-Waterbury |
Dimensions |
338L, 378LC, 410C, 378RC, 338R |
Playing Surface |
Grass |
Last Visit |
2005 |
Ticket Line |
718/507-TIXX |
Web Site |
mlb.com |
Online Broadcasts |
Yes |
Online Ticket Sales |
Yes |
Phone |
Praeger-Kavanaugh-Waterbury |
Ticket Prices (2006) |
Inner Loge Box, $60; Inner Field Box, $55; Outer Field
Box, $41; Outer Loge Box, $41; Mezzanine Box, $41; Loge
Reserved, $36; Mezzanine Reserved, $27; Upper Box, $27;
Upper Reserved, $16; Loge Reserved, Back Rows, $16;
Mezzanine Reserved, Back Rows, $16 |
League |
National League |
Parking |
Shea Stadium tends to be a favorite of suburban baseball
fans for two very good reasons: it’s easily accessible
by car, and there is a sea of parking surrounding the
ballpark. Parking is inexpensive by major-league
standards: $12 for cars. |
Address/Directions |
123-01 Roosevelt Av., Flushing, NY.
The ballpark is located
between Grand Central Parkway and the Van Wyck
Expressway. Both are major arteries; Grand Central
Parkway goes into Manhattan (via the Triborough Bridge)
from Queens. Whitestone Expressway, which runs north of
the ballpark, is a major highway servicing Connecticut.
From New Jersey, take the George Washington Bridge to
the Deegan Expressway; from there go to the Triborough
Bridge and onto the Grand Central Parkway to the
ballpark. You don’t need a lot of specialized
instructions to find the ballpark via highway: it is
easy to find. You can also take the #7 line from midtown
Manhattan directly to the ballpark.. |
Written by: |
Jim
Robins |
Rating |
|
By any measure, Shea
Stadium is the ultimate testament to 1960s stadium
architecture. Its unyielding symmetry elevates
form over function. The outside view of Shea
Stadium is very attractive with a circular layout
and an open center field: it does look better from
a distance as an abstract sculpture, as anyone who
has flown in or out of LaGuardia Airport can tell
you.
In a day and age where naming rights are a
lucrative source of income, Shea Stadium retains
its original moniker: it was named after William
Shea, an attorney who worked to bring National
League baseball back to New York City after the
Giants and the Dodgers fled for the West Coast. To
be precise, Shea appeared destined to be a founder
of the fledging Continental League (along with
Branch Rickey), which looked to put a team in the
Polo Grounds and cities lacking major-league
baseball (Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul,
Toronto, Denver), but the seriousness of the
competitive threat was enough to propel expansion
plans forward in order to thwart the upstart
movement. It worked, and the Continental League
never launched.
Shea Stadium, of course, was built to house the
expansion New York Mets, who entered the National
League in 1962. The Mets played in the Polo
Grounds until Shea was ready to inhabit in 1964, a
full year behind schedule. In fact, the Mets held
a going-away ceremony at the Polo Grounds at the
end of the 1962 season in anticipation of moving
into a new ballpark in 1963. But Shea Stadium
wasn’t completed in time, consigning the Mets to
one final season at the venerable Polo Grounds
before moving to Shea in 1964. In retrospect, the
timing was good, as the team rode on the World’s
Fair momentum and drew 1.7 million fans in that
first year.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
The
most distinctive features of Shea Stadium are a
right-center scoreboard that is still one of the
largest in the majors and a Big Apple that rises
from a black top hat when a Met hits a homer.
Relatively few changes have been made to Shea
Stadium over the years, except for the addition of
luxury boxes in 1985. Due to the circular design
of the stadium, though, the arrangement does not
allow for the luxury suite experience you expect
to find in a modern stadium. In 2005, the Mets
debuted four new full-color LED displays at Shea,
including two new ribbon boards on the press level
fascia and a color message center above the ticket
windows between Gates D and E.
Interestingly enough, Shea Stadium is served by
public transit but nearby LaGuardia Airport is
not. That can be explained by the history of the
area. Though Shea is surrounded by parking lots
and auto-salvage businesses to the east, it was
adjacent to the grand 1964 World's Fair when first
constructed, and the subway was one of the few
ways to get out to the World's Fair. You can still
see remnants of the World Fair just south of Shea,
including the landmark globe.
At one point architects drew up plans for a roof
to cover Shea Stadium, but engineers determined
that the stadium's footings could not bear the
added weight. Plans also were prepared to increase
the capacity of Shea Stadium to 90,000, mainly by
filling in the opening in center field, but they
never proved economically viable. For more than a
decade now, the economics of Major League Baseball
ballparks have shifted, with the goal maximizing
profit margins from near-capacity crowds. The days
for Shea Stadium are clearly numbered (in fact,
the Mets have already announced plans for a new
ballpark to be built close to the current Shea
Stadium site), and that day will likely mark the
end of the cost-conscious, multiple-purpose
standardized municipal design circular-symmetrical
stadium era that was common in the 1960s and ’70s.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
The
stadium has a remote, large picnic area gate in
center field, catering to crowds of 100 to 1,400.
On busy game days, this gate gets crowded and is
slow-moving. Two newer picnic area features are
the Dugout Shop souvenir stand and the Long Ball
Alley beverage service area located underneath the
bleachers with access to a ground-level view of
the field. The Design of the picnic area allows
the booking of multiple groups for a given date.
The area also includes two children's play areas,
wheelchair-accessible game seating, and restrooms.
The
stadium has expansive parking available on three
sides, an attraction for some tailgating before
the game (though, technically, alcohol consumption
in the parking lot is strictly prohibited by the
team). Another nice feature is Mets Fan Fest --
offered on the weekends only – generating some
excitement before the games (see For the Kids
below for a more-detailed description).
If you
are sensing that there isn’t much of anything
unique or impressive to say about Shea Stadium,
then you pretty much have the right idea about the
place. On the other hand, there isn’t too much to
complain about either - other than having too many
seats with a poor view. When it goes away, most
likely Shea Stadium will be remembered as a symbol
of the 1960s, but not as a classic ballpark. To
take a kinder view would be dishonest.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
Concessions
Food choices are fairly standard for the most
part, and you will pay New York prices, although
at Shea concessions are typically about 25 cents
lower than the prices at Yankee Stadium. You have
your selection of dogs from Nathan and Glatt
($4.50), as well as a foot long ($5.75) or a Corn
Dog ($3). For something slightly different, you
have cheeseburgers ($5.75), chicken tenders with
fries ($7), or Cascarino’s Pizza ($5.25 to $5.75
depending on the topping selected). If you want
authentically New York cuisine, try a
tummy-filling Coney Island Gabilla’s knish
($3.75).
Two ethnic stands are interesting and have some
unusual offerings. For a Latino flare, you can get
a Havana sandwich ($4.50) and wash it down with a
Mexican Corona or pick one of our personal
summertime favorites – Presidente cerveza from the
Dominican Republic (either beer is $6.25). If you
prefer sampling a local brew, Brooklyn Lager is a
very good, full-bodied option. Mama’s of Corona
has Italian specialties including a delicious
turkey or salami sandwich; the baskets include
sides ($9). Mama’s is also served in the Budwesier
Backstop eatery located on the field level behind
third base: the air-conditioned restaurant
features Carvel ice cream, sushi, and beer.
Featured prominently throughout the ballpark are
Premio Italian sausages ($5.75) where you might
want to think twice before asking for a small bag
of chips ($2.50) to go with your order. If you
need some caffeine, the generally underrated
Dunkin Donuts coffee is sold at the ballpark.
For the Kids
Perhaps the best aspect of Shea is the effort
the Mets put into the Fan Fest area available for
2.5 hours prior to every Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday home game. Although open to all, Fan Fest
is primarily aimed at the youngster set with a big
bouncy slide, electronic games, batting cages, and
an obstacle course. Good staffing and security in
the tight, popular space adds excitement. Fan Fest
is located near the Subway station at Gate E not
far from the right-field foul pole.
Parking
Shea Stadium tends to be a favorite of suburban baseball
fans for two very good reasons: it’s easily accessible
by car, and there is a sea of parking surrounding the
ballpark. Parking is inexpensive by major-league
standards: $12 for cars.
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