Shea Goodbye

The New York baseball season came to a thudding conclusion yesterday, and I was there as a disinterested observer. If I were a die-hard Mets fan, I would still have an upset stomach.

My interest in the Mets is purely vicarious, as two of my best friends are fans. I have rooted for them in the past, but also against them (I had taken the part of the Red Sox in the '86 series and was crushed by the Buckner play like a real New Englander). I have been to Shea Stadium about two dozen times over the years, and agree with the consensus that it wasn't much to shout about, and a new stadium was definitely in order.

My friend Bob bought four tickets back in February, so I was asked to tag along with his wife and daughter. The situation coudn't have been more fraught--the team was tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the last playoff spot. The Brewers were hosting the Cubs, while the Mets hosted the Marlins in the last scheduled regular season game at Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964. If both the Mets and Brewers won, the Mets would have hosted a one-game playoff on Monday. Turns out it wasn't needed.

Because the game was delayed one hour by rain, it started at roughly the same time as the Brewers-Cubs game. Scoreboard watching was rampant, and when the Cubs got an early one-run lead a huge roar went up as the score was posted. Then the Marlins got two runs and the crowd got uneasy. But in the bottom half of the frame Carlos Beltran tied things up with a home run and there was joy in Mudville.

This wasn't to last long. In the span of about ten minutes, the Marlins got back to back solo home runs off the beleaguered Mets bullpen and the Brewers pulled ahead of the Cubs. The Mets now had only six outs to save their season. In the bottom of the eighth, the Mets put two runners on but Carlos Delgado flied deep to left-center to end the threat. By the bottom of the ninth, the Brewers game was final, so it was do or die. With one man aboard and two outs, Ryan Church hit a deep fly ball for the last out ever at Shea Stadium.

So now there was a full crowd of spectators ready for a celebration that were in no mood to celebrate. Some people, clearly disgusted, left. Most stayed however, and by the time the parade of ex-Mets took the field the crowd was in the spirit of things. The Mets have only been around 47 years, so they don't have a particularly deep history, but they do have some indelibly great heroes and they were all there. There were big ovations for Keith Hernandez, Jerry Koosman, Ed Kranepool, Bud Harrelson, Rusty Staub, and Ron Darling. Even Dave Kingman was there. The last players out were Willie Mays, who played his last two seasons for the Mets, Mike Piazza, and Tom Seaver, who has been the face of the Mets for over forty years. Each of the players touched home plate for the last time, and then Seaver took the mound and threw a pitch to Piazza. Perhaps symbolizing the Mets season, it was in the dirt. The two men then walked out to centerfield as the lights were turned off, and closed the doors in the outfield wall. Fireworks were shot off, and it was time to go home, as Citifield, the new Mets home, loomed above the Shea walls.

The baseball season lingers, though, as my Tigers have a chance to knock the White Sox out of the playoffs today, which would be great (but I'm not counting on it). I'll make the following predictions: I like the Phillies over the Brewers, because C.C. Sabathia can only pitch one game, so I'll take the Phils in four. I like the Cubs over the Dodgers, but I think it will be close, and it will go five. I think the Angels will take care of the Red Sox in four, and Tampa will defeat either the Twins or the White Sox in four.