Shea Stadium

[hockeyman77]

post deleted

[alpineinc]

First night game (and the 5th game overall at Shea), Wed. May 6, 1964, one out, top of the second inning, 22-year old Bill Wakefield dealing to Reds' catcher Johnny Edwards (his photo displayed on the scoreboard - he would eventually line to right). Our still lovable losers were already an abysmal 3-15 going into the game and firmly entrenched in last place, thanks to a 2-10 road trip after their first ever Shea homestand.

The Mets got Wakefield and George Altman from the Cardinals for Roger Craig after the 1963 campaign - and this was Wakefield's first major league start, in his only major league season. Unfortunately, he would get knocked out of the box in the 5th inning, giving up 5 runs as the Mets lost, 12-4. He would only start 3 more games, but otherwise had a pretty decent season, mostly in relief, with a 3.61 ERA. However, he started in AAA in '65 and had a dismal 2-13 season plagued by wildness, and, although he had a fair season in AA in '66, was out of baseball by '67. Craig, by the way, after serving his penance of losing 46 games for the Polo Grounds Mets, would go on to get his third and final WS ring with the Cardinals in '64.

img0227A.jpg

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-NEW-YOR...item2a27559e0b

[alpineinc]

A fan appears to be holding a 1969 NLCS ticket at left, perhaps to be autographed?

$(KGrHqJ,!nwFCqbey!2OBQ1Pq9KZqg~~60_57.JPG

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1969-Press-P...item565096aafa

[JohnCropp]

A fan appears to be holding a 1969 NLCS ticket at left, perhaps to be autographed?

$(KGrHqJ,!nwFCqbey!2OBQ1Pq9KZqg~~60_57.JPG

I'd bet that he's meeting fans who have just purchased playoff tickets.

As crazy as Mets fans can be, I can't imagine that there was ever a day when they would form a mob to congratulate their skipper on a contract extension!

[Blue387]

Shea Stadium in Amazin' video produced by Digital Domain, which aired before Mets home games in 2012:



VFX breakdown of video:

[JohnCropp]

Wow... that was indeed Amazin'!

[alpineinc]

In 2012, with Reyes? Cool vids though.

[Blue387]

In 2012, with Reyes? Cool vids though.

It was made in 2011 but the video in 2012 added a few different players by 2012.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57452530@N00/8071680813/

Photoset:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5745253...7631026961138/

[Blue387]

Agbayani's walk-off homer
10/7/00: Benny Agbayani hits a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 13th to give the Mets a 3-2 win over the Giants and a 2-1 series lead

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25535263

[Mygirljess]

I was at Old Timers Night. July 11, 1970.

02880007.jpg

There are Old Timers down there!

02880006.jpg

Mom was at the game!

02880005.jpg

Rusty Staub slammed 2 homers... for the Expos!

[cringey]

I was at Old Timers Night. July 11, 1970.



There are Old Timers down there!


Mom was at the game!



Rusty Staub slammed 2 homers... for the Expos!

A detail that stood out in the top picture... look at the rust coming down from the top of the scoreboard on picture right side.
I guess this was the beginning of the lack of care of it?

[Mygirljess]

A detail that stood out in the top picture... look at the rust coming down from the top of the scoreboard on picture right side.
I guess this was the beginning of the lack of care of it?

You can also see it in the Joe Namath picture on the previous page.

[alpineinc]

I was at Old Timers Night. July 11, 1970.

Great pics, thanks for sharing! A near sellout too (over 53,000), rare in the early days.

[Kentonio]

Fantastic shots.. thanks!

[Kingman 26]

First night game (and the 5th game overall at Shea), Wed. May 6, 1964, one out, top of the second inning, 22-year old Bill Wakefield dealing to Reds' catcher Johnny Edwards (his photo displayed on the scoreboard - he would eventually line to right). Our still lovable losers were already an abysmal 3-15 going into the game and firmly entrenched in last place, thanks to a 2-10 road trip after their first ever Shea homestand.

The Mets got Wakefield and George Altman from the Cardinals for Roger Craig after the 1963 campaign - and this was Wakefield's first major league start, in his only major league season. Unfortunately, he would get knocked out of the box in the 5th inning, giving up 5 runs as the Mets lost, 12-4. He would only start 3 more games, but otherwise had a pretty decent season, mostly in relief, with a 3.61 ERA. However, he started in AAA in '65 and had a dismal 2-13 season plagued by wildness, and, although he had a fair season in AA in '66, was out of baseball by '67. Craig, by the way, after serving his penance of losing 46 games for the Polo Grounds Mets, would go on to get his third and final WS ring with the Cardinals in '64.

img0227A.jpg

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-NEW-YOR...item2a27559e0b

Amazing 5th game at the new Stadium and the place is a ghost town...

[JohnCropp]

Amazing 5th game at the new Stadium and the place is a ghost town...

Blame ticket prices, the Wilpons, and SNY.

[jnakamura]

Amazing 5th game at the new Stadium and the place is a ghost town...

Actually the attendance for this game was 32,421. The following day (day game) was 7,982.

Mets 1st four home games in 1964: 50,312; 31,480; 30,185; 8,025

Typical for the era:

Mets 1st ever home game (1962): 12,447
L.A. Angels 1st three ever home games (1961): 11,931; 9,745; 5,109
Angels 2nd ever game at Anaheim Stadium: 12,381
Giants 3rd ever game in SF: 12,520
Twins 2nd ever game in Metrodome: 5,213
Giants 2nd ever game at Candlestick: 17,736
Astros 5th ever game at Astrodome: 15,053

[Paul W]

A detail that stood out in the top picture... look at the rust coming down from the top of the scoreboard on picture right side.
I guess this was the beginning of the lack of care of it?

yes...
with city projects like ys reno and almost unsurmounntable budget deficits the long slow decent of maintance
on city properties (parks, buildings, transit) began long before the mid 70's.
paysons weren't gonna putt a dime in on the place aside from the dining room and offices.

[Paul W]

Amazing 5th game at the new Stadium and the place is a ghost town...

weekday night game on tv while school was in session, less disposable income then and the mania for "gotta be there"
fostered by the franchises later when players made a lot more hadn't sunk in yet.

[dstoffa]

Amazing 5th game at the new Stadium and the place is a ghost town...

Not to mention all those people seating in the Upper Reserved... not helping themselves to better seats...

The Loge and Mezzanine out in Left are EMPTY!!!


Cheers!
-Doug

[The Monument]

weekday night game on tv while school was in session, less disposable income then and the mania for "gotta be there"
fostered by the franchises later when players made a lot more hadn't sunk in yet.

Hmmm.... So attendance is needed to help pay the players salaries, but players salaries have nothing to do with higher ticket prices?

[Paul W]

Hmmm.... So attendance is needed to help pay the players salaries, but players salaries have nothing to do with higher ticket prices?

then ticket sales was the primary revenue stream, players in general made a lot less then so franchises could skate by with a weak draw.
less so now, but as the buildings become more posh franchises can (and will) charge more
media income is the main revenue stream now, but that won't keep tix cost down

[dstoffa]

then ticket sales was the primary revenue stream, players in general made a lot less then so franchises could skate by with a weak draw.
less so now, but as the buildings become more posh franchises can (and will) charge more
media income is the main revenue stream now, but that won't keep tix cost down

Actually the MLB Network showed Ken Burn's Baseball in its entirety (I never saw the new 10th inning).

Before the Sietz decision and the end of the reserve clause, players, on average, made 5 times the average man's yearly salary.

After free agency, the gap began to widen... to the point where it's now 50 times the average man's salary.

That money has got to come from somewhere...

Cheers!
-Doug

[Paul W]

...Before the Sietz decision and the end of the reserve clause, players, on average, made 5 times the average man's yearly salary. After free agency, the gap began to widen... to the point where it's now 50 times the average man's salary....

the 5X us income at the end of the reserve clause era would be at the $40K level, few mlb players were at that plateau
this given the u.s. census bureau recording $8,486 as average household income in 1969 - last year of recording before
the sietz decision...

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/incom...te/state1.html

the average mlb salary listed by oswego st. study was $25K in 1969, on pg.8...

www.oswego.edu/~dighe/salary08.ppt

mlb players on the average still made just above the national average until the mid 70's
enabling franchise owners to meet payrolls without 81 sellouts which many owners say they need now
since this is o.t., i won't go beyond this.

for those who want to see this fast...

[Chevy114]

That first amazin video was cool, but that 2nd one makes it even cooler!