Baseball Stadium Memories at Shea Stadium


September 23, 2008 - At Big League Tours one of our favorite stops is heading out to Queens to see the Mets. Most people don't go to see the stadium per se, but rather to just plain and simple see a Mets game. In 2009, we will head out to Citi Field to see a beautiful ballpark and a great game.



Here are some great memories at Shea Stadium:

April 19, 1964: Al Jackson pitches a six-hitter in the Mets' 6-0 victory against the Pirates, their first victory in the new stadium.

Aug. 15, 1965: Shea rocks. Greeted by a shrill din produced by 55,600, mostly teenage girls, that made their performance impossible to hear, the Beatles change the music world again, presenting a concert on the largest stage ever.

Oct. 9, 1965: No. 7 Notre Dame beats unranked Army, 17-0, in Shea's first big-time college football.

Oct. 6, 1969: With Nolan Ryan pitching seven innings in relief, the Mets come from behind to beat the Braves to sweep the first National League Championship Series.



1969: “Miracle” Mets are considered one of the most improbable champions in baseball history. They trailed by 9.5 games in mid-August, yet won the division and the National League Championship Series before upsetting the Baltimore Orioles, who had won 109 games, in the World Series.



Aug. 6, 1970: Nine days before the first anniversary of Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin headline the Summer Festival of Peace.



Oct. 3, 1979: Pope John Paul II says mass at Shea after heavy rains threaten the event. The rain stops as the Popemobile enters the park.



May 6, 1983: With the Mets floundering in fifth place, Darryl Strawberry is promoted to the big leagues. He goes hitless with three strikeouts in four at-bats, walks twice and scores the decisive run in the Mets' 13-inning, 7-4 victory against the Reds.

1986: The New York Mets come back from a 3-2 series deficit to win Game 6 (Oct. 25) and Game 7 (Oct. 27) against the Boston Red Sox and clinch the World Series.

July 28, 1993: A ninth-inning double by Eddie Murray drives in the decisive runs in a 5-4 victory against the expansion Marlins that ends the record-setting losing streak of Anthony Young at 27 games. Young had allowed the Marlins to take the lead in the top of the ninth. The Mets bottom out with 103 losses, equaling the most ever by an established team in an expansion era, at the time.

April 15, 1998: Straw returns. With Yankee Stadium closed for repairs, the Yankees play the Angels at Shea. And their designated hitter, one Darryl Strawberry hits a home run, his 127th at the park, still the most ever

.

Sept. 21, 2001: Bagpipes and baseball. The Mets engage the Braves in the first professional sporting event in New York to follow the attacks on the World Trade Center. The emotional evening climaxes with a two-run home run by Piazza in the eighth inning that creates the final 3-2 score.

Let Big League Tours know what your favorite memories are of Shea Stadium. Whether it's one from when you were there or any other.