That nifty Shea Stadium Final Season logo we saw everywhere we looked for six months did the math for us: 1964-2008. The operable portion of that equation expired on September 28, yet we do have a few days left in what is still — technically — Shea Stadium’s final calendar year. Thus, before we chronologically enter the Citi Field/Your Name Here era once and for all (replete with a reportedly unnifty logo of its own), I’ve decided to use what remains of 2008 to give Shea one more run of reflection before it literally disappears from our rearview mirror.
For starters, I thought it would be handy to reconvene the Shea Stadium Final Season Countdown Like It Oughta Be. I don’t know that I enjoyed compiling anything for Faith and Fear as much as I did this. The parameters were set out here and a postscript was offered here. My thanks, again, to everybody who weighed in with suggestions. Your participation made it a living, breathing tribute to our ballpark of 45 years even if it was ultimately hypothetical. (And, I might add, our effort beat the hell out of the greedy, tone-deaf and mostly cynical Lincoln Mercury Countdown…no wonder the American auto industry is in such trouble).
On, once more for posterity, with the countdown…
81. For Bill Shea: Kathy Shea Anfuso, Patricia Shea Ryan and Bill Shea, Jr.
80. Shea Stadium Firsts: Jack Fisher, Jim Hickman, Tim Harkness, Hawk Taylor and Al Jackson
79. Shea’s First All-Star: Ron Hunt
78. Behind The Shea Scenes: Bob Mandt and Pete Flynn
77. “Meet The Mets”: Jane Jarvis and Ruth Roberts
76. For Those Who Made the Mets Possible: Duncan Wagner and Lorinda de Roulet
75. Jackie Robinson Night: Rachel Robinson, Lance Johnson, Armando Reynoso, Toby Borland, Butch Huskey and Mo Vaughn
74. Visitors From 2006: Manny Acta, Lastings Milledge and Paul Lo Duca
73. Sharing Shea’s Birthday: Boomer Esiason, Gary Bennett, Denny Walling, Liz Phair and Ken Daneyko
72. First Shea Postseason RBI: Henry Aaron
71. The Press Box: George Vecsey, Vic Ziegel, Roger Angell and Jay Horwitz
70. 1980 Ownership Change: Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon
69. Contributors Who Just Missed Postseason: Kevin Collins, Ed Lynch, Brian McRae and Xavier Nady
68. The Fog Game: Jim Rooker, Mike Easler, Skip Lockwood and Joel Youngblood
67. The Odd Couple: Bill Mazeroski and Jack Klugman
66. All-Time Shea Villain: Pete Rose
65. For The Superfans: Eddie Boison, Richard Ehrhardt and Bonnie Troester
64. Polo Grounds Mets: Frank Thomas, Roger Craig, Choo Choo Coleman and Ted Schreiber
63. LaGuardia Air Traffic: Anthony Coscia and Dave Kingman
62. Bullpen Tomatoes: Joe Pignatano
61. Standing Ovation For An Opponent: Mike Andrews
60. Chico Escuela: Garrett Morris
59. The Eighteen-Inning 0-0 Tie: Darrell Sutherland, Dennis Ribant and Rob Gardner
58. For Rheingold: Terry Liebman
57. For Robert Moses: Robert Caro
56. The Late ’70s Mets: Joe Torre, John Stearns and Lee Mazzilli
55. The “Magic Is Back” Campaign: Jerry Della Femina, Craig Swan and Doug Flynn
54. Saturday Night Fireworks: Marlon Anderson, Carl Everett and Steve Henderson
53. Shea’s Busy 1975: Dave Jennings, John Riggins, Sandy Alomar, Sr. and Jon Matlack
52. Players At Last: Billy Cotton, Terrel Hansen and Charlie Samuels
51. Multipurposeness: Emile Griffith, Shep Messing and Doug Williams
50. Celebrity Fandom: Jerry Seinfeld
49. Bad Shea Luck: Jimmy Qualls and Anthony Young
48. One Shot At Shea: Joe Hietpas, Jessie Hudson, Francisco Estrada, Kevin Morgan and Kenny Greer
47. Perfection And No-Hit Stuff: Gus Triandos, Johnny Stephenson, Jim Bunning and Nolan Ryan
46. Metropolitan Area Mets: Rico Brogna, Joe Orsulak, Ken Singleton, John Pacella, Pete Falcone, Mike Jorgensen and Ed Glynn
45. The 7 Train: H. Dale Hemmerdinger, George Foster, Willie Montañez, Eddie Murray and Bernard Gilkey
44. 1986 Fans: Bo Fields and Michael Sergio
43. Saluting Yankee Stadium: Dave Mlicki
42. Saturday Subway Series Excitement: Matt Franco
41. Both Sides Now: Willie Randolph and Yogi Berra
40. 2000 NLDS: Benny Agbayani and Bobby Jones
39. Famous Photo: Willie Mays, Duke Snider and Terry Cashman
38. The Longest Day: Juan Marichal, Bill Wakefield, Joe Christopher, Galen Cisco, Craig Anderson and Gaylord Perry
37. Galaxy Of Met All-Stars: Bobby Bonilla, Pat Zachry, Frank Viola, Bret Saberhagen, Todd Hundley and Jesse Orosco
36. Voices From 1986: Tim McCarver, Steve Zabriskie, Gary Thorne and Fran Healy
35. The Blackout: Bob Apodaca, Harry Wendlestedt, Ray Burris and Lenny Randle
34. For Pope John Paul II: Edward Cardinal Egan
33. Show Time: Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney
32. Presidential Boxes: Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Edward Cox, George Herbert Walker Bush and Bill Clinton
31. The K Korner: Dennis Scalzitti, Bob Belle, Neil Kenny and Dwight Gooden
30. 1986 Braintrust: Frank Cashen and Davey Johnson
29. 1986 Mets: Ed Hearn, Rick Aguilera, Tim Teufel, Rafael Santana, Kevin Mitchell, Bobby Ojeda, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Wally Backman and Ray Knight
28. The Longest Night: Frank Pulli, Dave Schneck, Bruce Boisclair, Hank Webb, Bake McBride and Jerry Cram
27. Third Base Carousel: Bobby Klaus, Joe Moock, Jerry Buchek, Bob Aspromonte, Tim Foli, Roy Staiger, Sergio Ferrer, Phil Mankowski and Hubie Brooks
26. Ten Straight Strikeouts: Nate Colbert, Dave Campbell, Jerry Morales, Bob Barton, Ray Webster, Van Kelly, Cito Gaston and Al Ferrara
25. Hope/Hype: Don Bosch, Mike Vail, Gregg Jefferies, Bill Pulsipher and Victor Diaz
24. 1988 Mets: Kevin McReynolds, Kevin Elster, Mackey Sasser, Dave Magadan, Barry Lyons, Terry Leach, Jeff Innis, Randy Myers and David Cone
23. New York’s National League Legacy: Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson
22. “Who Let The Dogs Out?”: Isaiah Taylor, Rick Carey, Marvin Prosper, Omerit Heild and Herschel Small
21. “The Curly Shuffle”: Peter Quinn, T.C. Furlong, Barney Schwartz, Tom “Shoes” Trinka, Rich Gorley and Vincent Dee
20. “Takin’ Care Of Business”: Randy Bachman, Fred Turner, Randy Murray and Blair Thornton
19. 1969 Mets: Jim McAndrew, Ken Boswell, Art Shamsky and Jerry Grote
18. 1969 Mets: Ron Taylor, Gary Gentry, Duffy Dyer and Bobby Pfeil
17. 1969 Mets: Al Weis, J.C. Martin, Rod Gaspar and Ed Charles
16. Mets Fans Turned Mets Voices: Gary Cohen and Howie Rose
15. 1999 Mets: Pat Mahomes, Masato Yoshii, Roger Cedeño, Rickey Henderson, Orel Hershiser, Rey Ordoñez, Shawon Dunston, Melvin Mora, John Olerud, Todd Pratt, Red Foley and Robin Ventura
14. 1973 Mets: Ray Sadecki, Harry Parker, Buzz Capra, Teddy Martinez, Don Hahn, George Theodore, George Stone, Felix Millan and Wayne Garrett
13. For Tug McGraw: Sandy Koufax and Tim McGraw
12. The Jets: Pat Leahy, Bruce Harper, Abdul Salaam, Marty Lyons, Mark Gastineau, Joe Klecko, Randy Rasmussen, Emerson Boozer, Matt Snell, Don Maynard and Joe Namath
11. September 11 Relief Efforts: Bobby Valentine
10. 2006 Mets: Steve Trachsel, Cliff Floyd, Darren Oliver, Chad Bradford, Pedro Feliciano, Roberto Hernandez, Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, Billy Wagner, Chris Woodward, Ramon Castro, Julio Franco, Oliver Perez, John Maine, Orlando Hernandez, Carlos Delgado, Shawn Green, Jose Valentin, Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright
9. 2000 Mets: Joe McEwing, Lenny Harris, Darryl Hamilton, Jay Payton, Rick White, Dennis Cook, Turk Wendell, Armando Benitez, Glendon Rusch, Timo Perez, Todd Zeile, Mike Hampton, Rick Reed and Al Leiter
8. The Archrivals: Angel Hernandez, Terry Pendleton, Bobby Cox, Leo Mazzone, John Smoltz, John Rocker, Chipper Jones and… [ceremony rendered incomplete by water main break]
7. Good Shea Luck: Ron Santo and Black Cat
6. Memorable Defensive Moments: Ron Hodges, Endy Chavez, Maxcine Agee, Ron Swoboda and Bill Buckner
5. Final Outs: Cleon Jones and Gary Carter
4. Original Broadcasters: Ralph Kiner, Joye Murphy and Nancy Nelson Wyszynski
3. The All-Amazin’ Team: Joan Hodges, Roger McDowell, Lenny Dykstra, Rusty Staub, Howard Johnson, Jerry Koosman, John Franco, Mookie Wilson, Ed Kranepool, Edgardo Alfonzo, Bud Harrelson, Darryl Strawberry, Mike Piazza, Keith Hernandez and Tom Seaver
2. For Casey Stengel: Mr. Met
1. By Executive Order: Nobody
I think we should all petition the Mets to hire you to replace the Lincoln-Mercury-Loving trained monkey who came up with the list that was used on the field.
Great.
There goes my weekend.
At least.
This essay, sir, is why FIFIF is the absolute bomb to Met lifers.
Great work!
Thanks for the endorsement, IP. I wouldn't count on corporate sponsorship. Thanks, too, for the kind thoughts, Loge.
And Ray…Casey Kasem got no rest this time of year either.