I wrote a post earlier about the
Shea Stadium Memorabilia Auction.
A few kind folks had also reminded me of it and pointed out the Loge13 sign was on the list of items still up for sale. (
Download list here).
I didn't want to say anything at the time but now it can be told: there will be no Loge13 sign on the auction block this Saturday. Because I bought it.
In fact, it arrived just today. And it is pretty cool. The photo above is probably familiar to Loge13 readers. I often use it as an icon for posts. I have passed under that sign hundreds, probably thousands of times (if you include trips to the beer line and bathroom).
Here is that sign in its new home:
And here is the Loge13 sign with the Mr. Met No Smoking sign I had bought last September:
When I first opened the package, I saw the back of the sign and thought they sent me a bathroom sign by accident. I forgot the Loge13 sign had something on the reverse side:
Now I have to figure out how to hang this so both sides are visible!
This may sound strange coming from the author of a blog named for a forgotten section in a demolished stadium...but I am not a big nostalgia guy. However my wife (the lovely Lady Kingman) convinced me to splurge on the sign. I'm glad she did.
And I have to admit when I saw the old Loge13 sign today, it just made me feel happy.
Nothing else in the world looks like this marker. It was a familiar signpost for 24 years for me, a cerulean beacon between the dull gray concrete of Shea's corridors and the lush sunlight and Emerald, PeteFlynnian green of the Shea field (Is PeteFlynnian a word? It should be). I walked under that sign with old high school chums, assorted ex-girlfriends, and many dear folks and family members who have passed on.
And of course, I've walked under that sign countless times with the hardcore regulars of Loge13 - The Bayside Boys, Ron Hunt, my wife, my kids and most often and importantly, with my parents. I've probably been under that sign more times than I've been in Church (well, certainly more times than I've been in Confession).
It doesn't say Shea on it. It doesn't even say "Loge" on it. But I know what it was and where it came from. And now it is on display at the Global Media Center for Loge13.com (a.k.a. my house). So you'll have to buy another Loge level sign Saturday. Loge13 is taken.
Comments
congrats on the purchase. i highly recommend cleaning the sign - both sides - before doing much of anything with it. at least you got the "cut" version and not the in-tact sign like i did (Upper Deck section 3). the cut sign is much easier to deal with compared to that 6' x 6' wedge that i own.