September 28, 2008 was the date of Shea Stadium's last game.
But October 14 is officially day one of the demolition process.
NY1 has a short segment on the new phase of the deconstruction of Shea.
As you probably know, Shea won't be imploded. Instead, it will come down section by section.
The Mets are really sticking to the timetable. It has been 14 full days since the last game.
Matthew from MetsBlog.com
was allowed into Shea Stadium Monday.It must have felt a bit like going to the morgue to identify the body.
Nevertheless, he took a pile of amazing photos
and has posted them here for your viewing.
I like this one on the left. You can almost see Loge13 from this angle. Man this is a creepy site.
Also, in case you missed it, The Home Run Apple - ya know, the one the Mets said was to fragile to move?
Well they moved it.
There are some photos floating around, both on
SheaGoodbye and also
SaveTheApple.com.
We had all been led to believe the Apple would stay where it was. The Mets had officially said Citi Field would have its own new Apple. Where the original one is now going is unknown at this point. Kinda like the partial season ticket holders.
The Apple guys surmise that maybe they are just moving the Apple so it doesn't get damaged by the upcoming deconstruction. Lets hope so.
Hey Apple guys - you did everything you could. Thanks for trying.
Kevin Walsh's Forgotten_NY.com
has put together a very comprehensive tribute to Shea Stadium.
From A - the home run Apple - to Z - the Zipper factory - Forgotten NY tries to touch all the bases on this one.
So if your Shea/Mets jones still needs scratching (and I know it does), carve out some time and check out the tribute.
Nice job Kevin.
On another note, I know some of y'all
ordered Shea stuff from the MeiGray Group. Has anyone heard from them yet. It has only been 15 days since the last game so I suppose it's early yet. I just want to get those foul polls in the ground before the first frost.
Newday published a great slideshow of the dismantling of Shea Stadium. They took quite a few pictures from Loge 17.
Very tough to look at but here's the link...
The
Mets announced today the auction of various Shea Stadium stuff.
"Even though Shea Stadium has gone dark, and will be gone soon," we are told, "Mets fans can bid for many items both inside and outside of their team's former home."
First of all, I prefer not to think of Shea as our team's FORMER home. The way Citi Field tickets have been positioned, Shea Stadium is, more accurately, the LAST home for real Mets fans...outside of our REAL homes from which we will be watching most if not all Met games for the rest of our lives.
But back to the auction. The first items up for bid are kind of a hodge-podge of random things around the stadium. Here's
a bathroom door sign. Only $185.
No interest? OK, here's a
1991 Yearbook cover for only $250.
Already got one? OK
how about the letter "S" from the top of Shea Stadium, for $2,500. But hold on Vanna White. There are two "S''s up there. Which one am I buying? Wouldn't the Shea "S" be more expensive than the Stadium "S"? Get me PriceWaterHouse Coopers, assuming they're still in business.
But speaking of not still in business, this has to be the most ridiculous item on the block:
Who would pay $1,375 for this? Hank Greenberg, maybe. But given that the U.S. government paid $85 billion to bail out AIG, doesn't Uncle Sam technically own this sign?
And since my tax dollars are supporting the current bailout, don't I technically own this sign?
In fact, I was told the cost of the giant bailout/rescue plan per American family was roughly $2,300. That means, I already paid for this sign...and then some. Therefore, Mets organization, please send me my AIG outfield sign and a check for $925.
Unless you got some more cool bathroom signs.
Today was also the 39th anniversary of the first World Series game ever played at Shea Stadium. The Mets beat the Orioles 5-0 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Gary Gentry was the starter and Nolan Ryan the closer. But it was Tommie Agee's game - he hit a leadoff homer and made two sensational catches. Perhaps the greatest single postseason performance by a Met in their history. And I was sitting in the upper deck, a very happy 14-year-old kid.