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• The William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, also known as Shea Stadium, was the home of the New York Mets in New York City. Demolition of the stadium began after the Mets' final game there on September 28, 2008.

  The final pieces of the stadium were demolished on February 18, 2009.The New York Times: Shea Is Gone but Not Forgotten The Met's new stadium, Citi Field, is scheduled to open in the spring of 2009.

• Fast Facts

  1. Opened: April 17, 1964
  2. Capacity: 55,601 (baseball)
  3. Designed to be expandable to 90,000 seats
  4. Right-center scoreboard is one of largest in the majors
  5. Christened April 16, 1964, with Dodgers Holy Water
  6. The Beatles played before 53,275 fans in August 1965 and again in August 1966
  7. Billy Joel performed at the last game, and at the last ever concert in the building

• History

  Shea Stadium was named for the then prominent New York attorney William Alfred Shea who helped bring a National League expansion franchise to the city in 1962, four years after both the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants moved to California. It was also the longtime home of the New York Jets before they moved to New Jersey in 1984.

  Shea Stadium was located adjacent to the National Tennis Center, where the U.S. Open Tennis Championships are held each year. The stadium's design was like many others of that era in that it allowed for multi-purposes rather than simply confining itself to one sport's dimensions. In addition to sporting events, Shea Stadium hosted numerous musical concert events, most famously the first ever live concert held on American soil by The Beatles in 1965. It was also the backdrop for one of the most memorable Seinfeld episodes ever, involving a spoof of the JFK Assassination.

• Notable Shea Stadium Moments

  • July 7, 1964: Johnny Callison wins all-star game with ninth inning homer
  • August 15, 1965: The Beatles play first ever U.S. concert
  • December 29, 1968: Jets win only AFL title beating Oakland
  • October 16, 1969: Miracle Mets clinch World Series
  • October 8, 1973: A fight between Buddy Harrelson and Pete Rose occurred during game 3 of NLCS
  • October 12 & 13, 1973: The Who and The Clash perform on back-to-back nights
  • December 16, 1973: O.J. Simpson becomes first NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season
  • October 25, 1986: Bill Buckner's error wins game six
  • October 9, 1999: Todd Pratt hits NLDS-clinching home run in ninth inning
  • September 21, 2001: Mike Piazza's home run lifts Mets to win in first sporting event in NYC following 9-11 attacks

• Related Mahalo Pages

  New York Mets | Major League Baseball | Atlanta Braves | Florida Marlins | Philadelphia Phillies | Washington Nationals | New York Yankees

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