That's Life: So Long, Shea Stadium
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| Jennifer and Nicholas at the final game at Shea Stadium. |
And sure enough, I received, via e-mail, photos Jennifer had snapped at Shea Stadium on Sept. 28, when she and her son bade farewell to the place where they have cheered for the Mets, whether the team had captured first place in the National League or were stuck in the basement.
(The team will move to Citi Field next season and the 44-year-old Shea will be demolished.)
Twenty years have passed since I moved from New York to Massachusetts, yet I am still a Mets fan first and foremost, rooting for the Boston Red Sox only when their victory would not affect the Mets.
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Father was not a good example as far as dealing with what every sports fan inevitable faces: disappointment. When the Mets lost a game, Father sulked and complained of a headache, and I knew it was best to stay clear of him. Mother, who was a saint in mortal form, would cater to his every wish on those occasions.
Mother was not interested in sports, and the difference between a bunt and a ball was a mystery to her. But when the Mets were competing for the World Series championship one year, Mother joined Father in the living room, where he was watching the game. As a player hit a home run, Mother burst out, gleefully, "Hurray."
"Aggie, he's on the other team," Father said, a frown crossing his brow.
My children Jennifer and Christopher never would have made the same mistake as Mother. My husband, Bill, and I introduced them to the sport of baseball when they were toddlers, taking them to Shea Stadium to watch the Mets play.
We lived in Queens then, only a short distance from the stadium, and when the Mets were scheduled to play at their home field on a Sunday, it became routine for Bill to take them to the game. I more often than not stayed home, preparing dinner. Of course, I left the roast in the oven and the pots on the stove unattended once in a while to watch, through the magic of television, what was happening at Shea Stadium.
But on Fan Appreciation Days, I always went along with my family so we all could be proud possessors of the baseball caps, mugs, T-shirts, insulated bags, etc., bearing the Mets logo that were given, free of charge, to everyone who attended the game.
We gladly sat in the less-expensive seats, eating a hot dog and sipping a soda, but we were ecstatic when Bill, who worked for CBS, gained permission to use the company's box seats.
One day as we sat in box seats, chanting "Let's Go Mets," Dave Kingman, then the hero of the Mets, blasted a ball over the fence. At that very moment, Bill clicked his camera, and that photo is a wonderful memento of that day.
Another memento of Shea Stadium is the baseball Jennifer, age 9, caught when a Met hit it into the stands. She was thrilled.
Two years ago, Jennifer was with her son Nicholas when she jumped high and caught in her gloved hand a baseball that had been catapulted into the air by Nicholas' favorite player, David Wright, who signed the ball after the game. "Nicky was so excited I thought he was going to faint," Jennifer said when she called me that night.
Now Shea Stadium is a part of baseball history, and next year when an umpire calls out, "Play Ball," the Mets will run out to the baseball diamond at their new home park, Citi Field. There a new scoreboard will take the place of the one on which Jennifer arranged to announce to her husband, Frank, that she was expecting a baby, and where the message Happy Birthday Nick Sciaratta had appeared to the delight of the birthday boy, Jennifer and Frank's son.
But at Citi Field, there will be a brick on the Fanwalk that Jennifer bought as a Christmas gift for Nicholas. It is inscribed "Nick, New place more great times, love Mom." On the lower right corner are the initials LYBE (Love You Blue Eyes), which is Jennifer's tribute to her Dad and all the times they spent at Shea.
There was a time when Jennifer dreamed of being the first female Met. It was not to be, although she has been recognized as a formidable force on the diamond.
Jennifer showed talent for the game, even as a little girl playing stickball on the street. And when she was 10, a Little League coach wanted her as a member of his team. I withheld my permission, saying, "It's a boys team." The coach persisted, coming to see me every day and saying, "She's the best pitcher around." "Don't worry about the boys, they want her on the team." I finally relented. Eight years later, Jennifer was awarded an athletic scholarship to the New York Institute of Technology.
Now, Jennifer is a valued member of an adult organized softball team. And to top off all the honors she has received over the years, trophies, jackets, being named an All-Star by the New York Daily News, throughout her high school years, Jennifer is now in the Hall of Fame Library.
But on Sept. 28, Jennifer was just another loyal Mets fan, saying a sad goodbye to Shea Stadium. "But no one," Jennifer said today, "can take away my memories of the great times I had there."
