Ballpark Review - Shea Stadium

The good things about Shea? It's 10 minutes from home and the Mets are good this year. The bad things about Shea? Pretty much everything else. As a kid not knowing any better and having visited nowhere else, I had thought Shea was just an average major league park. Having been to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and their new stadiums in the last two years, Shea is like the bathroom of the dive bar with two dollar pitchers in a college town after a Friday night. What a dreary place to start my endeavor to visit every major league stadium before I turn 30. At least my sales taxes are going towards the construction of a new facility.

Stadium Facts.
123-01 Roosevelt Avenue, Flushing NY 11368
Opened April 17, 1964
Capacity 55,601
Prices and Seating, depending on game dates and opponents:
Inner Field Level $40-$70
Outer Field Level $32-$50
Loge Box $32-$75
Loge Reserved $27-$45
Mezzanine Box $32-$50
Upperdeck Box $19-$33
Upperdeck Reserved $5-$22

Features.
-Picnic area beyond LF bleachers
-Giant hi-def digital display by Sharp
-Big Apple that emerges when the Mets hit a HR

On-Field Product.
Omar Minaya has done a great job in the last two years rebuilding a team that had accomplished very little since its 2000 Subway Series appearance. The Mets currently have one of the most exciting teams in the league, with a good mix of decade long stars (Pedro, Glavine, Wagner, Delgado, Beltran), young superstars (Reyes, Wright), solid middle tier players(LoDuca, Trachsel, Sanchez, Heilman, Nady), and a couple of top prospects who are expected to contribute to the team in the very near future (Milledge, Pelfrey). With a weak National League and the anticipation of a new park to revitalize the fan base, the Mets are currently and should be for a long time the class of the division and the league. For the next five years, this might be the best team in all of baseball. Just imagine if Rick Peterson hadn't gotten Kazmir traded.
Grade: A+

Neighborhood.
There are no restaurants, bars, and or any sign of nightlife within the immediate vicinity of Shea. In their place lie salvage yards, a U-Haul storage, and an intersection of three major highways. Put simply, this may be the terriblest location for a baseball stadium. (Well, until I visit Yankee Stadium that is. I just cant find a sale on bulletproof vests.) The only saving grace from a failing grade is a 15 minute walk or one subway stop away from the center of Flushing, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the world. Restaurants, bars, and karaokes are aplenty, the majority of which are open until 2am or later. The prices are ridiculously cheap for New York, and you can find just about anything you'd want to eat. Except probably a big juicy T-bone steak.
Grade: C-

Vibe.
A 40 year-old stadium, Shea was constructed as a multipurpose, cookie-cutter park that dominated the stadiums of the same era where functionality trumped all other considerations, i.e., Cinergy Field, Three Rivers Stadium, Veteran's Stadium, Candlestick Park. Along with the Metrodome and the Oakland Coliseum, Shea remains the last bastion of parks built with an utter lack of distinctiveness, character, or history. It really is just a collection of seats, bathrooms, concession stands, escalators, and walking ramps, all surrounding a baseball field. At least it's functional. Barely. And the view beyond centerfield was... breathtaking.
Grade: C-

Entertainment.
The Mets hold a good number of promotions throughout the season, ranging from the typical fireworks and bobblehead nights, to the atypical Pedro Martinez mousepad giveaway. The most interesting among their promotions are the Heritage Theme Nights, where an ethnicity or cultural group is featured and noted for their contributions to the community, and lighthearted cultural entertainment takes place before or after the game. These theme nights, while not always particularly exciting, are pretty appropriate given that New York, and Queens especially, is a huge melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. The calender this year includes Greek Night, Merengue Night, Pakistani-American Night, Jewish Heritage Night, Italian Day, Taiwan(!) Night, and the all important Oktoberfest taking place, incidentally, in September.

#1 and I visited Shea on the evening of July 7, which turned out to be Korean Night. Outside the stadium (we did not make it inside the park prior to the game), we saw various performers of taekwondo and Korean drums, as well as other activities. In addition, we each received a pair of Thunderstix, touting kimchee as the "Korean fermented food." I'm not kidding.

I'm not a fan of Thunderstix as they are incredibly annoying and should remain in Anaheim where they started, if at all. But the good people at Shea mostly had the good sense not to use them. However, even more annoying was the public address announcer playing some silly game between every half inning. One or two or even three per game is fine. We certainly did not need 15 of them throughout the game. Baseball itself is entertaining, playing music trivia on the Jumbotron is not. The one mildly attractive feature was the Kiss Cam, where the camera zooms in on a couple and have them kiss on the big screen in front of 45,000 fans. I kept waiting for the following two scenarios: 1. a brother and a sister, and 2. two ridiculously hot women. I got neither. If I got option 2, this grade would definitely be bumped to a B+/A-. If we combined options 1 and 2 and had two hot sisters, this grade would be an A.
Grade: B-

Sightlines.
Having been to Shea many times, I can say that the only good seats are those in the field level and the loge boxes. The mezzanine and the upperdeck boxes are a little better than mediocre, and everywhere else is well below average. In the loge and mezzanine, high flyballs and popups are obstructed by the overhang of seats above, and in the upperdeck, all flyballs and popups look the same. Thankfully, the stadium architects of today have figured out that baseball watched from the upperdeck is not enjoyable at all and seem resolved to build three-tiered stadiums rather than four-tiered ones. This is a good thing.

On a personal note, a pet peeve of mine was worsened on this particular visit to Shea. I strongly believe that all concessions should have at least a partial view of the field. As it were, Dontrelle hit a grand slam while I was getting food. I basically missed the entire game since the Marlins won 7-3. Bitch!
Grade: D

Food.
Every stadium needs a signature food item. A good signature food can overcome soggy hot dog buns, overpriced soda, and dry pretzels without mustard. That signature item at Shea is the italian sausage. An all-beef sausage, topped with grilled peppers and onions, on a warm italian roll. Sounds great? Wrong!

It was disgusting. The price from my last visit went up from $4.75 to $6.50 this time; the sausage itself was bland and lukewarm; the onions and peppers added no real flavor; the roll was beyond stale; and the line to get it was long and cost me seeing the Dontrelle grand slam. Just a terrible item all around. Suggestions: keep the sausage and onions and peppers together on the grill until the purchase is made, toast the roll, and offer some packages of hot sauce or salsa.

After consuming the sausage, I didn't feel like forking over money to buy anything else. On previous visits, the hot dogs were average, the chicken fingers nothing to write home about, the beer selection from tap limited to Bud and Bud Light, but the helmet bucket of curly fries were greasy and salty, just the way curly fries ought to be.
Grade: F

Fans.
The Mets have been drawing well ever since Pedro came onboard last year, and this year, as the favorites to win the NL pennant at the halfway mark, the Mets have actually been outdrawing the Yankees. The fans are truly excited this year and the stadium was full of energy throughout most of the game. Even though the home team lost, everyone was cheerful and seemed to enjoy a good time. Generally, Met fans are pretty knowledgeable of their team, a little fair-weathered, capable of cheering on their own without urging from the public address announcer. Two things stood out. First, they were vociferous without being profane when Lima couldn't last past the fourth inning. This is a big plus. There's nothing worse than some drunk cursing and refusing to shut up with a bunch of kids nearby. Second, most refused to use the Thunderstix. Another big plus.
Grade: A-

Overall Experience.
The team, the fans, and the food in Flushing were all good. But not good enough to overcome Shea itself. Just about every Met fan must agree that the time for a new stadium has come. I'll be awaiting eagerly.
Grade: C-

Next stop: Fenway Park, Boston.