Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium opened on the 17th of April 1964, after twenty-nine months of construction and $28.5 million in spending. The stadium was built to replace the Polo Grounds for the New York Mets following the departure of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to California in 1957. Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. personally wired all National League owners to assure them that the city would build a new facility. This political maneuvering was necessary because state law at the time did not allow cities to borrow money for stadiums without proving they could pay for themselves. Moses and Shea proposed that the team pay substantial rent to cover thirty-year bonds. Rent for what was originally budgeted as a nine-million-dollar facility was set at four hundred fifty thousand dollars annually. This financial arrangement would later become an albatross around the team for years. The stadium was barely finished in time for its home opener due to severe winter weather and labor issues. Telephone and telegraph wiring remained unfinished until opening day because of a jurisdictional dispute between two electrical unions. The venue opened five days before the 1964, 65 New York World's Fair across Roosevelt Avenue.
Shea Stadium hosted the only All-Star Game held in Queens during its first year, with Johnny Callison hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning. Tommie Agee became the only player to hit a fair ball into the upper deck in left field on the 10th of April 1969. Dave Kingman once smashed a home run off the windshield of the Giants' team bus parked behind the left field bullpen. The Mets won their first World Series title there in 1969 after defying one-hundred-to-one odds. Fans stormed the field in celebration after winning the decisive Game 5 of that series. The stadium hosted postseason baseball in 1969, 1973, 1986, 1988, 1999, 2000, and 2006. It hosted four World Series games including victories for the Mets in 1969 and 1986. The last game played at Shea was a four-two loss to the Florida Marlins on the 28th of September 2008. Tom Seaver threw a final pitch to Mike Piazza before the Beatles song In My Life played over the speakers.
The New York Jets played at Shea Stadium for twenty seasons from 1964 through 1983. They were burdened by lease terms that prevented them from playing home games until the Mets season ended. In 1969, the defending Super Bowl champion Jets opened with five consecutive road games due to the Mets advancing to the World Series. O.J. Simpson became the first running back to gain two thousand yards in a single season at Shea on the 16th of December 1973. Eric Dickerson ran an eighty-five-yard touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams during the 1983 season. A brawl broke out between Jackie Slater and Mark Gastineau after Slater blindsided Gastineau following the Sack Dance. The stadium hosted three playoff games for the Jets including the AFL Championship in 1968. The football field extended from around home plate to centerfield with baseline seating rotating to fill left and right fields. The Jets moved to Giants Stadium for the 1984 season enticed by fifteen-thousand additional seats there.
The Beatles opened their 1965 North American tour at Shea Stadium to a record audience of fifty-five thousand six hundred people. Crowd noise was so deafening that none of the band members could hear what they were playing. Security guards covered their ears as the group entered the field. The concert set records for attendance and revenue generation demonstrating that large-scale outdoor concerts could be profitable. Billy Joel closed the stadium's history with a two-night engagement called The Last Play at Shea on July 16 and 18, 2008. Paul McCartney joined Joel on stage to perform Let It Be during the second show. Pete Flynn drove the Beatles from the stage to a centerfield gate in 1965 then later drove Paul McCartney from the rear entrance to the stage in 2008. The Rolling Stones performed a six-night run in October 1989 while Bruce Springsteen ended his Rising Tour with three concerts in early October 2003. Grand Funk Railroad broke the Beatles' ticket sales record in 1971.
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Common questions
When did Shea Stadium open and how much did it cost to build?
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium opened on the 17th of April 1964 after twenty-nine months of construction and $28.5 million in spending.
Who was the mayor that helped secure funding for Shea Stadium?
Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. personally wired all National League owners to assure them that the city would build a new facility.
What year did Shea Stadium host its first World Series victory for the New York Mets?
The stadium hosted postseason baseball in 1969 when the Mets won their first World Series title there after defying one-hundred-to-one odds.
Which football team played at Shea Stadium from 1964 through 1983?
The New York Jets played at Shea Stadium for twenty seasons from 1964 through 1983 before moving to Giants Stadium for the 1984 season.
How many people attended The Beatles concert at Shea Stadium in 1965?
The Beatles opened their 1965 North American tour at Shea Stadium to a record audience of fifty-five thousand six hundred people.