Stream Corner

As sad as it is, it's time to say goodbye to the old Shea Stadium after 44 years of sports memories for all of us. It hardly seems possible that the Mets were an expansion team all these years after their cross-town American League rivals first took the field. It's also hard to remember the stadium being called the Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium, but that's what it called until a movement was launched to name it in honor of William Shea.

Over the years, Shea Stadium housed some of the greatness baseball players ever to walk on the field. Names like Duke Snider, Nolan Ryan, Warren Spahn, Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Yogi Berra, Casey Stengel, Richie Ashburn, and Gary Carter who all became Hall of Famers. Then we can't forget the entertaining players that just gritted it out everyday like Lenny "Nails" Dykstra and Gil Hodges.

Yes, there have been lots of good times and a few bad times; we've been confronted with ugly and outrageous behavior of players and fans, but in the end we have some awesome memories woven into the fabric of the stadium's history. Take the 1986 Mets versus Boston Red Sox World Series game, for example, where we watched Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry take the Mets to a victorious climax, winning the World Series that year. Regrettably, the notoriety and high living took its toll as both players spent the remaining years of their baseball careers dealing with the consequences of drug use and other problems.

We saw them win their first Championship in 1969 with the Miracle Mets when no one really knew of a young man on the roster who would spend the next 27 years striking out 5,714 batters. In fact there were so many historic moments throughout the history of Shea Stadium we could literally write a book about it. However, when it's all said and done, the stadium may be gone as a new chapter begins, but the memories will live in the hearts of Mets fans around the world for eternity.

After the tragic and shocking events of 9/11, Shea Stadium became the central hub for supplies, food and a place of refuge for many 9/11 victims. On September 21, the Mets helped New Yorkers to heal by providing the first sporting event to be held after that tragic day. New Yorkers will tell you it was one of the most stirring nights ever in baseball history. With tens of thousands of fans packing the stadium to watch the Mets take on the Braves, the team honored New York's finest, those brave men and women who worked tirelessly to help the 9/11 victims, and then went on to play a great game. Shea Stadium is truly a place like no other. It will always be remembered with fondness and with the eager anticipation of another 50 years of baseball history.