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Amazin’s to mark 60th anniversary of Shea’s first game
It took 29 months to plan and construct Shea Stadium and it wasn't even fully complete when the Mets hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 17, 1964. At the time, the planes flying into LaGuardia would fly so low it looked as if they were going to land right on the field.
Jack Fisher, the first pitcher to ever step on the mound at Shea Stadium, remembers watching from the dugout wondering if the planes were going to be able to clear the lights. They always did.
For former Mets infielder Ron Hunt, the planes were a nonentity, but the boos from the fans weren't something he cared for.
“The planes never bothered me,” said the 83-year-old Hunt. “The people did.”
The fans wanted to see winning baseball, but that wouldn't come until 1969. But that didn't stop many of them from embracing the Mets in their new home in Flushing Meadows. The fans are still embracing the Mets' Queens home, even if it moved next door. Citi Field opened in 2008, but Shea Stadium's legacy still lives on in local lore.
The Mets will commemorate the opening of the first ballpark they could truly ever call home Wednesday by having Fisher throw out the first pitch against the same team he pitched against in 1964.
Fisher, 85, remembers the crowds in the early days of Shea differently than Hunt. Sure, the team lost 109 games, but fans mostly embraced them.
“They were absolutely fabulous,” Fisher said. “They could tell that we were trying our best. We really were trying our best and boy, when we won a game, it was big time. They were so much appreciated by the ballplayers.”
At the time, the upstart Mets were like a team of little leaguers facing bigger, better teenagers. The early years of the franchise were not the most illustrious years. But the team respected manager Casey Stengel and played hard for him.
“Man for man, we couldn't stand up against the other teams,” Fisher said. “But I guarantee you there was no team that tried harder than we did.”
Citi Field is a decidedly modern, state-of-the-art park. Owners Steve and Alex Cohen have upgraded the scoreboard and the luxury suites in recent years and the clubhouse amenities are numerous. It's been lauded for its food offerings and it hosted an All-Star Game as recently as 2013.
Fans can still see planes flying behind the largest scoreboard of its kind and the neon Coca-Cola sign in the outfield. Soon, it could be part of a major sports and entertainment complex, with the addition of a soccer stadium coming to Flushing and potentially a casino as well.
Shea Stadium was never meant to be like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park and the Mets have been better off in a new venue. But the organization often pays homage to its roots, and having Fisher and Hunt on hand for the 60th anniversary of the ballpark they helped christen is fitting.
Hunt would spend four seasons with the Mets, scoring the first run on the day it opened and hitting the first homer run at Shea Stadium on April 23, 1964. He was a two-time All-Star and the starting second baseman for the National League team in the 1964 All-Star Game at Shea.
Fisher spent four seasons with the Mets before they were Amazin', but he still has fond memories regardless of the records the team put up in that era.
“You always have to have positive thoughts, too,” Fisher said. “I gave it my best. I could lay my head on the pillow and say, ‘I couldn't have done any better than that.'”