Road Trip: New York Mets
The Sports Freak and I are on the road in New York City to catch the New York Mets in the last season of Shea Stadium. And boy did we pick a great game. Mets won, 3-0 by beating the Colorado Rockies. This should have been a great game, given one of the contenders for the NL East Division hosting the 2007 NL Champions. Instead we get a bottom barrel team visiting a still contender, but only after firing their manager.
Some bad news as the starting pitcher, Pedro Martinez, left the game early in the 4th due to shoulder stiffness. It appears this is not a major problem for the Mets, who thought he needed the res.
As for Shea itself, I've been to 3 "old school" stadiums prior to this afternoon. Fenway Park of Boston, RFK where I've seen an exhibition game where Mark McGwire played and where the Nationals called home for awhile, and Qualcomm Stadium, aka Jack Murphy Stadium, where the San Diego Padres played until 2003. Shea was best described by the Sports Freak as "a nicer RFK".
My rankings are as follows.
Old School - 1: Fenway, 2: Shea, 3 & 4: (tie) RFK and Qualcomm
Modern: AT&T Park (SF Giants), 2: Camden Yards, 3: Nationals Park. Don't get me wrong, I love Nationals Park, but it seems to still be finding it's ground.
Comments
You can't put Fenway and Shea in the same category. If Shea is old school then Fenway is old old school. If you want to compare, the stadiums built in the 60s and 70s (like Shea and RFK) would be "middle" school.
Posted by: Bob | July 13, 2008 1:07 PM
OK Bob, I'll admit Shea and Fenway aren't in the exact same category. I was comparing "new" as in 90's and later stadiums as one grouping and "old" as anything beforehand. 80's stadiums are kind of in the middle, but I'm not sure how many were built then.
Posted by: Big Money Tony
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July 13, 2008 3:45 PM
Overall Shea was a fun stadium. BMT & I were fortunate enough to sit next to some great fans. In fact going to a Mets game is fun for a fan of any team with some of the best and most knowledgeable fans in baseball only rivaled probably by yankees and red sox fans.
I may not have been to Fenway, but I think it's important to note something when comparing Nationals Park to any other park. It has open space. That's right. You can walk on the concourse on any level and always see the field. In older parks this isn't the case.
A game at these prices should provide entertainment, but the main viewing pleasure should be the game and Nationals Park provides the best viewing pleasure at the stadiums I've seen. It has angled seats, cushioned seats, and cushioned backs. It doesn't have the caged metal railing feeling that Shea has with open acess from metro to concession stands. The only thing missing is a unique distinct feeling to make it it's own stadium, but as far as watching a game it's difficult for other stadiums to compete.
Posted by: The Sports Freak | July 15, 2008 8:37 PM