Shea Stadium

From SoSH

Contents 1 Stadium History 2 Trivia 3 Field Dimensions 4 Wall Height 5 Ground Rules 6 External Links

Stadium History

Shea Stadium cost $28.5 million to build and took 29 months from its groundbreaking on October 28, 1961, to its dedication on April 17, 1964. It was originally to be called Flushing Meadow Park, but a movement was quickly launched to name it in honor of Shea. The stadium contains 24 ramps and 21 escalators. It was also the first stadium capable of being converted from baseball to football and back using two motor-operated stands that moved on underground tracks. Shea Stadium is the noisiest outdoor ballpark in the majors because it is in the flight path of La Guardia Airport. The story goes that when the city scouted out stadium sites in 1962, they went during the winter, when flight paths into La Guardia are different, so they never anticipated the aircraft noise.

Plans were drawn up to add 15,000 seats and cover the stadium with a dome. Those plans were scrapped when studies showed the stadium might collapse under the weight of a roof.

Trivia

• Designed to be expandable to 90,000 seats.
• Right-center scoreboard is one of largest in the majors, 175 feet long and 86 feet high with Bulova clock on top, about 25 feet behind the outfield fence.
• Behind the fence in center, just to the right of the 410 mark, is a Mets Magic Top Hat. When a Met hits a homer, a red Big Apple rises out of the black top hat, which actually looks more like a big kettle.
• Worst visibility for hitters in the majors.
• Churchlike spire beyond center-field fence formerly graced by "Serval Zippers" sign.
• Christened April 16, 1964, with Dodgers Holy Water from the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn and Giants Holy Water from the Harlem River at the exact location where it passed the old Polo Grounds.
• The only All-Star game to be played at Shea Stadium was in 1964, its inaugural season.
• The Beatles played before 53,275 fans in August 1965 and again in August 1966.
• The New York Yankees played there from April 6, 1974, to September 28, 1975 while Yankee Stadium was renovated.

Field Dimensions

Left Field	Left Center	Center Field	Right Center	Right Field
330'	371'	410'	378'	330'

Wall Height

Left Field	Center Field	Right Field
8’	8’	8’

Ground Rules

In addition to adhering to the Universal Ground Rules, Shea Stadium also employs the following ground rules:

DUGOUT AREAS

• Ball striking surfaces or facings surrounding dugouts: Out of Play.

• Ball entering area at outfield end of home dugout, adjacent to camera pit (designated orange line): Out of Play.

• Ball entering area around bat boy stools or hitting stools: In Play.

• Ball lodging beneath bat boy stools: Dead ball.

FIELD BOX SEATS

• Thrown or fair ball that lodges behind or under field box seats: Out of Play.

OUTFIELD AREA

• Fair ball bouncing over four-foot fence in foul territory in left or right field: Two Bases.

External Links

• Update