Shea Stadium

The Compromise

Shea Stadium was built in Queens, near Flushing Meadow Park — the site of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs — and just southeast of La Guardia Airport. The architectural firm Praeger-Kavanagh-Waterbury designed it as a circle, and the circle was a bargain. By making the stadium round enough to fit a football gridiron, the designers produced the first park of its size that could convert between sports using motor-operated stands running over underground tracks. The cost was distance: the circular shape left seats farther from the field than a single-sport stadium would have.

The design also anticipated a dome that never arrived. The Mets reportedly preferred the open sky — they wanted fans to feel like they were going out on a summer's day. The two-thirds-circle shape gave Shea a roomy outfield and above-average foul territory, and the place earned a reputation as a pitcher's park.

Opening Week

Shea opened on April 17, 1964, after 29 months of construction costing $28.5 million. The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Mets 4-3 before 50,312 fans. The day did not go smoothly. Colossal traffic jams surrounded the park. The right-field scoreboard — one of the largest in baseball at roughly 60 tons — malfunctioned, full of spelling errors, the result of an unfinished electrical and telephone system stemming from a jurisdictional dispute between two unions. The stadium had opened just days before the 1964 New York World's Fair across Roosevelt Avenue.

Two months later, Phillies pitcher Jim Bunning threw a perfect game at Shea, striking out 10. On July 7, the All-Star Game came to the park, and Phillies outfielder Johnny Callison hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth.

The Span

Shea stood from 1964 through 2008. The park saw postseason baseball in 1969, 1973, 1986, 1988, 1999, 2000, and 2006. The 1969 club — the Miracle Mets under manager Gil Hodges — won the World Series after seven straight seasons of last or next-to-last finishes. Fans stormed the field when the Mets clinched the pennant, and again after they won Game 5.

The dome the architects planned for never arrived. Shea closed after the 2008 season.

Reporting: Society for American Baseball Research, Wikipedia, Ballparks.com, The New York Times. Park data: MLB StatsAPI and Retrosheet, via the Fever engine.