2009 - New Homes for New York Baseball

So I was sitting in one of my television production classes last night, and we were having a roundtable discussion of story ideas for our next show. I, of course, had the brilliant idea of a piece about this year’s farewell to both Yankee AND Shea Stadium. Although some chick decided to steal my idea when it came time to assign stories, I got to thinkin’ about how monumental this is for the state of New York.

Since we’re all living on Long Island, if only temporarily, I guess I’ll start in our backyard. Shea Stadium, home to the 2007 Choke Artists of the year....I mean the Mets....is located in Flushing, Queens - a chip shot from Hofstra’s campus. Formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, it has been the home of the Mets since April of 1964, and has since hosted some pretty exciting happenings other than the blunders of the Mets.

Shea hosted one of the most significant concerts in music history back in August of ’65, when The Beatles began their North American tour, playing to a record crowd of 55,600. In addition to the Fab 4, other notable concerts at Shea include: Jethro Tull, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Who, Simon & Garfunkel, The Police, Elton John, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, among many others. But most importantly for this writer, my hero Billy Joel will be playing the final show at Shea this July in a concert series aptly titled “The Last Play at Shea.”

Citi Field, the soon-to-be new home for the Mets, is already under construction in Willets Point, Queens, and is set to open for the 2009 season.

Now lets head over to the Boogey-Down Bronx, home of the greatest sports team EVER. Located at East 161st Street and River Avenue, Yankee Stadium has been home to the Bronx Bombers since 1923, with exception to 1974-75 seasons, when the stadium was under construction.

“The House that Ruth Built” as it came to be known, thanks to this guy named Babe Ruth, has hosted a record-26 championship seasons for the Yanks, by far the best by any franchise ever in the MLB, and a total of 37 out of the 84 World Series played since the opening of the stadium. However, after the 2008 season, the vast majority of this history-filled stadium will be demolished to make way for parking for the new stadium, which will also be named Yankee Stadium.

My man Billy Joel has a historic tie with Yankee Stadium too, having played the first rock concert ever in the venue in June of 1990, leading the way for other great acts such as Pink Floyd.

New Yankee Stadium, which has been under construction since 2006 in a lot adjacent to old Yankee Stadium, is also set to open up in 2009. I wonder how much tickets will cost come September and October if the Yanks overcome the adversity at hand and take a stab at the Fall Classic....

THE BEATLES - LIVE AT SHEA, "Twist and Shout" - August 1965: (listen to that crowd! and I wish I could make girls cry like that.)


BILLY JOEL - LIVE AT YANKEE STADIUM, "Miami 2017" - July 1990: (one of his best)