Christ!
Dear God, Will the Silliness Ever End?
By Bob 52X
I write today consumed with sadness. I was watching the Met game on SNY today when I heard that construction had begun on the madness that is the new Shea. It seems that all reason has left New York. We have begun to build a billion dollar ego trip for a billionaire, a colossus for a tiny man. We again, like years ago at 33rd and 7th avenue, destroy our history for the short money and a little short lived fame.
The home of the Mets, Shea Stadium, has been the stage for the greatest game in World Series history, both our championships, and countless good times for the people of all New York. It is a beautiful field where the orange and blue of New York has shone bright for decades. It is the place of Mookie and Darryl and Donn and Seaver. Where Svoboda dove with all his length and Big Mike swung for the fences.
Remember Mike Piazza? The Mets where an afterthought because Met ownership had done such a wonderful job running things. Mike wanted out of LA and into Shea. Remember how it took a public outcry by Met fans and New Yorkers of all stripes to get the big slugger here. I remember. The man that single handedly drove the Mets back to relevance had to be forced down ownership’s throat. Then our fearless leaders surrounded Big Mike with the likes of Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile so we could watch the greatest hitting catcher of all time swing at outside sliders. These are the men that want to destroy Shea.
Why must Shea go? So we can watch our games in another cookie cutter bandbox the likes of which have spread across the Major Leagues like a bad rash. This place will be the anti-Shea, smaller, ugly and priced for the rich. The powers that be want to take away 11,000 seats a game! They certainly will not do without the money those seats generate so get ready for a nice rise in ticket prices to greet us Met fans at the gate of this new monstrosity. That is sure what New Yorkers need, a nice cost of living increase!
Shea has become the antique ballpark that we have been told is what this new place is all about. Shea is one of the only remaining parks that were part of an entire architectural era in baseball. An era where the owners thought that they could sell more tickets and grow the game. These days that era of optimism is out of vogue in the owners boxes so here come the wrecking balls. What do we get in the place of that time of optimistic construction? Smaller parks, expensive seats, and drinks, and food, and three tier pricing and having to buy tickets to 5 games to get a seat at the game you want to go see. The contempt knows no bounds.
In God’s name why would we ever build a shrine to a team that abandoned New York? This city does not look to the past, we write the future. The Dodgers split 50 years ago and the door could not have hit them in the ass fast enough. They were a team that gloried in the shadow of the Yankees, hardly ever competing on the big stage. They ran across the continent as fast as their fleeing feet could carry them. Now we look to venerate cowardice. For Shame!
If one rich landlord didn’t sit in grade school wishing he was as cool as Sandy Koufax, would we even have to suffer this indignity? Our team is going to play in a shrine to another team! Do we wear the road uniforms when the Bums come to town?
This can not come to pass. This city, The City, must stand tall in the face of greedy opportunism. Fight this travesty with all your strength and all the wind in your lungs. Stand Now!
By Bob 52X
I write today consumed with sadness. I was watching the Met game on SNY today when I heard that construction had begun on the madness that is the new Shea. It seems that all reason has left New York. We have begun to build a billion dollar ego trip for a billionaire, a colossus for a tiny man. We again, like years ago at 33rd and 7th avenue, destroy our history for the short money and a little short lived fame.
The home of the Mets, Shea Stadium, has been the stage for the greatest game in World Series history, both our championships, and countless good times for the people of all New York. It is a beautiful field where the orange and blue of New York has shone bright for decades. It is the place of Mookie and Darryl and Donn and Seaver. Where Svoboda dove with all his length and Big Mike swung for the fences.
Remember Mike Piazza? The Mets where an afterthought because Met ownership had done such a wonderful job running things. Mike wanted out of LA and into Shea. Remember how it took a public outcry by Met fans and New Yorkers of all stripes to get the big slugger here. I remember. The man that single handedly drove the Mets back to relevance had to be forced down ownership’s throat. Then our fearless leaders surrounded Big Mike with the likes of Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile so we could watch the greatest hitting catcher of all time swing at outside sliders. These are the men that want to destroy Shea.
Why must Shea go? So we can watch our games in another cookie cutter bandbox the likes of which have spread across the Major Leagues like a bad rash. This place will be the anti-Shea, smaller, ugly and priced for the rich. The powers that be want to take away 11,000 seats a game! They certainly will not do without the money those seats generate so get ready for a nice rise in ticket prices to greet us Met fans at the gate of this new monstrosity. That is sure what New Yorkers need, a nice cost of living increase!
Shea has become the antique ballpark that we have been told is what this new place is all about. Shea is one of the only remaining parks that were part of an entire architectural era in baseball. An era where the owners thought that they could sell more tickets and grow the game. These days that era of optimism is out of vogue in the owners boxes so here come the wrecking balls. What do we get in the place of that time of optimistic construction? Smaller parks, expensive seats, and drinks, and food, and three tier pricing and having to buy tickets to 5 games to get a seat at the game you want to go see. The contempt knows no bounds.
In God’s name why would we ever build a shrine to a team that abandoned New York? This city does not look to the past, we write the future. The Dodgers split 50 years ago and the door could not have hit them in the ass fast enough. They were a team that gloried in the shadow of the Yankees, hardly ever competing on the big stage. They ran across the continent as fast as their fleeing feet could carry them. Now we look to venerate cowardice. For Shame!
If one rich landlord didn’t sit in grade school wishing he was as cool as Sandy Koufax, would we even have to suffer this indignity? Our team is going to play in a shrine to another team! Do we wear the road uniforms when the Bums come to town?
This can not come to pass. This city, The City, must stand tall in the face of greedy opportunism. Fight this travesty with all your strength and all the wind in your lungs. Stand Now!
posted by grazianimal at 7:44 PM
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