Remembering Mets History (1964) The Grand Opening & First Game Played at Shea Stadium
At the time Shea Stadium opened, it had 57,333 seats & was one of the biggest ballparks in baseball.
At the time it opened it was the newest ballpark & was considered a modern-day state of the art facility.
The classic orange & blue panels on the outside of the ballparks frame, represented the Mets team colors. The colors were taken from the two NL teams that left New York in the late 1950's, the NY Giants orange & the Brooklyn Dodgers blue. Those colors were also the official colors of the 1964 World's Fair. 1964 World's Fair: The colossal new ballpark stood in Flushing Meadows vast Corona Park, behind the attractions of the 1964 World's Fair. The World's Fair was to open just five days after Shea's grand opening.
Trivia: In 1980 the Shea panels were removed under the new ownership of Fred Wilpon & Nelson Doubleday.
Shea Stadium featured ushers & a new idea, usherettes. Pretty young ladies helping to guide to people to their seats & add a bit of beauty to the whole extravaganza. The vendors, ushers & usherettes' uniforms at Shea were also donned in the Mets colors.
 |
| A view of the Unisphere & Shea Stadium from a World Fair Exhibit |
The new stadium also featured it's Diamond Club restaurant, where season ticket holders could have lunch or dinner before & after a baseball game. It was the very start of fancy cuisine at a ballpark. At times the Diamond Club was a jacket required upscale restaurant.
The Diamond Club would also hold many events, featuring the players, their waives, fashion shows, charity events & fund raisers.
 |
| 1964 Mets Wives at the Shea Diamond Club. Left to right: Jackie Hunt, Shirley Kanehl, Rachel Altman, Annitte Hunter, Martha Cisco, Nancy Willey, Carol Smith, Barbara Bearnarth, Beverly Cannizzaro, Nadine Jackson & Marie Taylor. |
Shea Stadium Scoreboard: In right field centerfield Shea had the largest scoreboard in the major leagues. The classic Shea scoreboard kept track of the Mets game at Shea, as well as other games around baseball.
The right side had the National League action & the left side had the American League action.
The scoreboard also displayed that day's lineups, with uniform numbers for both teams, to help fans keep tract of the game easier. When a player came to bat, a red dot next to his number, represented that player.
Early on in Shea's history, the top center of the massive scoreboard displayed a picture of the batter who was up to the plate. The display often malfunctioned & would eventually be replaced by a giant Mets logo. On the right top side, a large Longines clock displayed the time. On the top left Rheingold Beer had one if its large billboards. Other Mets sponsors proudly had their advertisements displayed along the bottom frame of the scoreboard.
A day earlier, Bill Shea, whom the ballpark was named after, christened the Mets' new home with two symbolic bottles of water.
Bill Shea: Shea was a successful New York lawyer, who was instrumental in bringing Nation League baseball back to the city. He also threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The first bottle of water, had H2O from the Gowanus Canal, located near Ebbets Field, and the other from the Harlem River, which was near the Polo Grounds.
The Sporting news reported that "Almost all among the 50,312 in attendance, could be heard to gasp such tributes as ' beautiful, fantastic, fabulous, miraculous, the best ever".
Quotes- Casey Stengel: "It has 57 bathrooms & I need one now!"
On this historic day, the Mets hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of a huge crowd of 50,312. The Umpires for that day were- HP - Tom Gorman / 1B - Bill Williams/ 2B - Vinnie Smith & 3B - Chris Pelekoudas.
Trivia: Jack Fisher was overwhelmed by the crowd noise and pregame hype, unable to concentrate. Fisher claims to have asked Mets manager, Casey Stengel, if he could warm up in the bullpen before the game, instead of on the pitcher's mound.
With this, Fisher credits himself as starting the big-league tradition, of starting pitchers warming in the bullpen before a game.
Fisher would be the very first Mets pitcher to walk from the Mets Shea Stadium dugout to the pitcher's mound to start a home game. His battery mate that day, was catcher Jesse Gonder.
The first visiting batter to step in, was the Pirates' Dick Schofield. He also recorded the first out in the new ballpark, popping up to second baseman Larry Burright.
Fisher struck out Roberto Clemente as the first official strike out in Shea Stadium history. In the top of the 1st inning, the Pirates went down in order.
In the bottom of the 1st, Tim Harkness was the first Mets batter to step to the plate at the new Shea Stadium. Harkness would ground out to short stop for the first Mets' out. Outfielder, George Altman would fly out for the second out. & Ron Hunt ground out to end the Mets home 1st inning.
Willie Stargell Shea Trivia: The slugger Stargell, would hit 59 HRs at Shea Stadium in his career, more than any other visiting player. Stargell would hit 475 career HRs & lead the NL twice in that category. In 1964 Willie was just in his second full season & would hit 21 HRs bat 304 & make the first of seven All Star teams.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning with two outs, Harkness would get the first official Mets hit at Shea Stadium, a base hit to right field. The next batter, George Altman grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 4th, Ron Hunt led off with a double, for the first Mets extra base hit at Shea. The next batter, Jesse Gonder recorded the club's first Shea Stadium RBI, as he drove a base hit to right field to score Hunt to tie the game.
Slugger Frank Thomas then reached on an infield single. Next, Jim Hickman was the first Mets batter to get hit by a pitch at Shea, loading the bases. Larry Eliot then came in as the first Mets pinch runner at the new Shea, running for Hickman. Mets short stop, Amado Samuel then doubled down the left field line, scoring both Gonder & Thomas, as the Mets took a 3-1 lead to the delight of the large crowd.
But that was all the Mets offense the team could put up that day.
Pirate pitcher Bob Friend then retired the next three Mets batters, as the Mets rally was over. Larry Burright grounded out; Jack Fisher attempted a bunt was unsuccessful. Tim Harkness then flew out to left field for the last out of the inning.
Then Roberto Clemente singled & then the Pirates big guy, Willie Stargell came through again with a double to right field, narrowing the Mets lead 3-2.
The Pirates Donn Clendenon, who would be the 1969 Mets World Series MVP, collected an infield single. Willie Stargell held at third base. Jack Fisher then got Bob Bailey to ground out to third to end the inning.
In the top of the 7th inning, Fisher got the first two outs but then surrendered singles to Roberto Clemente & Willie Stargell. It was Stargell's third hit of the day.
Mets manager, Casey Stengel came to the mound & pulled Fisher out of the game. The first Mets reliever to come out of
the Shea Stadium bullpen, was Ed Bauta. He had come over from the Cardinals the previous year & would pitch eight games this season before ending his brief career.
 |
| A Young Ed Kranepool |
Jack Fisher went 6.2 innings allowing three runs on eleven hits, with four strike outs & a walk taking no
decision.
In the 8th inning, a young 19-year-old Ed Kranepool, was the first Mets pinch hitter to step out of the Shea Stadium dugout. Eddie grounded out to Bill Mazeroski at second base.
Trivia: Kranepool would become one of MLB's most successful pinch hitters, collecting a career 90 pinch hits batting .277 with 55 RBIs in that role. Ten years later, in 1974 Kranepool batted a Mets record .486 as a pinch hitter.
In the top of the 9th inning, Stargell & Clendenon both singled. On the day Stargell collected four hits. Clendenon & Clemente both had three hits each om the afternoon as well.
In the bottom of the 9th, Bob Friend was still on the mound, he retired the Mets in order. First pinch hitter John Stephenson & then Hawk Taylor both struck out for the first two outs. Tim Harkness then ended the game with a ground out to Mazeroski at second base.
Officially in the books, first game ever played at Shea Stadium, had the Pirates beating the Mets 4-3. Bob Friend was the winner & Ed Bauta took the loss. The Mets would win 33 games at Shea on the season going 33-48. Much better than their 20-61 record on the road. Overall, the team finished tenth 59-109.
Trivia: Forty-Four years later, in October 2008, Ed Kranepool, Jack Fisher, Ron Hunt & Frank Thomas would all be on hand for the last game ever played at Shea Stadium.
Officially in the books, first game ever played at Shea Stadium, had the Pirates beating the Mets 4-3. Bob Friend was the winner & Ed Bauta took the loss. The Mets would win 33 games at Shea on the season going 33-48. Much better than their 20-61 record on the road. Overall, the team finished tenth 59-109.
Trivia: Forty-Four years later, in October 2008, Ed Kranepool, Jack Fisher, Ron Hunt & Frank Thomas would all be on hand for the last game ever played at Shea Stadium.
Looking at the Mets Players in the starting lineup that day:
Ron Hunt: Hunt was Mets first player to start in an All Star
Game. That was the 1964 game held in Shea Stadium. The popular, Hunt spent four years with the Mets (1963-1966) batting a best .303 in 1964.Tim Harkness: Harkness came over from the L.A. Dodgers playing with the Mets in 1963 & 1964. He hit 10 HRs but hit just .211 in 1963. In 1964 he hit .282 but played in just 39 games. Ed Kranepool considered an up & coming star then took over first base. Harkness never made it back to the big leagues again.
George Altman: Altman had two good seasons of hitting over .300 & bashing over 22 HRs with the Cubs. He spent one season with Mets and batted .230 with 9 HRs & 47 RBIs. He went back to Chicago for three more years & then would play eight seasons in Japan.
Jesse Gonder: Gonder first played with the Mets in 1963. He hit .302 in 42 games and earned an opening day spot in 1964. That season he batted .270 with seven HRs & 35 RBIs. He was traded away in 1966.
Frank Thomas: Thomas an original 1962 Met was the team's first real slugger, hitting 34 HRs in 1962, a Met record until Dave Kingman hit 37 in 1975. Thomas was a journey man outfielder who hit 266 career HRs, including 12 straight years in double figures. He was second in the NL with 35 HRs in 1958 & once appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He was on the All-time HR top Forty List at the time of his retirement. Thomas had studied to be a priest before a baseball career.
Jim Hickman: Hickman was an original Met and was an everyday regular for the team's first five seasons. He played all outfield positions, as well as first & third base. His best season was 1963 when he led the team in HRs (17) & triples (6). In 964 he batted .257 with 11 HRs & 57 RBIs.
Amado Samuel: Samuel played briefly for parts of three seasons, with the Mets & Atlanta Braves. He was the first short stop to come from the Dominican Republic.
Ed Bauta: Bauta pitched just 17 games with the Mets over the 1963-1964 seasons, going 0-2 with a save.
Ed Kranepool: Steady Eddie was the Mets first bonus baby, debuting at age 17 as Kid Kranepool. He would spend 18 seasons with Mets, being the old man when he retired. He is the all-time Mets leader in games played & is second on the club list all time in hits. He is a member of the Mets Hall of Fame.
