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The way I see it, Shea may be dust at this point, but the demise isn't complete until the first pitch at the new place.
Yes, I let go very very badly.
<blockquote><a href="http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spjim1312641677apr12,0,7196322.column" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsday.com/images/branding/masthead_subpages.gif"></a>
Field tough transition for Shea family
Jim Baumbach
9:43 PM EDT, April 12, 2009
Mets fans everywhere are thrilled to open their sparkling new home, which they'll do in a regular-season game for the first time tonight, but it's important to note that a small contingent moves into Citi Field with mixed feelings. And understandably so.
Among the 42,000 who will be at Citi Field will be members of the Shea family. Maybe you recognize the name.
<table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://www.newsday.com/media/thumbnails/columnist/2007-03/28563316.jpg" witdh="55"><br><font size="1">Jim<br>Baumbach</td></tr></table>The Mets' old home, the place that is about to become a parking lot, was named after a man by the name of William A. Shea. Five decades ago, in the wake of the Dodgers and Giants moving west, he played a pivotal role in bringing National League baseball back to New York. He died in 1991 and is survived by many family members who have personal memories of growing up at the stadium that the Mets have left behind.
That's what makes this day hard for them. They understand why the Mets moved out of Shea. They even understand why they couldn't keep the name, not with $400 million to be gained. But as the Mets mark a new beginning Monday, for this family, it's also the official end of a special era.
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"Driving by and watching it being torn down, it was real tough to see it being stripped of everything," said Patricia Shea Ryan, one of Bill Shea's two daughters. "I basically grew up there. It was my second home . . .
"It's like a death. Both of my parents have passed away. This is another death. You just have to look forward, look up and see the beauty of the new stadium."
Ryan, who lives in Manhasset, attended Opening Day last season. Her brother, Bill Jr., threw the ceremonial first pitch and the Shea name was retired by the franchise and added to the leftfield wall. Ryan also was there for the closing ceremonies after the final game at Shea.
Both days were tough, just as much as tonight's opening ceremony at Citi Field will be. But not unexpected.
Scott Shea, Bill Shea's grandson, added: "The replacement of 44-year-old stadiums is a practical reality. The sale of naming rights to make that happen today also is a practical reality."
That doesn't make it any easier, especially for Bill Shea's son and two daughters, who lived through everything that went into the building of Shea Stadium nearly 50 years ago. If anything, the birth of another new Mets stadium brings back those memories. And it's hard.
One thing about Shea Stadium: It was one of those things in life in which there was no middle ground. Everyone had an opinion about it, and felt strongly, too.
The typical fan with no allegiances to the team saw it as out-of-date decades ago, and it was hard to argue that. Yankees fans considered it a sorry place to play compared to their cathedral in the Bronx, and they had history to back it up.
But to Mets fans, there was something warm and special about Shea Stadium. For 45 seasons, it was home, specifically the first home they could call their own.
After Shea Stadium closed and everything you could think of went on sale, Ryan knew exactly what she wanted: the sign that hung on the leftfield wall next to the retired numbers that said in big, bold letters: SHEA. These days, it sits in the gym room of her Manhasset home, awaiting a permanent spot.
Ryan can't make tonight's game, but her husband, Bob, will be there. So will many other family members, including Scott Shea, who was scheduled to fly in from Los Angeles last night.
Ryan plans to get to a game at Citi Field soon enough, and she's eager to see where the Mets' Hall of Fame busts are situated. Her father was inducted in 1983.
It will be a tough transition for the Sheas to accept Citi Field as the new home, but this family knows the importance of looking forward instead of backward. The Dodgers and Giants left New York after the 1957 season, and that was tough for everyone. But Bill Shea did something about it, and as a result, today we have the Mets.
Painful as it may be, the Sheas will move on starting Monday.
Citi Field, it's your turn.</blockquote>
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