Sitting in the Shea

This was my first and only visit to Shea Stadium. And I would get to meet up with a TravBuddy.
 
I would take the day off from work, since I felt like this was my best chance to see the stadium. I got an early start, taking SEPTA and NJ Transit, from Philly to NY's Penn Station. Then I decided to take the Long Island Railroad to Shea Stadium, since it was faster. I wanted to get there early enough, to look around and take pictures.
 
The train was faster than subway, and I got there in 20 minutes. When I exited the station, I could see the old and new stadium side-by-side. This was the final season of Shea Stadium, and next season, the Mets will move into a new ballpark named Citi Field, which was still under construction.

I went inside the ballpark, and looked around for a bit. There was not much to see. This was one of the few multi-purpose stadiums left. The seats were colorful, with each section a different color. And there was the Home Run Apple, which came out whenever the Mets hit a home run. In the concourse, were banners of the great Mets players.

The weather was more bearable than when I went to Yankee Stadium. But my seat was in the sunlight. I tend to sweat and burn easily and badly, so I moved all the way to the top row. There were more empty seats there.

This day was Sesame Street Day, which meant a lot of kids. They must have been happy to see Ernie, who came out before the start of the game, and the middle. And these kids groups sat in the upper deck, where I was sitting.

It got annoying when some of them would stand in the aisle, talking and blocking my view of the field. I moved to another section, which was better.
 
The game was between the New York Mets and San Diego Padres. I was secretly rooting for the Padres, as the Mets are in a tight race in the NL East, along with the Marlins and my hometown Phillies. Couple days back, I went to the game between Phillies and Marlins, and now I am seeing the Mets. Seeing the NL East race in person.
 
The Padres scored first on a home run by Chase Headley, but the Mets came back and scored 3 runs, to lead it 3-1. Johan Santana started the game, and pitched great, striking out 7 hitters. When he came out of the game, the bullpen was not able to hold the lead, and the Padres tied the game 3-3, going into the bottom of the 9th inning. But to their credit, they were able to limit the damage when getting into a bases-loaded jam with no outs, allowing only 1 run. David Wright would end the game by hitting a 2-rum walk-off homer, leading the Mets to a 5-3 win.
 
I was not hoping for an extra inning game, and I got my wish. During the 6th inning, I would meet up with Jeremy (vulindelia), who came with his family, and sat in the mezzanine section. That was not a good place to watch a game, because of the obstruction of the upper deck. I could see the field, but not the scoreboard or fly ball. So I would not be able to see the home runs.
 
After the game, we exited the stadium, and went to the parking lot to get a good view of the stadium with the sign on it. We took some pictures, then parted ways. I took the famous 7 train back to Penn Station, and hopped on NJ Transit to Trenton after that. Once there, it was back to Philly.
 
Shea Stadium was not as bad as I heard it would be. While not nearly having as much history as Yankee Stadium, I'll always remember this stadium as the place of the first baseball game that I watched on TV, when the Phillies played the Mets in 1989. Another stadium visited this season, and I got to meet another TravBuddy, which is always fun.
 
I plan to visit one more this season, which is Dolphin Stadium in Miami during Labor Day weekend.