Ballpark
Shea Stadium
New York · 1964–2008 · config 2008
Favors pitchers
(-0.1 runs for the away team)
Dimensions
LF 338′ · LFA 378′ · LC 378′ · CF 410′ · RC 378′ · RFA 378′ · RF 338′
Walls LF 8′ · CF 8′ · RF 8′
Spacious Flushing meadow
Cavernous foul ground
Capacity 55,777
Fair and big. Pitchers preferred Shea.
Overhead diagram
Photograph
About this park
Shea Stadium played fair and big in Flushing. The outfield did not hand out porches; pitchers preferred the space. Night air off the bay and a roomy foul territory made cheap damage harder to buy.
It was a multipurpose bowl with baseball manners — deep enough in the alleys that extra-base hits had to be earned, and honest enough that a well-pitched game looked like a well-pitched game. Mets clubs that thrived here learned to manufacture and to finish, not to wait on short porches.