Shea Stadium VS Citi Field has been a discussion regularly had by Mets fans for 11 years now and it will probably continue to be had for the foreseeable future. It's a good debate to have after all, as both stadiums have some very real upsides, along with a few downsides. The stadiums also have vastly different styles, making a debate even more interesting.
Shea Stadium opened in 1964 and would stand until 2008, hosting over 3,500 Mets games in the process. Citi Field opened in 2009, still stands today, and is set to host its 1,000th Mets game in 2021 (if the 2020 season happens).
I was 7 years old when Shea was torn down, but even though I didn't have as many experiences there as some Mets fans, I still do have plenty of fond memories at Shea. Citi Field has been the Mets home for most of my life, but it's important to remember that this comparison of the parks will be completely unbiased, and will be objective fact, rather than opinion.
The competition between the stadiums will be organized into four categories (Team Success, Uniqueness, Aesthetics, and Mets'ness), with a Tie-breaking Wild Card category being used if needed. The stadium that wins the most categories wins.
Honorable mention: The Polo Grounds
For the Met's first two years of the Met's existence, they played at the former home of the New York Giants, the Polo Grounds. The Polo Grounds may have been the most unique stadiums MLB baseball has ever been played in, with the fence being less than 300 feet away down the lines but more than 500 feet away in center. The Manhattan stadium is one of the greatest ballparks of all time, beating Shea and Citi by a wide margin, but it's only an honorable mention as it never REALLY belonged to the Mets.
Category 1: Team Success
Shea Stadium
During their years at Shea the Mets had a .520 winning percentage and two World Series rings. They also had four National League pennants and 7 total postseason appearances, meaning they'd win a pennant every 11 years and a playoff birth every 6.2. Mets players won 34 individual awards during Shea's 44-year lifespan, including four Cy Youngs, three Rookie of the Years. and one Manager of the Year.
Citi Field
The Mets have so far stayed above 500 at Citi, but just barely. Their Citi Field winning percentage is currently .501, and they have won no rings since the stadium opened. In the first 10 seasons at their new park the Mets have managed to make the postseason twice, and win one pennant, which means a slightly higher average frequency of pennants and playoff appearances than Shea, but obviously in a much smaller sample size. A total of 9 individual awards have been won by Mets during their time at Citi so far, which is more per year than at Shea, but individual awards are far from the be all end all for team success.
WINNER:
It's hard to compare a stadium that housed a team for almost 50 years so such a new stadium in terms of success, but when it comes down to it Shea had more regular-season success, along with more total postseason success, which makes this an easy call. Point Shea Stadium (1-0).
Category 2: Uniqueness
Shea Stadium
Shea doesn't offer too much in terms of uniqueness, being one of the "cookie-cutter stadiums" that plagued baseball in the 70s 80s and 90s. Even though Shea was pretty unique at the time it was built and was one of the first cookie-cutter stadiums, it quickly became very run of the mill and it doesn't win any points for influencing a bad trend in stadium design. Shea also had symmetrical outfield dimensions, something that is generally considered boring has been phased out of baseball, with few parks still having them today. To be fair, Shea wasn't a completely normal cookie-cutter park, benefitting from an open outfield and the famous home run apple, but it still was in no way "unique".
Citi Field
Citi Field is just about the farthest thing from a cookie-cutter park, having uniquely dimensioned outfield walls, a non-circular shape, and a handful of unique quirks (like the Shea Bridge). Ballpark design has improved exponentially since the Cookie Cutter era, and while Citi can't quite compete with some of the best current ballparks (PetCo, Oracle, PNC), it's still a great, and unique, place to catch a ballgame.
WINNER:
Citi Field may not be the most unique park in the league, buts it's well above average and it beats a cookie-cutter any day. Point Citi Field (1-1).
Category 3: Aesthetics
Shea Stadium
Despite being very generic, Shea Stadium was still aesthetically pleasing in many ways. It was symmetrical, which is always nice to look at, and it had ramps wrapping around its exterior which I thought looked really cool. The biggest point against Shea in terms of Aesthetics is that you couldn't see the field from the majority of the concourses, something typical of stadiums from that era, but still a factor that makes a park less enjoyable.
Citi Field
Citi of course has far more complex design in terms of the seating arrangement, field dimension, and exterior which makes it far more interesting and enjoyable to look at. Citi Field also, like many modern stadiums, allows you to see the field of play from most places in the park, even while you're in a hot dog line, giving it a huge aesthetic and atmospheric boost.
WINNER:
Aesthetics of course is in the eye of the beholder and this category could go either way for different people, but my personal preference towards the look ofCiti combined with its objective greater field visibility makes this an easy call. Point Citi Field (2-1).
Category 4: Mets'ness
Shea Stadium
Say what you want about Shea, but it was clearly a Mets stadium, especially after the mid-80s renovations that painted the outside blue. That blue exterior, along with the orange seats, will always scream Mets and there would never be any questioning of who that stadium belonged to. Shea Stadium was named after William Shea, who was key in bringing the Mets to New York, rather than being named for a corporation, which also gives it a huge boost in "Mets'ness". To be fair though, Shea does lose major points for being the home field of the Yankees in 1974 and 1975.
Citi Field
Possibly the biggest complaint about Citi Field is that there aren't many easy ways to tell what team plays there. While this has improved with the new blue and orange outfield walls, it's still a neutral looking park with a beige exterior and dark green seats. The other issue in terms of Mets'ness is the fact that the exterior of the stadium itself is built to look like Ebbets Field (which honors the Dodgers, a team that isn't the Mets) and the main entrance is covered with pictures of (and named after) Jackie Robinson (who of course wasn't a met). Even though Ebbets Field is a historically great park that deserves to be remembered, and Jackie Robinson is an American Hero who deserves to be honored, the fact that the Mets seem to pay homage to them even more than their own history, takes away greatly from the Mets'ness of the stadium. Citi Field also displays their pennants in a fairly obscure location, rather than putting them in full view for all to see, and had their retired numbers in a highly questionable spot until recently.
WINNER:
Shea runs away with this category and wins in a landslide. If you're looking for the ballpark that best represents the New York Mets, look no further than Shea. Point Shea Stadium (2-2).
If you haven't noticed we have a tie. Two categories to Citi and Two to Shea. So now its time for the Wild Card Tiebreaker round.
Category 5: Wild Card
Shea Stadium
Wild Card points go to Shea for hosting the first-ever stadium concert (Beatles 1965), for being the home field for two NFL teams (Jets 1964-83/ Giants 1975), and for inventing the home-run apple.
Citi Field
Wild Card points go to Citi for having a far lower seating capacity (more realistic, less empty seats), for having a wiffleball field, for having an even bigger home run apple, for having much better food, and for still having Shea's home plate in the parking lot.
WINNER:
Shea racked up some solid Wild Card points for hosting more significant non-baseball events but is not enough to change the outcome of this category. Citi gains more relevant wild card points for providing a more intimate and enjoyable fan experience. Point Citi Field (3-2. Final)
Citi Field takes home this competition by a score of 3-2, winning the title of the best Mets stadium. Shea was a great stadium and had huge importance to Mets' history, but frankly, the big semi-circle can't stand up to Citi Field. Hopefully, the Mets won't follow the trend in baseball of tearing down perfectly good stadiums and we can watch our Mets play at Citi for years to come.
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