Shea Stadium 2010 Calendar (Calendars of America: Historic Images) (Historic Images (Arcadia Publishing))

 (7 customer reviews)

With all that has been written over the years on the "House that Ruth Built" Jason Antos offers a timely chronicle on New York's more humble ballpark, Shea Stadium. A Whitestone resident, Antos combines his love for local history and passion for Mets baseball for a nostalgic account of Flushing's cherished sporting venue. He segues into the rise of the Mets franchise, a team of "lovable losers" (a term he coined) that emerged as undisputed World Champions in only seven years time. What he has in store is a treat for the history buff and baseball fan alike.

Queens is still a place where local pride matters. Despite how Shea was built more with suburbanites and their automobiles in mind, local residents have embraced it as their own. Like other great sport venues throughout the greater city, Shea's brand of magic rallies its home borough. This is one fine impression Antos' book lends; after finishing it, I see (just like all Met fans do) that Shea is more than just a...Read more

Now that Shea is in the process of being demolished, this book serves as a living homage to what will soon just be a memory. And the photos are wonderful, chronicling the entire history of Shea, from the groundbreaking in the early 60s right up to the present. It's not about the Mets per se--there's very little about the players and teams' history--it's a love letter to the ballpark. My only reservation is that all the photos are b/w; I would have appreciated some color photos mixed in so we can get a complete feel for the blue and orange tiles, and the neon sculptures that decorated Shea in its later years. But aside from that, this really is a must-have for anyone who has fond memories of "The Big Shea." It is indeed a "Happy Recap."

I thumbed through this book in a bookstore, riveted by the pictures. As a long-time Met fan, I have nearly every yearbook and many other books about the Mets. Yet, I saw many pictures of Shea I had never seen before, from its construction and earlier. I decided to buy the book, as it would become a great resource years from now when Shea is gone. By page 20 out of 126 though, I realized how poorly written and edited it is. An early picture of Gil Hodges calls him "Miracle Worker" but fails to directly credit him with managing the Mets to an improbable 1969 Series win...it oddly calls Ebbets Field "the most fabled ballpark in history"...its description of William Shea's effort to bring an NL team back to NYC is disjointed and hard to follow...and it sloppily refers to Marv Throneberry as "Thorneberry" four times. It also fails to mention that on its opening day in 1964, workers were still painting and many people left the game with paint on their clothes. Later on, it erroneously...Read more