Shea goodbye.

Final piece of Shea Stadium tumbles down on Wednesday morning as space is created for a parking garage for attendees of Citi Field, new home of the NY Mets. My lifelong allegiance to the Yankees and their cathedral in the Bronx didn't keep me from venturing to the Queens eyesore through the years to see the Mets, especially during the HoJo/Doc/Strawberry/Mookie years in the mid-80s. Even saw the Jets there in one of Joe Namath's final games in the '70s. My last visit was for a Springsteen show in October 2003.

Shea had its roots in space age hopefulness, when quirkiness was outdated and sleek, utilitarian structures designed to host baseball & football games were built in circular uniformity. I clearly remember Goodyear blimp shots of Busch Stadium (left) in St Louis and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh and admiring their angle-free monotony, their Colosseum-esque grandeur. Up close, of course, they were nothing more than cheaply built concrete warehouses for beer, hot dog and souvenir sales.

Love how the Times' description of Shea's last gasp reads like an obituary:

Shea Stadium, the site of the Mets’ two World Series victories, their many seasons of futility and a few historic concerts, met the fate of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds on Wednesday morning. At 11:21 a.m., a demolition crew pulled down the final section, and what remained of the old blue stadium was gone in a cloud of dust: the final collapse at Shea. It was 45.