When Shea Stadium was 'home' to Yankees, Giants, Jets, and Mets in 1975 | Oh Yeah | SNY

[@jmurray1157]

Didn't seem to bother Tom Seaver. He won the NL Cy Young that year.

[@barbaracaroll]

Because Seaver is an icon

[@garyhall6294]

And I remember at one point NYC had teams named the Jets, Sets, Mets and Nets.

[@johnmanier7968]

The one year that compares to this was 1960, when five college and pro teams shared the Los Angeles Coliseum -- the Dodgers (this was two years before Dodger Stadium opened), USC (the Coliseum's original and still current tenant), UCLA (who played at the Coliseum through 1981), the Rams (who played there from 1946-1979 and return for 2016-2018), and the Chargers (who played their maiden season in LA before moving in San Diego in 1961). The Coliseum had four teams from 1958-1959 and 1961 (Dodgers, Rams, UCLA, USC). The climate in Southern California is more conducive to grass staying alive, but all that football had to have taken a toll, especially when it rained.

[@davidlafleche1142]

Yes, but the Coliseum was easier to deal with than Shea. The Coliseum always had the same seating layout. (It was still too small for a baseball field.) It had no movable seating. Shea was the second "cookie-cutter" stadium (after RFK), with rotating box seats. They hadn't quite perfected the technology, so the conversion process was very complicated and expensive. Worst of all, the Mets got the priority. Thus, the weird schedule had the Giants playing on Saturdays (!!!), which gave the ground crew barely enough time.

[@wiedep]

Pix of groundskeeper @ 1:55 was taken at Veteran's Stadium in Philly. Pete McCarthy was head groundskeeper in '75 and the best they could do was stay just ahead of the deteriorating field and building. By the mid 70's, Shea was breaking down due to the NYC Parks Dept. budget cuts and it showed. Mets were not obligated to spend on building maintenance.

[@jeremycrandall2899]

They shoulda put Uncle Leo’s son Jeffrey on the job. He worked for the Parks Dept.😊

[@dzanier]

The Yanks and Giants had no choice. Their stadiums were either under repair or being built. These guys talk about what a bad idea it was. Was it better in late 1973 and all of 1974, when the Giants played all their home games at the Yale Bowl in New Haven Connecticut? Yankee Stadium wasn't ready to be opened and the Giants had nowhere else to go. It wasn't a decision; it was a necessity. There were NO OTHER facilities in the Tri-State area. As far as the field, many Yankees said that they had never played on a worse field than that one. They said the grounds crew simply had no chance to make it better than what it was. A Yankee player, Elliot Maddox, actually tore up a knee there and missed about a year. He filed a lawsuit against New York City claiming the field was inadequate to play on.

[@johnmanier7968]

Exactly. The Giants were tired of traveling to New Haven for every "home" game. The Yale Bowl was too large; they sold out the first game there in October 1973 against the Packers, but none of the 1974 games sold out (meaning all were blacked out in New York), and the last game there against the Eagles drew just over 20,000. Plus, the Giants won just one of their 12 games at Yale. It's really unfortunate that Giants Stadium wasn't ready when Yankee Stadium closed for two years of renovations. The Shea field was in terrible shape in 1975, but then again, it never was in good shape for the Jets during any of their 20 seasons there.

[@sixtythreekraft2608]

Where did the Yankees play in 1974?

[@johnmanier7968]

Daniel Zanier Shea in both 1974 & 1975.

[@sixtythreekraft2608]

so 74 was just about the same except for 7 Giant games and the football preseason.

[@KTF0]

Giants had that terrible NY logo in 75

[@jwchamberlain5862]

Went to a Mets game in Shea's last year. T-storm blew thru the area & they opened the gates & let the fans in only to call the game 1 minute after I sat in my assigned seat in the upper deck

[@thomaschevalier9356]

Was there in 75 saw Yankees loose double header to red Sox bonds striking out in both games Ron guidry pitched in relieve in game 2 nice stadium to watch sports and see the planes flying over

[@richardjewett]

My neighbor played for the Giants those years. He commuted to New Haven from Bergen county New Jersey. At the yellow ball, the clubhouse was not located underneath the stands rather about a quarter of a mile from the stadium. The players had to take a bus to and from the stadium, after one particularly brutal loss, fans blocked the bus Willie Young, who is a veteran tackle with the team, put the window down to ask the people to disperse. Somebody spat in his face. The bus emptied, and a Malay pursued this wasn’t publicized, but the players union stated that they no longer wanted to play at The Yale bowl

[@RRaquello]

No big deal. Those years I went to both Met games and Yankee games at Shea Stadium. The Yankees almost won the division in 1974, finishing two games back of the Orioles, so playing in Shea certainly didn't hurt them. They played there for only two years and it was kind of fun because of the incongruity of it. Also for the baseball cards of 1975 & 1976, seeing American League players with Shea Stadium as a background. And they weren't even terrible in 1975, which was a disappointing year, but they were just mediocre. I'm not a Mets or Yankee fan, just a baseball fan. This is all revisionist history.

[@oscarwinner2034]

Most the people talking in the video were barely alive in 1975. It’s a tv bit, so they make them over dramatic with their comments. Video never explained why they did it either. Useless.

[@TheVCRTimeMachine]

So many of these Sportswriters and Sports talk guys are such hyperbolic loudmouths.

[@MGAF688]

The Yankees were 89-73 in 1974 for the season while playing home games at Shea Stadium. They missed out on the division crown by just 2 games. The next season the Yankees were 83-77 while playing home games at Shea Stadium. That record was good enough for 3rd place. The Yankees would return to Yankee Stadium to win 3 division titles and 3 AL pennants in a row from 1976-78. The idea that the Yankees were awful in Shea Stadium is FALSE. The Yankees were 90-69 in games played at Shea Stadium in 1974-75. +21 games. If you are +21 games, there is a good chance, you are competitive and maybe even make the playoffs. The Mets rarely were +21 games over .500 at home in any consecutive seasons. Normally, the Mets were digging for last place except for a few magical years like 69 and 86. So the Yankees brought winning baseball to Queens something the good folks on Long Island rarely saw.

[@FormerlyNYVulgarian]

Dude GTFOH. You can keep those bums up in the Bronx and dead at 27. Sad thing is most Yank fans enjoy Citi Field better than the Stadium even til this day!

[@johneasler9967]

The best thing about Shea Stadium? Grand Funk Railroad, July 9, 1971.

[@1223jamez]

I went to a Yankees game in 1974.

[@danieloconnell3489]

I was there. Worked for all 4

[@paulgentile1024]

I loved Shea

[@gretchenross4033]

First game I ever went to was a Tigers - Yankees DH at Shea that year. Yanks won game one 1-0 on a Nettles homer. Later on, I realized what a dump Shea was, but I loved it.

[@paul353]

Big deal. it was short lived while the Meadowlands was built and Yankee Stadium was renovated. Where were the Giants and Yankees supposed to play? Central Park? There weren't any other fields that could hold major league crowds. Stop whining

[@kevaninthe4135]

It wasn't optimal but there wasn't much choice. Yankee Stadium was in desperate need of a total overhaul. The place was literally falling apart. Giants Stadium needed another year of construction, the Giants players hated playing at the Yale Bowl. It was a perfect storm.

[@MikeCee7]

I can’t believe there was no other football stadiums in the tri-state area. New Haven is like two hours northeast of NYC. How about the football stadiums of Hofstra University or Fordham university? I think Columbia plays in the Bronx. What about Princeton university? or Rutgers? So why didn’t the Giants just play at Shea Stadium for those two years?

[@jameskennedy1997]

I have to disagree , It was nice to see the Giants played there before they to Jersey, I was 16 and i got a job sweeping after the Giants games . They gave you 10 bucs an hr. which was great for 1975 .Think they only won 1 or 2 games ,l got to see a great game ,they played SD Chargers ,Fouts vs Morton ,lots of points . look it up .The best part of job was my 1st pay chk. had a Giants helmet in the right hand corner .great memories........besides I like those uniforms . It was one year ,I will never forget

[@spinner9057]

Is that why the stadium was located in Flushing? Because it was shaped like a toilet bowl?

[@davidlafleche1142]

That's nothing. Get a look at RFK Stadium, looking from above, behind centerfield. THAT looks like a toilet bowl!

[@KTF0]

Most cookie cutters look like toilet bowls come to think of it.

[@phillipmorales8886]

That sod at Shea Stadium was probably in bad shape,torn up from all that playing!

[@timothygager]

According to Kristian, the Mets played 152 games. "Expert"

[@hamburg1306]

There was no choice. Yankee stadium under renovations and it was known Yankees would be there for 2 seasons. Giants stadium wasn’t completed abc it was miserable at Yale Bowl so they squeezed giants in for one season. Had to play 2 Saturday games to accomplish this. But it was out of necessity.

[@FormerlyNYVulgarian]

Oh yeah blame the stadium for all those teams crappy seasons that year. Mets should’ve not been accommodating and told the other teams oh you don’t have a stadium, tough rocks pal.

[@SlugCult718]

Did he really try to blame the fact that the Jets have been a trainwreck forever on the Giants? They put a curse on them? That's funny. The Jets have always been their own worst enemy. And yes, the Giants have been terrible the past few years, but at least they have had success at times. 4 Vince Lombardi trophies out of 5 trips to the Super Bowl isn't bad. And it sure beats what the Jets have accomplished. They're still trying to bask in the glory of Namathb and his Super Bowl will, which is now ancient history. Don't try to blame it on the Giants when all the blame goes to the Jets themselves. 😂😂

[@F40PH-2CAT]

Those Giants helmets...yuck

[@barbaracaroll]

Lol it wasn't the helmets or uniforms the Giants were just a bad team back then

[@cornucopiaofcool2144]

JANKEES can move to New Jersey that's where their fans are. Take the loudmouths from FAN as well. Know nothing corner drunks yelling nonsense nothing serious about their comments.

[@bb-gc2tx]

sny too cheap to license videos