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At The Heart of the Omission

So apparently the Mets and Nikon have teamed up to honor the 10 greatest moments at Shea Stadium, allowing fans to pick from a ballot of 75 choices.

Granted, we're not going to have agreement (nor accuracy, based on preliminary research by another blogger...and we may examine that at another time) on every choice for ballot inclusion, but there were a couple of decisions made that seem ridiculous without the benefit of explanation.

Nikon inclusion: 1981 Season: The Home Run Apple Hat "arrived" before the 1981 campaign.

My take: I'm not a "Save The Apple" diehard, but I appreciate it for the fan-friendly being that it is. It is included however, at the expense of ignoring Tom Seaver's return to Shea Stadium on Opening Day, 1983.

Nikon inclusion: June 13, 1997 - First Interleague game at Shea: The Red Sox down the Mets 8-4, with 44,443 in attendance.

My take: I would bet that if you asked 100 "Beer Money" contestants which team the Mets faced in the first interleague game at Shea Stadium, 99 would get it wrong. But I bet if you asked them: Which pitcher made history at Shea Stadium in 1964, by throwing the first NL perfect game in 84 years, against the Mets? At least a few would know the answer was Jim Bunning. Somehow, Bunning's perfect game didn't make the list, but the first interleague game did.

Nikon inclusion: April 15, 1998 - Yankees 'home game' at Shea: After a piece of concrete fell at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees played Anaheim at 12:05 p.m. at Shea while the Mets hosted the Cubs for their regularly scheduled 7:40 p.m. start in an unusual Shea doubleheader.

My take: If Barack Obama made his inauguration speech on John McCain's lawn, would that be considered a great "McCain's home" moment? The Yankees borrowed Shea Stadium for two years and a day. That's part of the historic record, but it's not significant, great, or memorable in any way. Matt Franco's two-run game-winning single off Mariano Rivera in one of the greatest regular-season games in Mets history was a far more significant moment, yet it's not to be found on this ballot

The full ballot can be found at NewYorkMets.com. Feel free to share any further quibbles in the comments section.

Comments

SS said…
Since I'm mad at The Former Franchise, I am going with Terry Pendleton. Not a happy one but wow did I feel that one.
6:18 PM
The Coleman Family said…
Probably true on the interleague thing, but that series is memorialized in my mind with the Butch Huskey collision at the plate that was our cover back in the Baseball Weekly days.
7:37 PM
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