As this was finally published in our company newsletter, Confusingous can release this article. The company newsletter slashed it’s length so what you are seeing here is the real deal from The Seer himself. Confusingous did indeed play softball at Shea Stadium where he hit 3-4 with a triple, home run and double scoring four times with 5 RBI’s.
In its 44 years of existence, Shea Stadium has been host to many memorable events. The list includes four World Series, concerts by music heavyweights such as The Beatles, The Who, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel, as well as a visit by Pope John Paul II. Shea Stadium has been home to not only the Mets but also served as ground for the Jets, Giants and the Yankees. There have been many great memories at this facility in Flushing, New York.
On Friday, September 19th (2008), with the stadium closing its doors for good at the end of the Mets baseball season this year, the organization decided to put its reputation of fielding top notch professional sports on the line by inviting forty ragtag LIC’ers onto the Shea Stadium playing field for two rounds of no-holds-barred softball.
Citigroup employees entered the stadium through the exclusive Club entrance and were taken through the maze of corridors within Shea. A few left and right turns later the players entered the playing area seeing their names cycling on the main scoreboard in right-center field as well as several special welcomes from the team on smaller scoreboards throughout the stadium. Cameras flashed as employees took pictures of the home team dugout as well as other areas of the stadium. The team also provided some standard ballpark fare (i.e. hot dogs and soda) which the players enjoyed prior to and during the competitive softball games.
Teams were randomly selected by the umpire, who the Mets graciously provided to oversee the games. The match-ups were competitive and good-spirited with scattered displays of hitting prowess and fielding excellence. Both games, played under a clear blue sky, were close to the late innings but, in the end Team One (who was the ‘home’ team in the first game and the ‘road’ team in the second) completed the improbable sweep of the days activities.
Following the games, more pictures were taken and more sodas were sipped. Players gathered up their gear and left Shea Stadium, many for the last time. For some the event represented the realization of a childhood dream: putting on a baseball glove and trotting on the same field that saw innings of heroics from the likes of Tom Seaver, Gary Carter, Tommy Agee, Joe Torre, Lenny Dykstra, Dwight Gooden, Mike Piazza, Darryl Strawberry and many others. The smiles that were on their faces that day would not soon leave them.
A glance over the centerfield wall shows the overwhelming presence of the future of the Mets: Citi Field. New memories will be created over the years in the state-of-the-art facility for the many seasons that it will be open. However, the experience of those Citi employees lucky enough to participate in the festivities at the present home of The New York Mets will certainly not be soon forgotten.
