Amazin' Stories

FOR THE Mets fan, forget about it. The newly released DVD set, The New York Mets Essential Games of Shea Stadium, functions at the level of high-end porn. The action and the stirring climaxes of the six "historic games" (as the packaging bills them) unfold without any layered subplots or contextual hype, aside from whatever was provided during the original broadcasts. That's as it should be, and several of the games are rich enough to enthrall not only a blue-and-orange believer, but also a baseball fan of any allegiance.

The one true trip to a bygone era is Game 4 of the 1969 World Series—it's a day game!—which yields a 10-inning masterpiece by Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver and many other morsels: lean Frank Robinson on one knee in the on-deck circle; Casey Stengel, flanked by Joe DiMaggio, tossing out the ceremonial first ball. The discs' other Series game—1986's Game 6—would be included in any pantheon of great games, featuring as it does a comeback that remains astonishing even upon repeated viewings and a sequence of events that entered Bucknerian into the lexicon.

While the six-disc set arrives on the occasion of Shea Stadium's final season, its best material, naturally, hinges more on baseball drama than on locale. Except, that is, for the Braves-Mets game 10 days after Sept. 11, 2001, which, by virtue of place and moment, is the most emotionally powerful game in the set. On the replica neon skyline behind Shea's outfield fence, the twin towers have been blacked out and covered with a red-white-and-blue ribbon. U.S. flags adorn the dugouts and before the game, players on both teams stand along the foul lines, welling up during a ceremony that, some 10 miles from the smoldering rubble, includes bagpipers, New York City police officers and Diana Ross singing God Bless America. The scene of the Mets and Braves—ardent rivals in the NL East—embracing before the first pitch is equaled only by Mike Piazza's treatment of an 0-and-1 fastball in the eighth.

That one knows the outcomes of the games in this set—the line scores are printed on each disc—hardly diminishes the pleasure; viewers, after all, know what's bound to happen in high-end porn, too. If you're a baseball fan with $59.95 to part with, you'd do well to spend it here.

The Pop Culture Grid
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