When Shea Was Home

Four teams, 175 games, 3,738,546 fans—one stadium. If 1975 wasn’t the most successful year in New York sports—and it wasn’t—then it was certainly one of the oddest. For that one crazy season, all four New York teams—the Mets, Jets, Yankees, and Giants—called Shea Stadium home. When Shea was Home includes interviews with the stadium’s former head groundskeeper, the legendary Pete Flynn, as well as Jerry Koosman, Bud Harrelson and Ed Kranepool of the Mets, Giants owner John Mara, Rich Caster of the Jets, former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Doug Williams, who played that year at Shea for Grambling, and many more! This well-written narrative includes information about the stadium, the teams, the players, how the teams coexisted, and how they didn't. When Shea was Home takes New York sports fans on a unique trip down memory lane, offering context on the national and local history and culture of the time. It is perfect for the avid New York sports aficionado—regardless of team allegiance! Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Written in a personal, moving, and humorous style, The Last Days of Shea chronicles the New York Mets from October 2006, when the team lost the National League Championship Series, to October 2008, when the team began to dismantle its antiquated, inadequate, and dearly loved Shea Stadium. The book is about following a baseball team with one's heart, mind, and soul. It represents the experience of being in a crowd at a ballpark, following a pennant race, enduring an off season, experiencing streaks, slumps, triumph and heartbreak. All of this is represented against the imminent destruction of a stadium "that is not likely to be represented as well in the perfect and profitable little park that will replace it."

Few remember that Shea Stadium—and indeed the Mets baseball club itself—arose out of a dispute between two oversized egos: New York City official Robert Moses and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley. While O’Malley wanted complete control over a new stadium and all of its concessions in Brooklyn, Moses insisted that the stadium be built by the city in Queens and leased to the Dodgers. The impasse led to the Dodgers following the Giants out to the West Coast, where The City of Los Angeles granted O’Malley all of the concessions he had sought in New York. With now no National League team in the New York area, the National League office awarded a new franchise to the city in 1960 on conditional that it fund and build a new stadium, which the Mets (and later the AFL Jets) would lease. The stadium was named in honor of William Shea, the person most responsible for returning National League baseball to New York. Over its forty-four year existence Shea Stadium witnessed a colorful cavalcade of sporting and entertainment events, all detailed in this lively, skimable tribute to a memorable New York landmark. It’s all here: the memorable games; the unforgettable characters such as Tom Seaver, Joe “Willie” Namath, and Seinfeld buddy Keith Hernandez; and even the solemn moments such as when Shea was used as a staging area for first responders after 9/11. By the time of its demolition in 2008, the Mets had played more games at Shea than the Dodgers had ever played at Ebbets Field, and the stadium had hosted seven National League Championship Series, four World Series, three Jets playoff games, and the American Football League Championship game in 1968.

The true story behind Audre Lorde's 1975 poem "Power"--a masterly, gripping and true account of the tragedy of the early-morning shooting of a child and the trial of a policeman for murder that followed. Was it a case of mistaken identity or race hatred--or both? It happened on the morning of Saturday, April 28, 1973, in Queens, New York, at around 5:00 a.m. In the pre-dawn dark, ten-year-old Clifford Glover was walking with his stepfather, Add Armstead, toward the auto salvage yard where Armstead worked, as they did most Saturdays. Patrolman Thomas Shea and his partner, Walter Scott, drove by in an unmarked car. The cops were on the lookout for a pair of armed robbers dressed similarly to Clifford Glover and Add Armstead, and stopped to give chase. The child and his stepfather, who was carrying his wages from the day before, ran, afraid they were going to be robbed. Shots were fired. Armstead flagged down a passing patrol car, not realizing that Clifford was lying on the ground, mortally wounded, the gun that killed him still in the hand of Patrolman Shea, who would become the first New York City cop in fifty years to be charged with committing murder while on duty. A policeman who shot down a ten year old in Queensstood over the boy with his cop shoes in childish bloodand a voice said "Die you little motherfucker" and there are tapes to prove it. (from "Power" by Audre Lorde)

In New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Toni Aleo’s exhilarating Loveswept debut, the first in a series featuring the hockey hunks of the Nashville Assassins, a reformed bad boy helps a charming, willful woman face off against the demons of her past. No matter how hard she tries, Elleanor Fisher never thinks she’s good enough, from her job to her weight to her love life. After enduring years of abuse at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, Elli has been drifting through life in a daze. Until, that is, she meets Shea Adler on a promotional shoot for the NHL’s Nashville Assassins. Before Elli knows what’s happening, the gorgeous Shea breaks the ice and shatters her world. A brilliant athlete inside the rink, Shea Adler is tired of the life he’s living outside of it: the women, the money, the drinking. But everything changes when he meets Elli. After laying eyes on this feisty, witty, beautiful woman, he feels like he’s just taken the hardest hit of his life. No matter how skeptical she is, Shea knows they are meant to be together—if only he can convince Elli to put her insecurities aside before she misses out on a shot at love. Praise for Toni Aleo’s Nashville Assassins romances “Aleo melts the ice and hits it into the net with her Assassins series.”—Award-winning author Jami Davenport “Taking Shots is really the whole package. You get romance, humor, steamy sex, drama, and then it all wraps up with a great conclusion. I am amazed that this is Toni’s first book. She has come out in a huge way. I can’t wait to read more from her. Don’t hesitate for a moment to grab this book.”—Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews “A little steamy, a little heartbreaking, and a whole lot of fanning yourself are in order this time around, readers. Are your cheeks feeling a little pink yet? Get used to the feeling.”—Dreaming in the Pages, on Trying to Score “Empty Net is an honest, heartwarming, endearing story. . . . Toni Aleo doesn’t just write a story. She gives you the ability to experience the journey of her characters right along with them. Her stories are enveloped with passion, emotion, humor, love; and let me tell you, that girl knows how to write a sex scene that just makes you sweat!”—Guilty Pleasures Book Review “Sexy and riveting . . . the perfect combination of love and lust.”—USA Today bestselling author Heidi McLaughlin, on Blue Lines “Funny, charming, sweet, sexy . . . [Falling for the Backup] has everything you want in a story.”—Blushing Reader Includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

An authorized biography on George Beverly Shea. He turns 100 2/1/09. Most in-depth book on Mr. Shea. Endorsed by Franklin Graham.