Brett Topel - When Shea Was Home: The Story of the 1975 Mets, Yankees, Giants, and Jets

Copyright 2016 by Brett Topel

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Tom Lau

Cover photos credits National Baseball Hall of Fame Library (top) and AP Images (bottom)

ISBN: 978-1-61321-870-9

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61321-871-6

Printed in the United States of America

Dedicated to my children,
Oliver and Lily

Contents

Preface

I ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE a book about Shea Stadium, and in the summer of 2012, I finally came up with an angle I thought would work well. I just had to bounce it off my usual baseball focus groupmy dad.

That week, the two of us attended the Mets-Phillies game at Citi Field. For this particular game, I purchased tickets for us in Section 125, Row Dfive rows off the field, well beyond the infield cutout and down the third-base line. I normally wouldnt have selected these seats, as I have always agreed with my dads philosophy that its better to be up than out, meaning that we prefer seats higher up in the stadium, but more toward home plate. For whatever reason, that night I chose those seats.

We arrived at the stadium earlyas we always dousually to talk and, more importantly, to eat. I started talking about the idea I had for a book, or a magazine article, or something, involving the Mets, Yankees, Jets, and Giants all sharing Shea Stadium in 1975. My dad loved the idea and encouraged me to pursue it. I explained to him that the only way to really get started was to somehow get in touch with Pete Flynn, who had been the Mets head groundskeeper at Shea Stadium and is now retired.

I decided I was going to ask one of the current groundskeepers if they knew how I could get in touch with Flynn. I made my way down toward the field and called out to one of the groundskeepers, who was working on the field before the game. He informed me that I needed to speak with his boss, Bill, who was the head groundskeeper. A few minutes later, Bill Deacon walked over and asked how he could help me. I explained what I wanted and he told me that Pete sometimes was at games, and if I gave him my phone number, he or someone else would pass it along to Pete. I told him that would be great.

Just then, he looked toward the tunnel where the groundskeepers entered the field and gestured for me to turn around. Right over there, he said. Pete, he is right over there, motioning over my shoulder.

I turned around and therestanding next to the railing of my sectionwas, in fact, Pete Flynn. I thinkor hopeI thanked Bill Deacon. I remember walking toward Flynn, trying to figure out in five seconds how I was going to explain to him who I was, and what I wanted to do. Mr. Flynn, I said, as he turned to look at me, my name is Brett Topel and I am an author who is thinking about writing a book about the 1975 season at Shea. Pete Flynn glanced away from me, stared toward the infield, and uttered the words that convinced me that I had to write this book. In a quiet, trailing Irish brogue, he said Ahh, that season be the death of me.

I asked him if I could have his contact information and give him a call the next day to talk about the 1975 season. He agreed. I walked back to where my dad was sitting and told him what had transpired. He just laughed. I laughed too, as it was a surreal and unexpected outcome. For that one game, and for this one book, out was definitely better than up.

While I was able to interview Pete Flynn the very next day, it took nearly three more years until the book became a reality. Then, one week after signing a contract to write When Shea Was Home for Skyhorse Publishing, a second surreal moment took place that helped shape my writing journey.

When I was in college, I fell in love with a bunch of songs by a singer named Midge Ure. He had been the lead singer of a band called Ultravox and had written the charity song, Do They Know Its Christmas? , before releasing a couple of solo albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, few people I know were familiar with Midge Ure.

Then, in February of 2015, I saw that Midge was scheduled to perform an acoustic show at a small Long Island restaurant, not far from my home. I asked my wife if she would like to go and she begrudgingly agreed. After all, it had been more than twenty years since I had forced her to listen to a Midge Ure song and I figured one night wouldnt kill her. We could celebrate my book deal with a night out.

In all honesty, though, I wasnt really thinking about the book on the night of the concert; I was really just looking forward to hearing Midge Ure perform. It was a small, crowded restaurant and people were forced to share tables. After finishing our dinner, just as the show was about to start, another couple was directed toward our table. I wasnt thrilled, but I also wasnt going to make an issue out of it. Then I heard my wife say, Oh, my God, look who it is. It turns out that the people who were seated with ussomehowwere my daughters former pre-school teacher, Mrs. Ross, and her husband.

Mrs. Ross introduced me to her husband, Larry, and then said to me, Hey, youre really into sports, right? I nodded. She then uttered the words that would blow me away and change my nightand really, in many ways, my future. You know, Larrys first cousin is Marty Appel, who used to work for the Yankees.

Huh?

I turned to Larry Ross and said, Are you serious? He said, Absolutely.

I then went on to tell to him about the book I was writing and how Marty Appel was someone that I had been trying to get in touch with, etc. He could have just nodded and said, Wow, small world. Instead, he snapped into superhero mode, took out his phone, and sent an email to Marty, with me ccd, introducing the two of us. Two days later, I was having a terrific telephone interview with Marty Appel, who could not have been more accommodating.

Meeting Pete Flynn and Larry Ross in the ways that I did were something that I could neither plan nor predict. Yet, they are two of the most significant moments of my journey.

Midge Ure really only had one hit in the United States, which came out in 1988, and was called Dear God . The opening lines were:

Dear God, is there somebody out there?

Is there someone to hear my prayer?

Im a simple man with simple words to say.

Side note: In the days since signing the book deal, I had been making a list of people that I wanted to interview for this book. I already had some contact with former Mets, but I needed someone all-knowing about the Yankees. Thats when I stumbled upon Marty Appels outstanding book, Pinstripe Pride . That was the guy!

CHAPTER 1

The Birth of a Crazy Season