What's Up (Or Down) With Dying Classic Ballparks These Days???

I just read on the Internet that Billy Joel had a farewell concert at Shea Stadium...and it's a farewell to Shea Stadium, NOT Billy Joel himself!!! (Even Paul McCartney was there with Billy...and was there in the early days of Shea when he was with the Beatles.)

In other words, Shea Stadium (in New York City) is in its last inning....so to speak. That comes on the heels of Yankee Stadium (also in NYC, where else?) being in its last days as well. And, how irony will have it, Tiger Stadium in Detriot, which hasn't been used since 1999 for any major league baseball game with the exception of a few other minor activities (including a movie set role), is in its demolition phase this very month.

As I've mentioned on my FACEBOOK profile, I did go to a baseball game at Tiger Stadium in July of 1987 when my Boy Scout troop (at the time) went to summer camp in Canada and stopped in Detriot for the ballgame. I didn't have a digital camera at the time (who did???), but I did take a few pictures when I was at the game....one of which is above.

I find it very interesting to read on the Internet within a week to find out the demise of these three ballparks. Of course, they're being replaced (or have been replaced - by the Comerica Park in Tiger Stadium's case in 2000) by newer and more modern venues (New Yankee for Yankee and Citi Field for Shea)....so, it's not like the teams are entirely folding up and leaving town. It just seems as though it's very weird to know that these historic stadiums are literally going up (or should I say down?) in dust. It's been jaw-dropping for me because less than a week ago, I found out about the final days of both Tiger and Yankee Stadiums. And now, Shea!

Oh well...such is life...and death of older ballparks. Fortunately, the circa 1939 Durham Athletic Park (former home of the Durham Bulls until 1995) is still around and will continue to be. Without really mentioning it, that was where the movie "Bull Durham" was filmed....and before Kevin Costner starred in another baseball-themed movie "Field of Dreams" a couple of years later. (Not in Durham, but in a cornfield.)

Since I'm in the Raleigh-Durham area, I've been to a few Durham Bulls baseball games both at the DAP (Durham Athletic Park) as well as the newer ballpark (the Durham Bulls Athletic Park - DBAP). Fortunately, the Carolina Mudcats are in the area as well and I've been to a few of their games as well. Their field really seems more like the field in Kevin Costner's movie "Field of Dreams" because it almost seems like it's in the middle of nowhere. They've been around since 1991 and they actually rebuilt their ballpark around 1999-2000...I think.

Obviously, both the Bulls and Mudcats are in the minor leagues, not the majors...but, I still enjoy going to their games. With the exception of the Detriot Tigers game in July of 1987 and a Los Angeles Dodgers game (at Dodger Stadium, where else?) in June of 2003, I haven't been to any other major league baseball game. Sometime in my life, I was hoping to make it to one of the other classic ballparks such as Shea or Yankee, but I guess I waited too long.

Hopefully, Wrigley Field in Chicago or Fenway Park in Boston won't bite the dust or meet the wrecking ball anytime soon! (It would be nice to go to either one of them before their or my time is up.)