The stadium was named in honor of William Shea, who was most responsible for bringing National League baseball back to New York after the Dodgers and Giants left for California in 1957.

New York City, in contrast, wanted to build the stadium, rent it, and retain the ancillary revenue rights to pay off its construction bonds.

When Los Angeles offered O'Malley what New York City would not—complete ownership of a stadium—he left for southern California in a preemptive bid to install the Dodgers there before a new or existing major league franchise could beat him to it.

A club playing in Flushing Meadows (located roughly the same distance from Manhattan and Brooklyn) would not only likely avoid the same perception, but presumably capture the loyalty of fans in Queens as well, thus potentially confining support for the New York Yankees of the American League to their home borough of The Bronx on the mainland.

[15] After 29 months of construction and $28.5 million spent, Shea Stadium opened on April 17, 1964,[16] with the Pittsburgh Pirates beating the Mets 4–3 before a crowd of 50,312.

[22] The company with the rights to sell memorabilia was given two weeks after the final game to remove seats, signage and other potentially sellable and collectible items before demolition was to begin.

The seats were the first ($869 per pair plus tax, a combination of '86 and '69, the team's two World Series championship years),[23] followed by other memorabilia such as the foul poles, dugouts, stadium signage, and the giant letters that spelled out "SHEA" at the front of the building.

[34] In May 2024, New York state senator Jessica Ramos announced her intention to formally oppose the construction of the casino and entertainment complex on the site, effectively killing the plan.

It had the distinction of being the home of the 1969 "Miracle Mets"—led by former Brooklyn Dodger Gil Hodges that defied 100–1 odds and won the World Series, after seven straight seasons in last or next-to-last place.

Shea became famous for the bedlam that took place after the Mets won the decisive Game 5 of the World Series, as fans stormed the field in celebration.

[citation needed] It came in the second inning, and Agee hit another in the seventh over the center field wall; both solo shots were off of Montreal Expos starter Larry Jaster, and the Mets won 4–2.

Jane Jarvis, a local jazz artist, played the popular songs on the Thomas organ at Mets games for many years at the stadium.

A win would have meant another game for Shea as the Mets were scheduled to play the Milwaukee Brewers in a one-game playoff for the National League Wild Card berth.

The ceremony ended with Tom Seaver throwing a final pitch to Mike Piazza; then, as the Beatles' "In My Life" played on the stadium speakers, the two former Met stars walked out of the centerfield gate and closed it behind them, followed by a display of blue and orange fireworks set to Fanfare for the Common Man.

For instance, in 1969, the defending Super Bowl champion Jets did not play a home game until October 20 due to the Mets advancing to (and winning) the World Series.

[57] It was at Shea Stadium on December 16, 1973, that O. J. Simpson became the first running back to gain 2,000 yards in a single season[58] (and, to date, the only player to do it in 14 games or fewer).

The Giants played their final five home games of 1973 and all seven in 1974 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut; Yankee Stadium was closed in October 1973 for a massive renovation, which was completed in time for the 1976 baseball season.

In 1966, the Brooklyn Dodgers of the minor Continental Football League unsuccessfully sued the Jets in an attempt to use the stadium; the team wound up playing on Randall's Island and soon folded.

In 1974, the New York Stars of the nascent World Football League also made inquiries to play at Shea, whose schedule was already overcrowded by the Mets, Jets and Yankees (and the following year, the Giants; see below).

[53] It was a day-long fundraiser, which featured many of the era's biggest-selling and seminal rock, folk, blues and jazz performers including: Janis Joplin, Paul Simon, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Steppenwolf, The James Gang, Miles Davis, Tom Paxton, John Sebastian, and others.

The next music show at Shea Stadium was the historic concert by Grand Funk Railroad in 1971, which broke the Beatles' then-record for fastest ticket sales.

"[66] The Rolling Stones performed at Shea for a six-night run in October 1989, and Elton John and Eric Clapton played a concert in August 1992.

[69] On the morning of the Pontiff's visit, Shea Stadium was awash in torrential rain, causing ankle-deep mud puddles, and threatened to ruin the event.

The pilot lost control of the airplane, and it crashed into the stands, hitting Kevin Rourke, of Lynn, Massachusetts and John Bowen of Nashua, New Hampshire.

[71] In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the stadium became a staging area for rescuers, its parking lots filled with food, water, medical supplies, even makeshift shelters where relief workers could sleep.

[72] In the television serial drama Mad Men, the main character, Don Draper, has his secretary buy a pair of tickets for the Beatles' concert at Shea Stadium in 1965.

In Men in Black, a Mets game at Shea was featured in the film, with outfielder Bernard Gilkey dropping a fly ball after being distracted by an alien spacecraft in the sky.

One of its distinctive features was a giant rearview slide projector screen on the top center of the scoreboard; it was intended to display a picture of the current player at bat (a groundbreaking innovation at the time); however, due to lighting issues (it only worked at night when the light was really low; during day games, the picture would not show up at all), it was not used very often and was eventually covered with a giant Mets logo (or a Jets logo when they played).

As part of the refitting, Shea Stadium's exterior was painted blue and neon signs of baseball player silhouettes were added to the windscreens prior to the 1988 season.

Before the 1980 baseball season, they were replaced with red (upper deck), green (mezzanine), blue (loge), and orange (field level) plastic seats.