A Snap, A Set and a Song - Green

It's time again to link up with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Green.

Why not stop by A Snap, A Set and A Song and link up with your own Snap, Set and Song?

The Snap

When I read that word Green,I knew that even though there are many things that come to mind, for me the first is always the same. It goes back to the very first baseball game that I remember going to (I had been to Ebbets Field before the Dodgers left Brooklyn, but I was so young that it is barely on the periphery of my memory). It was 1962 at the Polo Grounds, and it was the first Mets game that my father and I had ever gone to since it was their first year in existence. Having watched baseball only on black and white television in those days, the very first thing that struck me as we entered the seating area was just how green the field was!

To this day, when I walk into a ballpark, it is the green of the field that still brings a smile to my face.

In 1964, The Mets moved out of The Polo Grounds (which had been home to the NY Giants until they left NY after the 1957 season) and into their brand new home - Shea Stadium. I spent many afternoons and evenings there with my families - first the one I was born into, and then the one I started. Those were wonderful times. After the 2009 season, The Mets would move into a new ballpark ... this was my last look at the green grass at Shea Stadium.

The Set

Although only the football team that I root for wears green as their normal uniform color, other teams in other sports often wear a special green uniform on St. Patrick's Day in March. (In baseball, this is during Spring Training.)  My set this week is a collection of green uniforms worn by the teams I root for in football (NFL), hockey (NHL) and baseball (MLB). (So does this qualify as a fashion set then Thea?)

The Song

Staying with the sports theme, and The Mets in particular, for the song, I go back to 1969. Before that year, the 8th of their existence, The Mets had never had a winning season, let alone a World's Championship. The Miracle Mets not only won more than they lost for the first time, but won their division (the first year of divisional play), the National League pennant, and The World Series! In the euphoria after they won, the team actually cut an album (vinyl of course - this was the days before cassettes, CD's or MP3's) and one of those songs was The Green Green Grass of Shea which they went on to sing on TV on the Ed Sullivan Show. I was lucky enough to find a video on YouTube using this very obscure cut, and while the images are from the 1986 World Champion NY Mets, here are the 1969 World Champs ... singing!!