Met fans who had their final wishes carried out by having their ashes spread in their favorite ballpark, Shea Stadium, won't be forever in their favorite place away from home.
With the demolition of both Shea and Yankee Stadiums forth coming, those who have had their remains spread at either park will find that “their team” won't be playing in their, the deceased's, cemetery.
One interesting story in particular is that of Lisa Hasson. She had put her father's ashes on the pitchers mound at Shea Stadium 12 years ago. When she went there to collect dad, and a keepsake from Shea, she was turned away.
A carpenter that was hired to help dismantle Shea had heard of her story, and pocketed some of the dirt to give to Ms. Hasson.
“It was emotional for anybody who was there,” she said, “but for me, it was a connection with my dad. Then I realized, Shea’s going to be gone — I’m not going to be able to get in there.”
These emotions arrived to her after being at the final game at Shea. She felt the sorrow of not going there anymore, and was looking for a souvenir, and was fortunate that a compassionate carpenter was able to fulfill her wishes.
Another account is that of Robin Brass who spread her sister's ashes at Shea in August 2004. Although she and her departed sister were big Mets fans, Ms. Brass didn't feel the need to pilfer some of the Shea Turf.
“Where I put the ashes is in that little triangle in foul territory where they put those recliners where people sat,” said Ms. Brass, an administrative assistant at a Long Island company that maintains medical equipment. “They put recliners on top of my sister. I was annoyed about that. Those people were sitting on my sister. Now she’s going to be in the parking lot. Don’t laugh. I’m going to figure out where she is in that new parking lot, and park on top of her.”
Although neither the Mets nor Yankees allow the remains of fans to be spread on their respective “Hallowed Grounds”, there always seem to be a way to beat the system. Robin Brass said her father had known someone on the grounds crew who let her in before a game, let her husband run the bases and let two of her father’s friends sit in the Mets’ dugout.
"When we were finished, the guys who worked on the grounds crew raked the ashes into the mound so it wasn’t obvious,” said Ms. Hasson, whose stadium tale was reported last Saturday in The Daily News.
There is no accurate way of knowing how many people's ashes have been spread in the NY baseball parks, and what is fact or folk lore, but two things are certain: Neither team permits the spreading of people's remains on the ball field, and the last wishes of the deceased, although carried out, will not be at their beloved park for eternity. I'm sure they didn't know that they would spend forever in a parking lot.
For more, read the With Stadiums Going, Going, Ashes May Be Gone
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