ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings

What's the best moment in Shea Stadium history?

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You bring this up in a Boston bar, you're looking for a good plastic surgeon within about 12 minutes.

BEST SHEA STADIUM MOMENT EVER? HOW ABOUT BILL BUCKNER'S ERROR?

What is "All-World Power Rankings?"

Citi Field opens tonight (Monday Night Baseball, 7pm on ESPN). This magazine is all about looking ahead ("next"), but right now, we're gonna look back, slapping a final bow on Shea Stadium by running down the greatest moments in the park the Mets inhabited while winning two ('69 and '86) world championships. There's been a bunch of iconic concerts at Shea, but we ain't gonna rank those. However, since this list has been done a few times on the Interwebs, we'll differentiate by offering you some talking points on the matters at hand. Enjoy.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (44)	THE BILL BUCKNER ERROR	Our dad is a huge Mets fan. We've seen the '86 team video roughly 12,591 times. It starts with foreboding music, Davey Johnson looking like it's all over, and then…boom. Talking points: in all of society, can you think of a dude who had an otherwise good career ruined by one thing? (Hugh Grant was thisclose to being the answer to that question.)
	2 (800)	THE END OF THE 1969 WORLD SERIES	Mets had no business winning this thing, and everyone—including Tim Robbins—knows it. Note: we're not ranking Game 7 of the 1986 World Series. It was monumental, yes—the Mets actually trailed in the game—but Game 6 is the "turning point" of that series. Talking points for '69: how is it possible that Nolan Ryan is an exec with the Rangers, but their pitching is so putrid?
	3 (1621)	"THE CATCH"	We debated flip-flopping No. 3 and No. 4 on this list, especially because the Mets actually lost the game in which "The Catch" happened. Here's video of the Endy Chavez snare. ("Snare" = cool word.) Talking points for this: how underrated is Chavez? The dude is raking the ball for Seattle now. People are always underselling him. Argh.
	4 (213)	THE MIKE PIAZZA POST-9/11 HOME RUN	Context is everything on this one, but it was tremendous, and it was even cooler that it happened against the Braves. If you have no idea what we're talking about, here's the video. The call is understated, which is good. You don't want some cliche in there. Talking points for this: where do you put Piazza on a list of all-time Mets? Is he slotting top five, or wha?
	5 (384)	"THE GRAND SLAM SINGLE"	Again, beating the Braves = important. Doing it in the 15th inning = cool. Doing it in the NLCS = superb. Doing it on a weird play = sublime. Here's video of what we mean. Talking points here: do you know Robin Ventura more for this, or for the Nolan Ryan scuffle?

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	118 (30,119)	TODD PRATT'S NLDS HOME RUN	Here ya go. It was against the D-Backs, sent the Mets to the NLCS (the series that produced the "Grand Slam Single"). Talking points: where would you put Pratt on a list of one-time wonders, above or below Francisco Cabrera?
	927 (1991)	THE FIRST VICTORY	It happened on April 19, 1964, over the Pirates. Figured that needed to make the list somewhere. Semi-ironically, that's one year to the day before the birth of Suge Knight. Talking points, broadest level: you consider Shea a dump, or a nice place?

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		CITI FIELD (To the future!)
		SHEA STADIUM (That link is the demolition "vid.")

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