All Rise...

Judge Patrick Naugle got caught by the old bait and switch.

The Charge

The Piano Man goes out to the ball game.

The Case

Built in 1964, Shea Stadium has been the home for The Mets major league baseball team for 45 years. While some of the most exciting baseball games have been played on its field, the stadium has also been home to some of the biggest rock acts in the continental United States. From Sting and The Police to The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to The Rolling Stones, Shea Stadium has held a special place in the hearts of many New Yorkers. In 2009, the stadium was demolished to make way for more parking for the Citi Field, which is the current home of the New York Mets. To close out Shea Stadium's time on the planet, Billy Joel played a two-night engagement on July 16th and 18th. Dubbed "The Last Play at Shea," the concerts featured multiple special guests including The Who's Roger Daltrey, John Mellencamp, Garth Brooks, John Mayer, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Don Henley, and former Beatle Paul McCarthy (to name a few).

The Last Play at Shea is a documentary with concert overtones. This is important to remember because, I suspect, a lot of people picking up this disc will be hoping for a full fledged Billy Joel concert, which this isn't. Essentially this is a history of Shea Stadium, The Mets, The Yankees, New York, and Billy Joel's role in Shea's history. A lot of ground is covered, from the Mets historic games to The Beatles playing there in 1965. In one very moving scene, the same groundskeeper, Pete Flynn, who drove The Beatles onto the field almost fifty years ago, is still working there and drives Paul McCartney onto the field to join Billy Joel for the stadium's final event. Interestingly, everyone seems to agree that while they'll miss Shea Stadium, it wasn't constructed very well (and that a fair amount of the seating is not very good).

While The Last Play at Shea will thrill major league baseball fans, it's going to disappoint those (myself included) who expected a concert and got a history of baseball and Billy Joel. That being said, this documentary is not a total failure. When it focuses on Billy's career (including his early successes and failures like his first album, Cold Spring Harbor, being recorded at the wrong speed), The Last Play at Shea picks up considerably. The concert footage is excellent—including songs like "Piano Man," "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant," among others—but often interrupted by interviews or stock footage. Keith Hernandez, Mike Piazza, and other ball players are interviewed throughout the documentary, as well as friends, co-workers, ex-band mates of Billy Joel, and former executives who worked at Shea Stadium. If you're a baseball fan (which I'm really not)—and especially at NY Mets fan—I'm sure this documentary will be right up your alley. If you're just looking for a rocking good time and nothing else, you'll be forced to look elsewhere.

Virgil Films' The Last Play at Shea (Blu-ray) is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen in 1080p high definition. The overall picture quality of this documentary is good, although much of the archival footage is in rough shape, either out of focus, grainy, or washed out. The newer interviews look a lot better, so it's basically a mixed bag. The soundtrack is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround in English. This audio mix is very good, especially when the concert footage kicks in (and is often used as background music during the talking head interviews). Also included on this disc are English subtitles.

Extra features include a few bonus songs from the concerts ("You May Be Right," "Everybody Loves You Now"), a weird time lapse animation of Shea in the rain, a second time lapse video ("Shea to Citi Field"), interviews with Billy Joel by Steve Cohen, and a bonus DVD copy of the film.

The Last Play at Shea is probably going to go over a lot better with baseball fans than it will Billy Joel aficionados. The music presented here is jubilant and fun, but for those who just want to rock out, the baseball portions will get in the way. Conversely, if you're just here for the sports the music sections may end up annoying you, too.

The Verdict

May delight or frustrate, depending on what you're expecting.

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