Shea Stadium in Movies: “The Odd Couple”

The Mets were the still the hot new thing in town when “The Odd Couple” was released in 1968 (only to get hotter a year later), so it was likely obvious to filmmakers to have sportswriter Oscar Madison wear a Mets hat in the movie. And when it came time to film a ballpark scene, the choice between sparkling new Shea Stadium and crusty old Yankee Stadium was probably an easy one.

 

Now, you’ll notice the Pirates have the bases loaded. The script called for Roberto Clemente to hit into a game-ending triple play, which Oscar missed because Felix called the press box to tell him not to eat hot dogs at the game because he was going to make franks and beans for dinner. Only Clemente did not like the idea of hitting into a triple play, so Bill Mazeroski was the batter instead:

Here is Oscar yelling at Felix while the Mets celebrate on the field behind him:

See previous entries in this series here.