Editing Shea Stadium (section)

===Other events===
The 1978 International Convention of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] was held at Shea Stadium from July 12 to 16, 1978.<ref name="Great Moments"/>
During his tour of America in October 1979, [[Pope John Paul II]] was also among those hosted by Shea Stadium.<ref>{{Cite news|title=At Shea, A Moving Goodbye|first=Anna|last=Quindlen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/04/archives/at-shea-a-moving-goodbye-special-problems-of-a-city.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 4, 1979|access-date=October 23, 2009}}</ref> On the morning of the Pontiff's visit, Shea Stadium was awash in torrential rain, causing ankle-deep mud puddles, and threatened to ruin the event. But as the [[Popemobile]] entered the stadium, the rain stopped although the deep mud remained.

On December 9, 1979, as part of the halftime show of a [[National Football League]] game between the [[New York Jets]] and [[New England Patriots]], a model airplane group put on a remote control airplane display. The grand finale was a remote control airplane, weighing 40&nbsp;lbs, made to look like a red flying lawnmower. The pilot lost control of the airplane, and it crashed into the stands, hitting Kevin Rourke, of [[Lynn, Massachusetts]] and John Bowen of [[Nashua, New Hampshire]]. Both suffered serious head injuries; Rourke survived but Bowen died four days later.<ref>{{cite web|title=A spectator at a football game was killed by a flying model lawnmower|url=http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/lawnmower.asp|website=[[Snopes.com]]|date=October 31, 2007 |access-date=November 7, 2007}}</ref>

Between 1972 and 1980, Shea also hosted a [[Showdown at Shea]] event three separate times, by the then [[World Wrestling Federation]]. In 1980, it hosted a simulcast of the first fight between Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard, won by Duran.

From 1970 to 1987, the [[Cape Cod Baseball League]] (CCBL) played its annual all-star game at various major league stadiums. The games were interleague contests between the CCBL and the [[Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League]] (ACBL). The 1982 and 1986 games were played at Shea. The 1986 contest starred game MVP and future [[Cincinnati Reds]] all-star pitcher [[Jack Armstrong (baseball)|Jack Armstrong]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://capecodbaseball.org/news/asgnews/index.html?article_id=298 |title=Cape League All-Star Game |publisher=capecodbaseball.org |access-date=August 16, 2019}}</ref>

In the aftermath of the [[September 11 attacks]], the stadium became a staging area for rescuers, its parking lots filled with food, water, medical supplies, even makeshift shelters where relief workers could sleep. Ten days later Shea reopened for the first post-attack sporting event in New York where the Mets beat the [[Atlanta Braves|Braves]], behind a dramatic home run by Mets catcher [[Mike Piazza]].<ref name="sports.espn.go.com"/>