Shea Stadium apple heading to new ballpark

NEW YORK, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The Shea Stadium apple is headed to Citi Field, the new home of the New York Mets.

Everything else at Shea Stadium is being sold -- from napkin holders to lockers -- as the Mets leave for their new stadium, but the iconic fiberglass apple is not on the market, the New York Post reported Sunday. Although the Mets are hanging on to the kitschy icon, the new stadium will get a shiny new apple, as well, the newspaper said.

"The old apple will have a home at the new stadium," said Stu Oxenhorn, director of the sports memorabilia collector firm MeiGray Vintage.

"Let's face it -- the apple is Shea Stadium," said Mets third baseman David Wright. "If they hadn't (taken it over), I was going to be first in line to get a piece of it."

The 9-foot, 582-pound red fiberglass apple has been popping out of a 10-foot upside-down black plywood top hat every time a Met hits a homer since 1980.