When the New York Mets took the field against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, it marked the first home game of the final season at William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, the team’s home since 1964.

Few of the fans passing through the turnstiles realize that the stadium’s namesake was one of New York’s most influential lawyers, a power broker from a bygone era who had the rare distinction of having a stadium named after him while he was still alive.