When the New York Mets took the field against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 8, it marked the first home game of the last season at William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, the team’s home since 1964.

Few of those who passed through the turnstiles were likely to know 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.