As the baseball world descends on New York this week to begin its farewell to Yankee Stadium, the city's other ballpark will sit in darkness.

Shea Stadium, home to the New York Mets, closes at the end of this season as well to make way for new Citi Field.

But there's no all-star tribute, or even a wistful thought, for The House That Municipal Bonds Built.

The Queens stadium might be the fifth-oldest in baseball, but it somehow managed to make it 45 years without developing any sort of mystique or charm.

If you can't get tickets to Yankee Stadium, the team offers tours for $20. Just make sure you're in line by 9 a.m. or they will have filled up.

When I called Shea to ask about tours, the phone representative seemed confused, ultimately offering to put me on a mailing list for updates about Citi Field.

So while the Bronx gets to spend a week in the spotlight, Shea Stadium gets a farewell concert this week from Billy Joel - combining two New York institutions that haven't aged gracefully but still provide the hits.

But even the farewell concert can't go off without controversy. After selling out the show in less than an hour, promoters added a second farewell show for two days later, continuing to bill both shows as the finale, which makes about as much sense as having two opening days.

The quiet farewell is the same as the one given to Washington's RFK Stadium, which was retired from baseball duty last year but still hosts MLS soccer.

Both stadiums were built in the 1960s with the goal of accommodating football and baseball, saving the expense of constructing two stadiums.

The cash cow that is the NFL was able to get its teams - the Redskins and the Jets - out of the stadiums, but baseball remained in them long after the architectural styles of the day had passed them by.

By moving out, the Mets will become the last MLB team to play in one of the "cookie cutter" stadiums. Of the three other stadiums from the'60s that still stand, two of them - Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium - were designed as baseball-only facilities. The third, McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, has undergone renovations, though it remains a dual-use facility.

The only hope the Mets have for bringing attention to Shea in its final days is by making the playoffs or the World Series. And while the team currently is sitting in a better position than the Yankees in their division, Mets fans know that nothing ever is a sure thing for their team.

One eye already is on the future, as Citi Field springs up out of the ground in the same Flushing Meadows area where Shea sits. And unlike the new Yankee Stadium, which will occupy a spot across the street from the old one, Citi Field will have no lofty expectations to live up to, and no need to produce historical lore as soon as it opens its gates.

Simply by putting an end to Shea, it already will have won over the hearts of New Yorkers.

Tuesday's All-Star Game will showcase one of the game's most historical venues. Meanwhile, Shea Stadium will sit nearby, a remnant of an age of baseball construction that is, thankfully, no more.