Memorable Subway Series Moments

Counting the 2000 World Series, tonight's Mets-Yankees game is the 100th since the Subway Series began in 1997.  Whether or not you're a fan of interleague play, you've gotta admit Mets-Yankees is always fun.  Most people would agree that the idea of an annual Subway Series is one of the reasons interleague play came into existence in the first place.  (There's a reason why they always played a Sunday Night game against each other before they changed the schedule format last year.)

There's something special about the Subway Series, and it hasn't lost any of its luster even though the teams have been playing in the regular season for 18 years now.  I've been to my fair share of Subway Series games, although it's been a while since I've attended one (the weird thing is the visiting team always seems to win when I go to a Mets-Yankees game). 

I can remember most of the Subway Series games I've seen live pretty vividly.  The last time I went, I was watching the Wimbledon final when my brother-in-law asked me how long it would take me to get to Citi Field.  Two hours later, I was at the game, and they announced during the game that Carlos Beltran and Angel Pagan made the NL All-Star team.  Same thing happened when they played their two stadium day-night doubleheader in 2003.  One of my other sisters asked me while we were watching the first game if I wanted to go to the nightcap.  I was with my brother-in-law again the last time I saw a Subway Series game at the Old Stadium.  We sat in the bleachers and the final score was Jose Reyes 2, Roger Clemens 0.  And the only time I've been to the Subway Series at the New Stadium was in 2010, when friends of mine had an extra ticket.  Once again, the Mets won.

My memorable Subway Series moments probably aren't memorable to anyone else.  I understand that.  But there have been plenty of moments that have defined this rivalry.  Here are some of my other favorites:

• Mariano Rivera's first career RBI, which came on a bases loaded walk in the top of the ninth, and 500th career save coming during the same Sunday Night game at Citi Field in 2009.
• During the Yankee Stadium portion of the 2009 Subway Series, when Luis Castillo dropped A-Rod's popup for a walk-off error.
• Dwight Gooden's return to Shea Stadium, starting for the Yankees in Game 1 of the historic first two-stadium twinbill in 2000.
• In the most recent two-stadium doubleheader, in 2009, when the Mets' Carlos Delgado set the Major League record for RBIs by a DH (9).  That's right, the Major League record for RBIs by a DH is held by a National Leaguer.
• The first-ever game in 1997, which was a 6-0 shutout by Mets starter Dave Mlicki.
• Roger Clemens throwing the bat shards at Mike Piazza.
• But, of course, the most memorable moment in the history of the Mets-Yankees rivalry wasn't one game.  It was five.  The 2000 World Series.  The 12-innign opener, Derek Jeter's home run leading off Game 4, Luis Sojo's clinching grounder thru Al Leiter's legs, Bernie Williams clutching the final out for the Yankees' third straight championship, and all the moments in between.

That's just a small sampling of some of the best moments that the now-annual Subway Series has provided.  Part of what makes Mets-Yankees so much fun is that the fans are very clear in their allegiances.  Most of the time, New York baseball fans simply acknowledge the other's existence, but are generally just indifferent.  Not so during the Subway Series.  You're not allowed to be neutral when the Yankees and Mets are playing.

Even if the novelty has worn off, the appeal of the Subway Series never will.  New York is big enough for two baseball teams, and both fan bases are incredibly loyal.  And say what you want about the existence of the Subway Series and interleague play as a whole, but baseball is meant for the fans.  And the fans of one team love having the bragging rights over the fans of the other.

So what if they play every year?  The Subway Series has become the new normal.  And that's OK.  Because now that we're used to it, it would feel like something's missing if they didn't play. 

There have been plenty of memorable moments over the first 100 games.  Plenty more are sure to follow.  And you can bet one group of fans will enjoy each one of them significantly more than the other.  After all, that's part of the fun.