It’s the most important, semi-important series of the year, 3 games against the Yankees. It’s not for the best record in the N.L. or even for first place in the N.L. East but everyone across the 5 boroughs knows what this means, especially to the Mets, perennial 2nd fiddle to the Mighty Yankees, the team know all over the world for their legacy of championships and because Alex Rodriguez is a colossal d-bag.
Despite the uneven-ness in their histories, the Mets compete with the Yankees every day beyond the diamond for the back pages of the New York Post and Daily News among other, to take up most of the time on sports radio call-in shows and for the hearts of those few undeclared New Yorkers. There are the endless debates over whose new stadium is nicer (it’s Citi Field and it’s not close), and the weekends when relations are strained between boyfriend and girlfriend (or boyfriend/boyfriend and girlfriend/girlfriend – this is New York after all).
Yet there it’s this uneven-ness that makes these games feel epic every year, the timeless tale of David and Goliath, the original underdog tale. The role Mets fans are born into, grow up in and will surely pass away in, unless the Yankees are hit with the curse of Jesus Montero for the next 100 years. It’s the belief that every W against the Yankees counts for two – one in the standings and one on the NY scoreboard where “Best in the City” is decided. It’s because the Yankees fill the role of Goliath so easily with players like Rivera, the greatest closer in the history of baseball, who have the necessary credentials to convince all but the most optimistic and passionate of fans that “Enter Sandman” is your cue to leave.
Which brings me to this Daily News article with their Top 10 Moments from the Subway Series , many of which are painful memories (you know Louis Castillo is on the list) but also some of the greatest David and Goliath stories ever written. Because the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Matt Franco off of Rivera:
Dae Sung Koo steps in against Randy Johnson:
Source: ‘A Look Back at the Top 10 Moments from 15 Years of Subway Series” [Daily News]
