When inter-league play began in 1997, New York City was ready to play ball.
The city was about to be split up between two teams that were eager to gain bragging rights and claim the city to be theirs.
The Subway Series between the New York Yankees and New York Mets used to be one of the most exciting rivalries in baseball.
There was the Roger Clemens-Mike Piazza incident.
Then Jose Reyes and David Wright came into the picture, being labeled instantly as one of the best short stop, third basemen combinations in the Major Leagues.
There was also the Francisco Rodriguez single-season saves record, which to some fanatics put him on Mariano Rivera status for a while.
Now that we are in the year 2010, lets take a step back and clear some things up.
If you asked any baseball fan today if they would rather have Derek Jeter or Jose Reyes at short stop, who do you think they would pick?
How about choosing between David Wright and Alex Rodriguez?
Francisco Rodriguez or Mariano Rivera?
Luis Castillo…sorry had to mention him, too.
Yeah, exactly.
Reyes isnt’ half the player that Derek Jeter is and Wright won’t ever put up the numbers that Alex Rodriguez has so far.
Mariano Rivera is arguably the greatest closer of all time.
As far as the actual rivalry between the teams are concerned, through 2009, the Yankees lead the series 42 games to 30.
Although the Mets have taken two out of the three games from the Yankees this season, I still don’t think the Mets belong on the same field as the Yankees.
With the Yankees owning 27 World Championships compared to the Mets lonely two championships, there simply is no comparison.
No matter how many times the Mets beat the Yankees during the regular season, they are still 25 championships behind.
Ask any Hall of Fame player from any sport what the most important accomplishment for any player or team is. I guarantee they will tell you that winning a championship is number one above any other individual achievement.
Mets fans may argue that their time will come, pleading that injuries have plagued them for the past few seasons.
Despite their injury issues, how could anybody take the Mets seriously after their epic collapse in 2007? They blew a seven game Division lead with 17 games left in the season to the Philadelphia Phillies.
You would think something like that would make a team more determined than ever to redeem themselves. Nope, not the 2008 Mets. They had a six and a half game lead on the Phillies with 17 games remaining, and blew it again!
In back-to-back years, they were denied the playoffs on the last day of the season.
Sure, the Yankees missed the playoffs in 2008.
Does anybody remember what happened in 2009?
Championship number 27 happened.
The difference between the Yankees and the Mets is that Mets have a lot of guys who LIKE to play baseball.
The Yankees on the other hand, have BASEBALL PLAYERS.
Mets fan, try to learn the difference between the two before attempting to justify why your team hasn’t won a championship since 1986.
By the way, the Mets had a shot at the World Series in 2000. The Yankees came out on top once again, proving that they were New York’s team.
How long will Mets fans have to wait before they are even be considered equals to the Yankees?
Let’s just say don’t hold your breath.
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