The Subway Series is a series of Major League Baseball (MLB) games played yearly between New York City's two baseball teams, the New York Mets and the New York Yankees. Both teams always have, and currently do play at ballparks accessible by the New York City subway system, hence the name of this famous series.
The ongoing rivalry between the Mets and Yankees dates back to the very beginning of the Mets' establishment as a Major League Baseball team in 1962. However, the rivalry did not heat up until 1997. Until 1997, the Mets never played each other, only during exhibition games which did not count in the grand scheme of things.
With the beginning of interleague play within Major League Baseball came Mets versus Yankee regular season games. Since these games have been played, baseball enthusiasts across New York have gathered and expressed each other's true feelings about their cross-town rival while rooting on their favorite New York team.
The Subway Series did not truly heat up until the Subway Series World Series in 2000. A A cross-town rivalry, for all of nothing. In this series, the Yankees beat the Mets in five games and captured their (at the time) 26th World Series Championship. This truly was the pinnacle of the rivalry and though it is not as intense, the rivalry still lives on today.
As a New York Mets fan, I look at the Subway Series very differently than a New York Yankee fan might. Whenever I talk to a Yankees fan, I somehow always have to listen to them telling me how much better the Yankees have always been than the Mets, as if I did not already know that the Mets were the underdogs of New York. It's great and all but hearing how great the Yankees are does not make me feel bad about supporting the Mets, nor does it make me want to change my allegiance from the Mets to the Yankees.
I might be coming off as a salty Mets fan when I say this but when the product from both teams on the field is unequal, the Subway Series is just a bunch of boring baseball games. Yes, I know that baseball is a game full of surprises and that anything can happen but most Subway Series have ended the same way and I would much rather watch the Mets play a different team. Yes, Subway Series games have been said to bring New York baseball fans together but is that what really happens? In my experience, not really.
Back in 2015, the Mets were contenders and actually made it to a World Series (I know, shocking right?) Those were the days when David Wright was still healthy, and the Mets acquired baseball veteran Yoenis Cespedes who ultimately carried the team to the World Series. Today, not so much. The Mets started out strong winning almost every game, and due to injuries, and a lack of leadership they have fallen and now they simply have found themselves unable to win a game recently. Hopefully the 2018 Subway Series will surprise us Met fans even though we are predicting the worst.
In my opinion, for a rivalry to be significant, both teams have to be playoff contenders or a player has to instigate something (such as an injury to an opposing player). Otherwise, "rivalry games" are not as enjoyable as they are made out to be. So whether a game is at Citi Field in Queens or Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, you are likely to see a split 50-50 crowd cheering on their clubs while bashing the other. Hopefully within the next few years these games themselves can become more exciting.
