The importance of this year’s Subway Series for the Mets and Yankees
The Yankees have a record of 66-42 against the Mets, and a Subway Series sweep could impact the balance of power in New York for the foreseeable future.
New York City is the most valuable market in sports. Three of the top 10 most valuable sports franchises call it home. Whether it is its cosmopolitan nature that causes the presence of its sports team to spread or the fact that it is the media capital of the world, New York City is incredible for teams that use it well. So, with two teams in every major sport which one controls the market is flush with opportunity.
The balance of power among baseball teams has been in the Yankees favor. It has been that way since about 1993, and with the Yankees having the second most wins in baseball right now, it could stay that way. Looking back at the history of both the Mets and Yankees, it hasn’t always been that way.
The Mets owned New York in the 1980s. Darryl Strawberry, who played for the Mets at the time and later for the Yankees, said, via the New York Daily News: “We owned the town.” It was true. The Mets were the team to watch. The team was loaded with elite talent and they knew it. They had no problem being the bad boys and were known for their poor habits. They didn’t care though, they won games and that was what mattered. Darryl Strawberry made seven All-Star teams, Gary Carter made four, and Doc Gooden struck out the world. They won a World Series in 1986 with a young team and looked to be the future of baseball. Then, unfortunately, they lost key players to serious addictions.
From there, they sunk to a place where they only won 55 games in 1994. In the meantime, the Yankees were coming up to win. They were about to win four World Series in five years, taking control of New York City. The team had a good, young core of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera. They were and remained the class of baseball for a while. They owned New York City, through their World Series win in 2009, until 2015. In 2015, the Mets made a statement. By making a World Series run with a young pitching staff, they showed that they were here to compete for a while.
However, after that, they lost in the Wild Card game in 2016 and were frankly not good in 2017. This could be chalked up to injuries. The Mets got the benefit of the doubt here. However, after the Yankees swept them in 2017 and rode Aaron Judge’s bat to the ALCS, the Yankees made a statement of their own. They made it clear that the Mets were going to have to make a deep playoff run in 2018 to try to win the town back.
For a while, it looked like the Mets would. They started the year 11-1 while the Yankees were off to a slow start at 6-7. Now though, the Yankees have 40 wins while the Mets have just 27 and are below .500. If the Yankees sweep the Mets, it would end the Mets push to win the town back.
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It would likely leave the Mets 9-10 games back in their division, forcing them to at least consider becoming sellers. Jeurys Familia could be an enticing piece for contenders like the Angels in need of bullpen help. For the second year in a row, the Mets would perform horribly, unacceptable by New York’s standards. The Mets not being competitive two years in the row while the Yankees likely make a second deep playoff run would end everything. The Yankees have the Mets down, and this would be stepping on the throat of any hopes they have.
On the other hand, if the Mets are somehow able to pull off a series win, it could rejuvenate them. The team has had nothing to be positive about lately, when they pitch well they can’t hit and when they hit they can’t pitch well. Being able to win a series against one of the best teams in baseball would make them believe that maybe they can do it. It could inspire a big run from the team, and maybe keep a faint glimmer of hope alive.
This Subway Series could keep the balance of power in New York with the Yankees for the next decade. It will be interesting to watch and see what happens.