The
Subway Series
By Disco
Stu - Editor in Chief : Issue 1, Vol. I
 This year's World Series was a good
one. And that's quite an understatement. The 2000
World Series was the first "Subway Series"
in 44 years and after it was all said and done,
it was definitely one to remember. There were
lots of memorable moments in the series, but I've
narrowed it down to the ten best. Each moment is
broken down to the situation, why it's ranked the
way it is, and when you're guaranteed to remember
it. Here goes...
10. Subway
Series Buzz
The Situation: The Mets barreled
through the playoffs beating the Giants and then
the Cardinals. The Yankees, meanwhile, barely got
past the A's and managed to fight off the
Mariners. Once the Yankees clinched, the whole
city of New York was buzzing. People were taking
sides; it was father against son, brother against
brother, the Four train versus the Seven train.
The atmosphere surrounding the city before the
start of the Series was nothing like anyone had
felt before.
Why it's Number 10: One of the
Subway Series' most memorable moments began even
before the series started. The Yankees had made
the Series now 3 out of 4 times, but they were
clearly not the same team. Both teams were pretty
evenly matched and the anticipation of what might
happen and the excitement it caused in the city
was indeed memorable. During interleague play,
there was a lot of hype surrounding the Mets-Yankees
games. Just imagine that hype multiplied 10 fold.
You'll Remember it When: There's
another Subway Series.
9. Clemens
Shuts Down the Mets
The Situation: After some first
inning "jitters," the Rocket calms down
and eventually wins the awards for "World
Series Overachiver." He pitches his way past
the Mets, only allowing one run through 8 innings.
He was leading by 5 until the bullpen made it
interesting, but still managed to win 6-5.
Why it's Number 9: Actually,
this would've been higher had it not been
overshadowed by another situation involving
Clemens (I'll get to that later. But, it's still
remembered since Clemens pitched so well. Also,
the fact that the bullpen nearly squandered the
lead in the 9th inning added to its, um, memorability.
You'll Remember it When: You're
building a house and then you fling a 2 by 4 at
someone. But the house turns out real nice.
8. Paul O'Neill
Takes a Walk
The Situation: There's no one on
base and Paul O'Neill is facing Mets closer
Armando Benitez. Benitez, never one to excel in
the playoffs, gets ahead in the count and O'Neill
seems to be down for the count. O'Neill, however,
won't give up and fouls off what seems to be an
infinite number of pitches. Eventually, after 10
pitches, Benitez can't find the strike zone and
walks O'Neill.
Why it's Number 8: What a great
way to start a rally--with a walk. Walks often
get lost in the annals of World Series moments,
but this was a good one. O'Neill fights off 10
pitches and gets on base. Little did he know that
he'd score the winning run in the bottom of the
12th.
You'll Remember it When: You
cross the street.
7. El
Duque Finally Loses
The Situation: Game 3 and the
mets are down in the series 2-0. El Duque still
hasn't lost a playoff game (despite coming close
against the Mariners). Agbayani drives in the go
ahead run and the Yankees can't catch up. The
Mets close the gap and Orlando Hernandez finally
loses a post-season game.
Why it's Number 7: The loss was
the first for Hernandez. It effectively made him
lose that post-season "mystique" that
he had ever since his first World Series in 1998.
I guess he hiccupped.
You'll Remember it When: You're
bowling and you have a 300-game going, only to
bowl a gutter ball in the last frame.
6.
Agbayani Drives in the Winning Run
The Situation: The game is tied,
but the Mets are down in the series 2-0. It's
Agbayani facing undefeated Orlando Hernandez with
a man on second. El Duque pitches it, and
Agbayani hits it to centerfield for a hit. He
drives in what would be the winning run of the
game. El Duque takes the loss and the Mets see a
ray of hope.
Why it's Number 6: Agbayani will
forever be remembered as the guy who ended
Hernandez's winning streak. His hit also gave the
Mets their only win in the series.
You'll Remember it When: You're
El Duque and you're facing Agbayani.
 5. Luis Sojo's Game-Winning
Hit
The Situation: The Yankees just
allowed the Mets to tie the game in the top of
the inning. Fortunately, the Yankees get a few
runners on for Luis Sojo. Al Leiter, already
pitching more than 9 innings, gets set to pitch
to Sojo. Sojo hits it up the middle as Edgardo
Alfonzo tries fruitlessly to dive at the ball. It
gets past the second baseman and the Yankees take
the lead. The run driven in by Sojo would
eventually make the difference in the game.
Why it's Number 5: Sojo had
already been part of two Yankee championships
before being signing with the Pirates in the
beginning of the season. Yankees GM Brain Cashman
eventually decided to bring him back after seeing
Chuck Knoblauch's throwing difficulties. The hit
was a culmination of Sojo's success with the
Yankees: he pretty much took over second base for
the post-season and would get the key hit in
helping the Yankees win the series.
You'll Remember it When: You go
bowling. I think.
4.
Vizcaino's Game-Winning Hit
The Situation: Bottom of the 12th
inning, Yankees up to bat. It's already the
longest game in World Series history as Jose
Vizcaino comes up to bat. He waits for the pitch
and then slaps it left field. The Yankees score
and they win the first game of the Subway Series.
Why it's Number 4: What a
perfect way to top off the longest game in World
Series history. The pre-broadcast of that first
game focused on the fact that role players would
make the difference in the series. The
assumptions were proven right when Vizcaino,
acquired during mid-season to play second base,
drove in the game-winning run.
You'll Remember it When: You're
working on a research paper at 3:00 AM, you think
you'll get an F on it and then when you finally
get it back, you find out it's an A+ ... or
something.
3. The
Final Out
The Situation: Bottom of the 10th
inning, 2 outs, Yankees leading by one. There's a
man on base; Mariano Rivera's on the mound and
Piazza's at the plate. If Piazza hits a homerun,
the Mets win and they force a sixth game. If
Rivera gets Piazza out, the Yankees win the
series. Finally, Rivera throws him a pitch over
the plate. Piazza swings and launches it to deep
centerfield. It looks like a four-bagger, but
Bernie Williams manages to camp under it to end
the game and the series.
Why it's Number 3: Yankee fans
around the nation took a collective sigh of
relief after Williams caught Piazza's ball. David
Justice, who was sitting on the bench for
defensive purposes, said that his heart sank when
he sae the towering fly ball. It looked like a
homerun, but it turned out to be the final out of
the Yankees' 26th World Series Championship and
their third in four years.
You'll Remember it When: You've
won something 26 times.
2. Zeile's
Non-Homerun; Justice and Jeter Throw Out Perez
The Situation: Timo Perez is on
first and Tood Zeile is at the plate. Pettite
throws the pitch and Zeile launches it deep to
left field. The ball hits the top of the wall and
bounces back in--Justice plays the bounce well
and guns it to Jeter. Meanwhile, Perez has
thought all along that it was a homerun and he
skips along the bases; realizing that it wasn't
ruled a homerun, he finally starts running full
speed around third base. Jeter catches the ball
from Justice and makes an incredible running
throw to beat the speedy Perez at home plate.
Runs scored: 0.
Why it's Number 2: The Mets
could've had a better chance at winning this one.
This made the difference in the game, which the
Yankees eventually won. Plus, that running throw
by Jeter will forever by shown as the highlight
of the series (and probably helped him snag the
series MVP award).
You'll Remember it When: You
think you've won something... and then finding
out Derek Jeter took it away from you.
1. Clemens
Throws Broken Bat at Piazza
The Situation: It's the first
inning with two outs, and the third batter in the
Mets lineup, Mike Piazza, comes up to bat. The
particular match up had been heavily anticipated
ever since Clemens beaned Piazza on the noggin
during inter-league play. Many suspected it to be
intentional since Clemens had never fared well
against the catcher. Anyway, after a few pitches,
Clemens comes inside with an exploding fastball.
Piazza swings, breaks his bat, and not realizing
where the ball went, trots to first base.
Meanwhile, Clemens, apparently thinking that the
broken bat was the baseball, flings it in Piazza's
direction, nearly hitting him. Needless to say,
both benches cleared.
Why it's Number 1: It was
totally unexpected. All of New York had known
about the internal rivalry between Piazza and
Clemens. No one expected, however, that Clemens
would foolishly throw a bat at Piazza. The
incident was talked about through the rest of the
World Series despite Clemens' and Piazza's
efforts to downplay it.
You'll Remember it When: Someone
throws you a two-by-four... by accident.
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