All-Subway Series Team

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Since 1997, the Mets and Yankees have met annually in a crosstown rivalry that brings some added excitement to New York baseball fans during the dog days of summer. While the teams only play four to six games each year, the contests feel like they're worth a bit extra. The rivalry hit its peak fairly early on, with the Yanks and Mets meeting in the World Series in 2000. 

With so many memorable moments and players, let’s take a look at what an All-Subway Series team would look like. The Yankees and Mets meet again Tuesday and Wednesday at Citi Field.

C -- Mike Piazza, Mets

It would be hard to not start one of the most famous Mets of all-time behind the plate. Piazza had a stellar career against the Yankees from 1998-2005, with eight homers and 44 hits in 38 games during the regular season. Piazza also registered at least one hit in every game of the 2000 World Series and added two home runs. He famously was on the receiving end of Roger Clemens throwing a broken bat at him during Game 2 to add fuel to the fire.   

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1B -- Mark Teixeira, Yankees

Teixeira played 34 games against the Mets in his career. Along with being a sure-handed first baseman, he put a hurtin’ on Mets pitchers. Tex had 11 homers and drove in 32 runs over the course of his Subway Series career from 2009-16. 

2B -- Robinson Cano, Yankees

Cano is one of a handful of players to grace both sides of the Subway Series, though he has yet to actually play in a game for the Mets in the rivalry. (He missed last month’s doubleheader with a quad injury.) Cano had 33 RBIs while wearing pinstripes in the series from 2005-13 and a plethora of hits.

3B -- David Wright, Mets

Wright played 53 games against the crosstown rivals and was impressive in nearly all of them. He had 11 doubles, a triple and nine long balls in his career (2004-18) against the Bombers. Wright had 19 multi-hit games during the Subway Series and was the perfect guy to have in the hot corner against the power the Yankees often brought to the dish. He most memorably capped off a comeback in 2006 with a walk-off single off Mariano Rivera. 

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SS -- Derek Jeter, Yankees

What can be said that hasn’t been said already about Jeter? The man played 88 games against the Mets. Eight-eight! Five of those games were in the 2000 World Series, when Jeter hit for the series cycle. He had two doubles in Game 2, demolished the first pitch of Game 4 over the left-field wall and added a triple in that game to complement his singles. Jeter, who played in the Subway Series from 1997-2014, won his only World Series MVP that year, and for good reason.

LF - Cliff Floyd, Mets

The outfield is where this list starts to get a bit fuzzy. Floyd is one of the only Mets players to have played long enough in left field to be considered one of the greats of the Subway Series. He had eight home runs and 12 RBIs in 23 games against the Yankees for the Mets from 2003-06. Not a bad line for someone who found his way to Queens toward the back end of his career.

CF - Carlos Beltran, Mets

Beltran is another guy who got a shot with both teams, but he earned his place on this squad based on what he did for the Mets from 2005-11. Beltran made a name for himself as a three-time All-Star and one-time Gold Glove winner with the Mets, and he found success against the Yankees with hits in two-thirds of the Subway Series games he played in. 

RF - Aaron Judge, Yankees

Judge may have only played in eight Subway Series games so far (and he pinch-hit in one other), but he still has done enough to deserve a start in front of the Bleacher Creatures on this team. The slugger has three homers, and the Yanks are 7-1 with him in the lineup against the Mets. Judge has more multi-hit games than he does games without a hit against the Mets. It’s a small sample size, but Judge, who made his Subway Series debut in 2017, has absolutely bludgeoned the Mets so far in his young career.

DH - Hideki Matsui, Yankees

We’ll assume this imaginary lineup is playing in the Bronx and is in need of a designated hitter. Enter Matsui, who played 253 games in his career as a DH. He only played eight games against the Mets as a designated hitter from 2003-09, but he had three home runs and seven RBIs in those games and only struck out three times. While also a standout in the outfield, Matsui would be perfect for the old double switch should the situation call for it.

SP - Andy Pettitte, Yankees

Pettitte was on the bump 16 times for the Bombers against the Mets from 1997 until 2012. He saw the best (and the worst) the Mets had to offer and walked away from the Subway Series with a 6-6 record in the regular season. What helps his case is in the four games Pettitte didn’t get the decision -- the Yankees won three of those. And the thing that puts Pettitte over the edge is that he was able to secure wins in both Game 1 and the World Series-clinching Game 5 in 2000. He turned in stellar performances in both outings, going seven and 6 2/3 innings, respectively, while giving up three total earned runs between both starts. 

RP - Mariano Rivera, Yankees

It’s unfair to have the best closer of all-time on one side of this rivalry. Rivera had four wins, 20 saves, five games closed out without needing a save to win, just two blown leads and one blown save in 34 appearances from 1997-2013. Mo had four appearances in the 2000 World Series and recorded two saves, including teaming up with the aforementioned Pettitte and Mike Stanton to bring a title to the Bronx for the third straight year.