Baseball is back (almost). This weekend, we’ll see and hear the game we love as the Mets host the Yankees in an exhibition game at Citi Field.
The Mets and Yankees have a history of playing exhibition games.
Spring training matchups took place regularly from the early 1960s through the mid 1980s when the Mets trained in St. Petersburg and the Yankees trained in Fort Lauderdale.
The teams would traverse Florida and play a game in each other’s spring home.
The Mayor’s Trophy game was a New York staple from 1946-1957, when the Yankees would take on either the Dodgers or Giants each year to raise money for New York City’s Amateur Baseball Federation.
The Mets and Yankees began playing the charity event in 1962, and did so through 1983 with the exception of 1980 and 1981.
When inter-league play began in MLB in 1997, New York’s inter-borough baseball began to count in the standings.
The Mets won the first-ever regular season game with the Yankees, however, the bombers won that inaugural series two games to one.
The Mets and Yankees have played a total of 122 regular season games, with the Yankees holding a 71-51 edge over their neighbors from Queens.
In 2013, though, the Mets were quite successful over the guys from the Bronx.
You may recall the 2013 Mets.
They were in the midst of a rebuild, and posted a record of 74-88. Their opening day lineup looked like this:
David Wright 3B
Ike Davis 1B
Marlon Byrd RF
Lucas Duda LF
Ruben Tejada SS
The Mets won their Opening Day game 11-2, but by the time the Yankees came to Citi Field on May 27th, the Mets were struggling with a 18-29 record.
They sent Niese to the mound to square off against Phil Hughes.
The Yankees held a 1-0 lead, when the Mets came up in the seventh.
David Wright tied the game with a home run, and after Brandon Lyon pitched a scoreless eighth, Daniel Murphy drove in Jordany Valdespin with a go-ahead run in the bottom of the frame.
Bobby Parnell sealed the win for the Mets with a scoreless ninth.
The next night, Matt Harvey made the start for the Mets, opposing Hiroki Kuroda.
Harvey was very good, striking out 10 through eight innings, but the Mets were down 1-0 going into the ninth.
Mariano Rivera came in to do what his Hall of Fame career says he did exceptionally well: deliver the save for the Yankees.
But the Mets would have none of it on this night, with Rivera not even recording an out.
The Mets tied the game when Wright singled home Murphy, who had led off with a double.
Lucas Duda delivered the game-winner, singling in Wright who had taken second on a throw home, sealing the walk off win.
You can see the ninth inning heroics in the video below:
The scene shifted to the Bronx on May 29th for two games to complete the home-and-home series.
Jeremy Hefner (Mets’ current pitching coach) toed the rubber against David Phelps.
The Mets ambushed Phelps for five in the top of the first, highlighted by RBIs from Murphy, John Buck, and Ike Davis.
Hefner pitched six strong innings before yielding to Scott Rice and LaTroy Hawkins, as the Mets cruised to a 9-4 victory.
With a chance to sweep the Yankees on May 30th, Dillon Gee made the start for the Mets, opposed by Vidal Nuno III.
Gee was outstanding, hurling seven and a third innings, striking out 12.
Marlon Byrd clubbed a two-run home run, and Robinson Cano hit a solo shot for the Yankees.
The Mets led 2-1, when Buck drove in Omar Quintanilla in the eighth.
Bobby Parnell pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to preserve a Mets 3-1 win, and a four-game series sweep.
The sweep of the Yankees was a highlight of the 2013 season, along with the All-Star Game being played at Citi Field, and Matt Harvey‘s must-see starts through late August until he went down with an elbow injury that lead to Tommy John surgery.
The Mets were not good in 2013, and the Yankees were injury-ravished, but it always feels good to beat the cross-town rivals.
After these two exhibition games (where we’ll be happy just to see baseball), the Mets will tangle six times (10 percent of their schedule) with the Yankees in the abbreviated 2020 season.
The games will not only be extra special, they’ll also have a greater-than-usual impact on the standings.
