It would’ve been hard for anything to exceed the hype of the first All-New York World Series in 44 years, but the personal confrontation between the Mets’ power-hitting catcher and the Yankees’ most renowned starting pitcher did just that.

Few hitters gave Roger Clemens as much trouble as Mike Piazza. The pair faced off 25 times. Against a pitcher who would strike out more than 4,000 batters over his big-league career, Piazza struck out twice. He batted .364, had an on-base percentage of .440, and a slugging percentage of .955. He hit four home runs, each of them with import.

The intensity of this duel ratcheted up exponentially on July 8, 2000. That’s when Clemens fired a pitch that nailed Piazza just above the brim of his helmet, concussing the perennial All-Star backstop and prompting very strong ill feelings.

The Fall Classic opened to a thriller in the Bronx — marked by Mets baserunning blunders and a late Yankee rally that ultimately led to a 12th-inning walk-off. If that didn’t offer enough drama, Game 2 brought about the pinnacle of the Clemens-Piazza saga to the ultimate stage.

What occurred with two outs in the top of the first, with Piazza up and Clemens the starting pitcher, is not lost on Mets and Yankees fans alike. It’s been relived and replayed countless times over the past two decades. Piazza swung at a Clemens pitch and broke his bat on a foul ball. The meat part of the bat ended up in Clemens’ grasp. Piazza jogged to first. Clemens flung the meat part of the bat back in Piazza’s vicinity.

A bewildered Piazza walked towards Clemens as the benches cleared. He was as much perplexed as he was angry. On the field to umpires and after the game to the media, Clemens cried confusion. He thought the jagged piece of wood was the baseball. About as believable as him claiming he never used steroids.

The only thing as lousy as Clemens’ excuse was that he was inexplicably allowed to remain in the game. “The Rocket” proceeded to have a typically vintage outing: eight shutout innings, two hits, no walks, and nine strikeouts.

It wasn’t until he was out of the game that the Mets began hitting. Unfortunately, they started hitting after the Yanks had built a 6-0 cushion against starter Mike Hampton as well as relievers Glendon Rusch and Rick White.

Piazza began a furious, but ultimately futile comeback with a two-run homer that caromed off the left-field foul pole. Two singles and two outs later, Jay Payton connected for an opposite-field home run off Mariano Rivera.

A 6-5 Yankees victory was secured when Kurt Abbott struck out looking one batter later, but all anyone remembers from this night — and perhaps from this World Series — is the moment when a brief, but red-hot rivalry reached new and bizarre heights.