Rewind: An early Subway Series clash that had it all
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In its new series "Hidden Classics," MLB is digging into its archives and dusting off big games you might have forgotten about from your favorite stars of yesteryear. Stay tuned to MLB.com/HiddenClassics and MLB's YouTube channel for more Hidden Classic games.
These days, the Subway Series between the Yankees and Mets is as much a summertime New York City staple as hot dogs on the Coney Island boardwalk or Shakespeare in Central Park.
But in 1999, there was still a novelty element to the Series. The Interleague experiment was in Year 3, and New York baseball fans were still relishing the chance to root against their interborough rivals in the flesh.
So the air was charged on the afternoon of July 10, 1999, in Queens’ Shea Stadium – site of this week’s “Hidden Classics” – as the defending World Series champion Yankees rolled off the 7 train for a rumble with the Amazins. And if you’re a fan of a certain age, this game had a bunch of elements to switch on your late-'90s nostalgia, including:
- Stone Cold Steve Austin throwing out the first pitch … in jorts
- The late, great Rickey Henderson, enjoying one of his best games as a Met
- Mike Piazza clubbing a mammoth Mike Piazza-style homer
- An appearance by a certain increasingly-famous Mets reliever with the last name Mahomes
- A scintillating bottom-of-the-ninth rally against Mariano Rivera
This was a fitting preamble to the memorable 2000 Subway World Series, as the Mets let the mighty Yankees know there was a new rising team in town. To see how this one played out, watch the condensed game above in the video player, or over on MLB’s YouTube channel.
And for previous editions of “Hidden Classics,” check out:
- Ken Griffey Jr. and the Mariners’ final game at Seattle’s Kingdome
- Albert Pujols’ 5-for-5, three-homer game at Wrigley Field
- A vintage Pedro Martinez-Roger Clemens pitchers’ duel at Yankee Stadium
- Kirby Puckett’s superhuman 6-for-6, 2-homer game (with a homer robbery on defense!)
- Barry Bonds’ upper-deck homer (and showdown with Mariano Rivera) in the Bronx
- The Phillies’ odds-defying 10-run comeback against the Dodgers