Why this year's Subway Series is special to Mendoza

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- For 15 years, Carlos Mendoza worked for the Yankees, spending the last six of those seasons on their big league coaching staff. Mendoza maintains many lifelong friendships from that time, including with manager Aaron Boone.

When the Yankees traveled to Port St. Lucie, Fla., in Spring Training to play a Grapefruit League game, Mendoza spent the morning smiling and laughing, catching up with all those who impacted his development as a coach.

This week, he will see them all again -- with notably higher stakes. The Mets will host the first two games of the 2024 Subway Series at Citi Field on Tuesday and Wednesday, marking Mendoza’s first managerial assignment against his old team.

“It will be electric,” Mendoza said. “Obviously, they’re playing well. They’ve got a good team. We’ve got a good team, and we’re playing well, too. So the fan bases are very tense. And those are always fun games. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Although Mendoza keeps in semi-regular touch with Boone, the demands of a regular-season baseball schedule prevent the two from talking more often than every few weeks. Mendoza said he planned to place a call to his old boss before Tuesday’s opener, however, to catch up on various aspects of their clubs and lives.

The Mets, winners of 13 of their past 17, will look to outshine a Yankees club that’s lost six of its past eight. Although the Yankees (52-28) have managed a far better record than the Mets (37-39) in what’s also been a more difficult division, there’s little question that anything can happen in a two-game Subway Series.