New York is undoubtedly a baseball town, but rarely is there a battle over who's town it really is. The Yankees owned New York through the 1960's until the Amazin's captivated the headlines. The pinstripes regained control during their run in the 1970's with two championships, but the 80's brought about that special Mets team and thus the Big Apple was a Mets town again. The 90's through today New York has been back to the Yankees dominance. What we find looking through the annals of history is that it takes a special type of Mets team to capture the city. 1969 was that team, as was 1986. They had a special aura about them, almost the same type of aura that 2024 is starting to feel like.
It's been oddly rare that two teams with such big aspirations, and wallets, have been good so few times in the same season. Both clubs have qualified for the playoffs in the same season just six times. They did it in back to back years in 1999 and 2000, when they famously faced off in the World Series. Then they both made it in 2006, 2015, 2022 and now in 2024. In fact it gets even more rare as the last time the Mets and Yankees played a postseason game on the same day was October 7, 2006, when the Mets played the Dodgers in the NLDS & the Yankees played the Tigers in the ALDS.
This year the script has been written much like each team's history indicates. The New York Mets, or miracle Mets, needed a huge run to even make it to the postseason. Then, they needed a late season push to secure their place, and of course the Pete Alonso home run to continue their quest when the chips were against them put a new term for the miracle, amazin Mets. These are the OMG Mets.
The Yankees meanwhile are the team they seemingly always are. The often criticized group that when the dust settled sat atop of their division with the #1 overall seed. This team has the best player in baseball, and a dynamic core of household names around him. The expectations are always high for the Yankees but this season they seemed even higher with the front office making a huge splash for a generational talent in Juan Soto. As it always seems with the bombers it was World Series or a failed year, and this team looks poised for a championship run.
October in New York means playoff baseball and the town shows the world how a real baseball town is supposed to act, but rarely do New Yorkers get an opportunity like they have this season to watch both local teams fight for the headlines and keep the title hopes alive. Could we have another 2000 on our hands? Only time will tell, but it's starting to seem that way.