The Thrill Is Gone, and That’s Just Fine
By Howard Megdal ~ June 29th, 2009. Filed under: Howard Megdal.
I think what struck me most about the just-concluded series between the Mets and Yankees is how all of the energy has gone out of the rivalry.
A check of the stands during the weekend indicated that passions simply didn’t run high. As measured by noise, back-and-forth chants, even drunken brawls, the games paled in comparison to in-division tilts.
This is probably for the best. The Mets and Yankees play six time a year, while the Yankees take on the Red Sox 18 times; likewise the Mets and the Phillies. If the energy those two pairings present was only available for the all-New York battle, the season would be far less interesting.
Even the New York reporters had very little to ask about the battle for the city on Sunday night. Discussion centered instead around the battle for the Yankees to catch Boston, and whether the Mets can stay afloat long enough to get healthy and challenge the Phillies.
This is not to suggest interleague play should be banished. It is still enjoyable to see the two New York teams match up, and depite what some have suggested, a Subway Series in October would still be epic, with both teams playing for not merely bragging rights, but a championship.
Interleague play as a whole, I believe, brings the opportunity for National League fans to see the best in the American League, and vice versa. This has value; I would have loved the opportunity to see Ken Griffey Jr. in his prime while I grew up in South Jersey, for instance.
In fact, I think interleague play in New York has settled in the ideal place. Fans get the chance to match up; now that it is over, the season doesn’t seem anticlimactic, but rather perfectly exciting. The weekend circled on the calendar for the Mets isn’t the one just concluded; it is this upcoming one, in Philadelphia.
