#2) 2000: The Subway Series
Finally, for the first time since the Mets’ inception in 1962, the Yankees and Mets met in a World Series, in 2000. It’s remembered as an easy victory for the Yankees, who won the Fall Classic in just five games, but it could have been a lot more competitive and lasted a lot longer. If not for Timo Perez loafing around the bases on a Todd Zeile ball that unluckily hit the top of the fence, and Armando Benitez not blowing a save in the ninth inning, the Mets would have (and really, should have) won Game 1 at Yankee Stadium. In Game 2, the Mets nearly did the unthinkable, scoring five in the ninth, falling just short of overcoming a 6-0 deficit in their final at-bat, after all of the earlier fireworks with Roger Clemens inexcusably throwing a jagged piece of wood from a broken bat at Mike Piazza as he ran down the first base line. Game 3 was also close, tied at 2, until the Yankees scored two in the eight to win, 4-2. Game 4 was also there for the taking, with Mets just missing on several opportunities after trimming a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 after three innings, but the Yankees’ pitching, despite some anxious moments, would never allow the tying run over the final six innings of a 3-2 Yankees’ win. And, then the Yankees closed it out in Game 5, at Shea, rallying from a 2-1 deficit, tying the game on a Derek Jeter homer in the sixth, before Luis Sojo came through with a clutch two-out single in the ninth off of Mets starter Al Leiter. A few moments here or there and the Mets could have had bragging rights for much of the decade, but that’s what they Yankee trademark was in the late 1990’s and in 2000 -– always finding a way to pull out postseason victories.