From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Subway Series refers to a series of Major League Baseball games played between teams in New York City. It's historic usage has been in reference to World Series games played between New York teams, but since 1997 it has also been used in reference to interleague play during the regular season between the American League New York Yankees and National League New York Mets. Play during the regular baseball season between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers, both of the National League, was not referred as Subway Series. The Yankees have appeared in all Subway Series games as they have been the only American League team in the city.
The all-New York match-ups in World Series play have to-date been the following:
- 1921 - New York Giants defeat New York Yankees, 5 games to 3.
- 1922 - New York Giants defeat New York Yankees, 4-0.
- 1923 - New York Yankees defeat New York Giants, 4-2.
- 1936 - New York Yankees defeat New York Giants, 4-2.
- 1937 - New York Yankees defeat New York Giants, 4-1.
- 1941 - New York Yankees defeat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-1.
- 1947 - New York Yankees defeat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3.
- 1949 - New York Yankees defeat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-1.
- 1951 - New York Yankees defeat New York Giants, 4-2.
- 1952 - New York Yankees defeat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3.
- 1953 - New York Yankees defeat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-1.
- 1955 - Brooklyn Dodgers defeat New York Yankees, 4-3.
- 1956 - New York Yankees defeat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3.
- 2000 - New York Yankees defeat New York Mets, 4-1.
The first two or three of these World Series are generally not regarded as true "Subway Series". The 1921 and 1922 match-ups were in fact played in a single ballpark, as both the Giants and Yankees then played at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. The venues for the 1923 World Series, the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, were a short walk apart across a bridge over the Harlem River.
Usage of the term "Subway Series" arose in 1941 when the Dodgers made their first World Series appearance since 1920. The subway had become an important form of public transport in the city and provided a convenient form of travel between Brooklyn's Ebbetts Field and Yankee Stadium.
More recently, play between the Yankees and Mets at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium in Queens has sometimes been wittily referred to as Triborough Bridge Series, as that bridge provides the fastest route between the two ballparks.
