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Because they're the Yanks

Mets have tall order in trying to overcome the magic

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By John Donovan, CNNSI.com

	• Storylines • All Thumbs • Heroes & Bums • High Hard Ones • The Pitch • The Bottom Line

NEW YORK -- They are the New York Yankees. No one else is. No one else is close.

They have 25 World Series titles. They have won 12 consecutive World Series games. (Twelve straight!) They play in the House That Ruth Built. They have the classiest uniforms. They own the game's most storied past.

They have the magic.

This is what the New York Mets go up against Saturday when they meet their cross-town rivals in the World Series, the first New York-New York matchup since the Brooklyn Dodgers and Yankees met in 1956. The Yanks, naturally, won that one, too, in a seven-game beauty that included a perfect game from the Yankees' Don Larsen.

In the three full days since this version of the New York Series was sealed, the Subway Series has been dissected every which way it could be. Not only have the lineups, the pitching staffs and the managers been compared. So have the owners, the stadiums, the fans, the neighborhoods in which they live.

When it all gets back down to baseball, though, there remains one general consensus: Both teams are good -- the Mets are, according to some, a little better because of their deeper pitching -- but the Yankees, in the end, are the Yankees.

Is that enough to carry them to their third World Series title in a row? Can the Yankee magic overcome the talented and scrappy Mets?

Finally, we begin to see. Game 1 is Saturday night in Yankee Stadium.

On to the World Series Day at a Glance, which asks: Can you take any more of this pre-Series hype?

The answer: Tell me about it. Kind of makes you want to tune into a debate just to depressurize.

Piazza as DH It's a bit of a gutsy move by Bobby Valentine, pulling his man from behind the plate and making him sit around 'til it's his time to bat. Piazza's a proud guy. He wants to be in the game all the time. But if this works out in Game 1, he may have to be a proud DH in every Yankee Stadium game.
The rest of the lineup Todd Pratt has a better arm than Piazza, which is part of the reason he's there. And with speedy Jose Vizcaino (who's hitting .526 lifetime against Game 1 starter Al Leiter) in the Yankees' lineup at second base, Pratt's arm could help.
The Comedians It's Billy Crystal (Yankees) vs. Jerry Seinfeld (Mets). Seinfeld, by the way, likens this Subway Series to the Civil War. "Same basic idea," he wrote in Saturday's New York Times, "just take a bunch of guys we all like, put them in different uniforms, then stand back and watch the fireworks."
Nerves This is where the experience comes in, you'd think. If this Series had opened at Shea, it'd be a lot easier for the Mets. But in Yankee Stadium, with the stakes as high as they go ... another reason Valentine chose to start the veteran Leiter in Game 1.
The City . So far, a lot of yelling, a load of posturing but little else. The city is divided -- you can't be both a Mets and a Yankees fan -- but it's a friendly spat so far. Of course, the games haven't started yet, either.
The Hype . Whew. Though the intensity of emotions will grow through the Series, at least the pre-Series hype is nearly over. It hit a zenith with Benny Agbayani's "prediction" of the Mets in five. It was a joke, folks. Benny, however, ought to know better.
Roger Clemens . Did you see where the Rocket suggested that Piazza was at least partially responsible for getting hit in the head in July because Clemens' pitch might have deflected off the catcher's hand first? Clemens admitted the throw shouldn't have been in the neighborhood, but c'mon ...
Mariano Rivera . If this guy is in the game for the Yankees, the Mets are in trouble. The Yankees closer has a career postseason ERA of 0.93. You just don't score off him.
Hero -- Benny Agbayani: The Mets' round-mugged Hawaiian has done the talk-show rounds (Howard Stern, Regis). Now he has to keep up what got him there (.344 postseason average).
Bum -- Mike Bordick: It is looking more and more like what he did in Baltimore was a fluke. It's that .120 postseason average.
Hero -- Tino Martinez: The Yankees' first baseman is hitting .364, with five RBIs, this postseason, but everybody forgets about him.
Bum -- Jorge Posada: If only the Yankees could forget about this: a .194 average for their catcher in these playoffs.
Heroes -- Glendon Rusch, Turk Wendell: In a combined 7 2/3 innings this postseason, the Mets' setup men have not given up a run.
Bum -- Chuck Knoblauch: The Yankees' DH and leadoff man has a .328 lifetime average in the Series. But we tire of his bellyaching.
Valentine's decision to use Piazza as a DH is a strong one. Keep the offense, beef up the defense. Perfect.
Who's on the hottest seat in Game 1? Try Andy Pettitte. The Yanks' rotation isn't as strong as the Mets'. The Yanks absolutely need six or seven good innings out of their starter each night.
The Yanks get more bat with Vizcaino against Leiter. Hope the defense doesn't suffer.
Our call on early Series heroes: Robin Ventura, Mets. David Justice, Yankees. That short porch.
We like Agbayani, Payton and Perez. But give us Justice, Williams and O'Neill any day.
A look at the Game 1 pitchers Mets' Al Leiter (16-8 regular season, 3.20 ERA). He's a bit more rested than Hampton, so he gets the nod instead of throwing Hampton twice in a row (Hampton won the clincher in the NLCS). Leiter's a big-game pitcher who has pitched in the Series before (with Toronto in '93 and Florida in '97). He throws a cutter in on the hands of right-handed batters and is 1-1 vs. the Yankees this season, with a 2.40 ERA.
Yankees' Andy Pettitte (19-9 regular season, 4.35 ERA). A tough, veteran lefty, Pettitte is 2-0 with a 3.50 ERA this postseason. He's 1-1 with a 4.73 ERA against the Mets this season. He can be overpowering at times, but mostly he's a guy that just doesn't make too many mistakes. A good fastball that sinks, a cutter that sails in on right-handed batters and some good offspeed stuff make Pettitte a threat anytime he takes the mound.
The Yankees of 2000 are considered somewhat weaker than the past two teams. But there is something about them. There always will be. And know this: With a Series win this year, the Yankees would have won four of the past five Series titles. You'd have to consider them one of the greatest dynasties in baseball history.

The World Series Day at a Glance appears every day through the conclusion of the Series.

 

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