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Polar opposites Yankees fans ecstatic; Mets followers reach bottom
Updated: Friday October 27, 2000 2:09 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- It was a bittersweet night at Shea Stadium: Yankees fans delirious, Mets fans despondent. That's what happens when a Subway Series ends. Back in the 1950s, it was common. But this was the first all-New York World Series in 44 years, and it ended Thursday night with the Yankees beating the Mets in five games to settle the city's bragging rights. Even Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, an outspoken Yankees supporter who attended all the games, felt torn by competing allegiances. "As a Yankees fan, I wanted it to end now. As mayor, I would have liked to have seen a sixth or seventh game," he said after the Yankees' 4-2 victory, adding that a longer series would have been worth $30 million to $40 million to the city. Giuliani, who invited the Mets to participate in Monday's parade through the Canyon of Heroes in lower Manhattan, praised both teams' fans for their behavior. "Everybody was worried about what would happen with the fans in the same ballpark together," he said. "They yelled, they cheered, they screamed, and they didn't do anything wrong. They're a great credit to New York." As throughout the series, Thursday's crowd was loud but well-behaved, and there were no apparent clashes between fans, who swapped competing chants: "Let's go, Yan-kees!" "Let's go, Mets!" Vito Catania, a 48-year-old Mets fan from suburb Tuckahoe, tried to be stoic after watching the Yankees clinch their third straight title on his team's field. "The important thing is getting there and playing well," said Catania, wearing a Mets cap and jacket. The Mets "played a tough game. They've got nothing to feel bad about." Baruch Teichman, 21, said the loss was hard to accept. "It hurts," said Teichman, who's from Flushing. "I was crying. ... You can't complain. It's been a great season." Once the Yankees scored twice in the top of the ninth to take the lead, Mets fans began leaving the stadium. Yankees fans stayed to revel in the team's fourth title in five years. As the last out of the game settled into the glove of Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams, some fans jumped for joy while others hung their heads. Joel Sunshine, a 14-year Mets season ticketholder, was one of the few Shea faithful who stayed to watch the celebration. "I'm sure tomorrow I will look at this as a great season," said the 32-year-old Sunshine. Dan and John Mulhall, who tried but failed to get World Series tickets, drove down from Syracuse to watch the game in midtown Manhattan -- the next best thing to being there, they said. The pair of Yankees fans toasted both a world championship and Dan's 28th birthday. "This is the best birthday present ever," he said. "I feel awesome." While Yankees fans could relish winning the team's record 26th championship, Mets fans were left hoping they won't have to wait another 44 years for another Subway World Series. "The Mets gave us everything we could want," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said.
"This was a great thing for New York -- and I hope it doesn't happen for 44 more years, 'cause I couldn't take it."
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