Since 1997, many big names have dominated the Subway Series — Mike Piazza, Mariano Rivera, David Wright and Roger Clemens to name a few. But it’s lesser names, some of which are known solely for exploits in the Yankees-Mets rivalry, that spice up the history between New York’s two teams. Here’s a countdown of the Subway Series’ top 20 unsung heroes:
20. Lucas Duda, Mets
Duda had only three hits in his previous 25 at-bats and hadn’t homered in 19 games. But last Sept. 18, he jacked a solo shot to tie the game in the second inning and added another hit in the Mets’ 5-1 win to help fuel their late-season surge.
19. Carlos Baerga, Mets
On June 28, 1998, Baerga knocked in the first run and scored the second in the Mets’ 2-1 win. It was the finale of the second Subway Series — the first at Shea Stadium — and the Mets were trying to avoid a sweep. They won as Luis Lopez’s sac fly scored Baerga.
18. Kevin Russo, Yankees
Russo’s last year in the big leagues was “highlighted” by his exploits in the Subway Series, which consisted of a two-run double to give the Yankees a 2-1 win on May 21, 2010. The hit broke a scoreless tie and stands as the most memorable day, at-bat — whatever you want to call it — of his short-lived MLB career.
17. Hideki Matsui, Yankees
On June 28, 2003, the teams played a doubleheader with one game each in Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium. Matsui kicked off the afternoon with a grand slam in the third inning of Game 1. The Bombers went on to sweep the pair and the next day won the season series 6-0, the first time either team had done that in the first six years of the modern-day Subway Series.
16. Brian Bruney, Yankees
The Yankees reliever took aim at Francisco Rodriguez, saying “[Rodriguez] has got a tired act. I think it’s embarrassing,” while rehabbing at Double-A Trenton. Rodriguez responded by saying he didn’t know who Bruney was, and Bruney approached Rodriguez in the outfield during batting practice on June 14, 2009 to have some words. Bruney got the last laugh in the end, as the Yankees won 15-0.
15. Steve Phillips, Mets
With the Mets sitting one game below .500 on June 6, 1999, and having lost eight straight, GM Steve Phillips fired hitting coach Tom Robson, pitching coach Bob Apodaca and bullpen coach Randy Niemann following a loss to the Yankees. The Mets went on to reach the NLCS, so the handing out of pink slips turned out pretty well.
14. “Little Jerry Seinfeld,” Mets
Before a series in late June 2012, Mets reliever Frank Francisco said that “he couldn’t wait to face those chickens.” He expressed his desire to strike out the side and that he’d done it before against the Bronx Bombers. Before the Friday night game, a chicken purchased by fellow reliever Tim Byrdak dubbed “Little Jerry Seinfeld” darted around the clubhouse. Then Francisco recorded the save in the Mets’ 6-4 win.
13. Russell Martin, Yankees
On June 10, 2012, Martin blasted a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Yankees a 5-4 win and improve their record to 34-25. The victory sealed a series sweep of the Mets and was also Martin’s second long ball of the game.
12. Richard Hidalgo, Mets
The Mets swept the Yankees on July 4 weekend in 2004, and Hidalgo homered in all three games of the series. He had also homered twice in a game the prior week, making it four straight games against the Yankees with a home run and five homers overall, the most any Met has hit in a season versus the Yankees. Quite the résumé for only half a season in Queens.
11. Boone Logan, Yankees
Logan registered a 2-0 record with a 1.29 earned run average against the Mets in his four seasons with the Yankees. In 2012, he pitched against the Mets four times and didn’t allow a single base runner. In the four games, he recorded two wins and two holds.
10. Ty Wigginton, Mets
Wigginton’s pair of homers on Independence Day 2004 gave the Mets a Subway Series sweep. His ninth and 10th long balls on the year accounted for two of his three hits and gave him six RBIs during a 6-for-12 series. His second homer, off Tom Gordon in the eighth inning, gave the Mets a 6-5 lead and that ended up being the final score.
9. Mark Teixeira, Yankees
What gets lost in the infamous Luis Castillo drop on June 12, 2009, is Teixeira motoring around from first base to score on the play. It was the first game between the Mets and Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium and the visitors led 8-7 with two outs in the ninth. Alex Rodriguez’s pop-up looked destined for Castillo’s glove until it wasn’t, and Teixiera trailed Derek Jeter to the plate in the Bombers’ emphatic win.
8. Mariano Rivera, Yankees
Mo getting his 500th career save may not have been his most impressive feat on June 28, 2009. Rather his first career RBI coming in his 15th season, via a bases-loaded walk off Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez in the Yankees 4-2 win, arguably stood out more.
7. Oliver Perez, Mets
Perez made four starts in his career against the Yankees and won them all. He posted a 1.50 ERA, allowing five or fewer hits in all four starts while shutting down the lefties in the Yankees’ potent lineup.
6. Dwight Gooden, Yankees
More than 16 years after he broke into the majors with the Mets as the must-see Doctor K, Gooden took the mound at Shea Stadium on the afternoon of July 8, 2000, having already been released that season by the Astros and Devil Rays. He started his second stint as a Yankee by allowing two runs in five innings of a 4-2 win. That result was overshadowed later that night when Roger Clemens beaned Mike Piazza at Yankee Stadium.
5. Andy Phillips, Yankees
The Mets carried a 4-0 lead into the ninth inning on May 20, 2006, but the Yankees tied it before heading to extra innings. Phillips, who played for the Yankees from 2004-07, entered the game on a double switch in the 10th inning and hit the game-winning single to center field with Miguel Cairo on third in the 11th.
4. Shawn Estes, Mets
On June 15, 2002, Shawn Estes threw behind Clemens in retaliation for Clemens’ infamous targeting of Piazza. Though Mets fans likely would have preferred Estes actually hitting Clemens, they had to be happy with his stellar pitching and his homer off of Clemens in an 8-0 Mets win.
3. Dave Mlicki, Mets
Mlicki registered his first career complete-game shutout in the inaugural modern day Subway Series game. The Yankees were defending World Series champions, but the righty tossed nine innings of eight-strikeout ball in the Mets’ 6-0 win.
2. Matt Franco, Mets
With the Yankees up by a run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the bases loaded on July 10, 1999, Franco stepped to the plate in a game that had already seen five lead changes. He delivered a single to right field that drove in Rickey Henderson and Edgardo Alfonzo, sealing a 9-8 Mets victory.
1. Dae-Sung Koo, Mets
In his first major league at-bat, the 35-year-old reliever stood far from the plate and was easily struck out In his second, Koo stepped into the box against Randy Johnson at Shea Stadium on May 21, 2005 in what FOX’s Tim McCarver called “the biggest give up at-bat of the season.” Except Koo bombed a double to center field and then scored on Jose Reyes’ bunt when Jorge Posada was late covering home. Clearly, the Mets’ 7-1 win that day was Koo-razy!