Sports
Mets expect New York to ‘almost explode’ if Subway Series comes to fruition
Brandon Nimmo cackled.
“I don’t even know what the city would do, man,” Nimmo said over Zoom on Friday. “It would almost explode.”
If the Mets and Yankees converge in the World Series, expect fireworks.
The Mets — all of whom polled added that they are focused on the NLCS — are excited at the possibility that the first two teams to qualify for a championship series could advance one more step and meet in the Fall Classic for the first time since 2000.
They have seen the atmosphere at regular-season Subway Series matchups, heard the decibel levels cranked up and would love to see the amplified version in October.
“Would be great. Would be amazing,” Edwin Diaz said on a workout day at Citi Field, the Mets finishing off the Phillies early and awaiting an NLCS that begins Sunday. “[Would I] like to play the Yankees in the World Series? Of course. But at the same time, our goal is take care of this series now, and then see who we would face in the World Series.”
The Mets were set to watch Friday night as the Dodgers and Padres battled to advance, while the Yankees will face the winner of Saturday’s Game 5 between the Tigers and Guardians in the ALCS.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza — who had coached in the Yankees organization from 2009-23 and served as Aaron Boone’s bench coach beginning in 2019 — watched his old club clinch the ALDS on Thursday and sent “a lot” of congratulatory texts.
“It’s great for baseball,” Mendoza said. “It’s great for the city of New York that the two teams are in this position and with a really good opportunity to continue to move forward.
“They are a really good team. They have a really good manager, and they have really good players. That’s a deep roster there. Hopefully we see each other, but we have to take care of business.”
The two clubs faced off four times this year, and the Mets swept the season series for the first time since 2013.
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All four games were sellouts.
The 48,760 customers in The Bronx on July 24 represented a season-high at Yankee Stadium.
“New York has always seemed like a baseball town to me, and so the vibe that’s going around here right now is unbelievable and definitely feeling the high that the city is on,” Nimmo said. “From what I see and what I hear, the city is loving this. … But obviously both teams have something that they have to take care of before, and that’s a big something.”