HISTORY & TRADITION OF THE SUBWAY SERIES

Many New York baseball fans may be surprised to know that the “Subway Series” concept dates back to the 19th Century. The first “Subway Series” game was played in 1889 between perhaps the most heated and competitive rivalry in baseball history- The New York Giants and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (also called the “Trolley Dodgers”, and later known as the Brooklyn Dodgers). Some historians argue that it was actually a “Trolley Series”, because the actual opening of the New York subway system didn’t occur until 1904. Nonetheless, the game was played at the Polo Grounds and was won by the New York Giants, beginning a long history of rivalry and competition that makes New York the “baseball capital of the world”.(In Photo: New York Highlanders)
Later on, a team called the New York Highlanders, later known as the New York Yankees, became the Giant’s arch rival, and the Subway Series tradition continued. The rivalry between the teams grew so intense, that after years of sharing the same field at Hilltop Park, the Giants evicted the Yankees in 1921 after having lost to them. The Yankees moved and built a new stadium, which was dubbed “The House that Ruth Built”.

By the early 20th century, the subway had become the most important and widely used form of transportation in New York City, as it connected baseball fans to the three major baseball parks around town: Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, the Polo Grounds in Manhattan and Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Newspapers in 1927 dubbed the games between the New York teams as “The Nickel Series”, because that what the subway fare was. However, by 1928, the term “Subway Series” was coined and it seemed to stick. It was even used to describe post-season exhibition games, which became few and far between, as the Yankees became increasingly unavailable because they were usually playing post-season competition.Between the early 1940s and 1956, the Subway Series between the “Bronx Bombers” and “Dem Bums from Brooklyn” saw many notable baseball legends and memorable moments in baseball history.

Although the teams and names have been changed since that time, the past 15 years or so have belonged to the Yankees vs. The New York Mets. Gaining more momentum since the 2000 World Series, baseball lovers nationwide all now know that the "Subway Series" means that the Yankees from the Bronx will face the Mets from Queens.

Let the tradition continue...




--Christy Lee, BYB Staff Writer



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