Yankees Vs. Mets: All-Time Subway Series Leaders

For good or bad it all began in 1997. On June 13 of that year, the New York Yankees played their first-ever interleague game in Pro Player Stadium against the Florida Marlins, and they lost, 2-1, in 12 innings. David Cone (who lasted nine innings) faced Al Leiter. Derek Jeter led off the game by getting hit by a pitch, and the initial interleague run for the Yankees crossed the plate in the fourth inning when Bernie Williams doubled in Chad Curtis. It all ended in the 12th, though, when Jim Mecir walked in the winning run. That same night, the New York Mets welcomed the Boston Red Sox to Shea Stadium, and the Amazin's lost their first interleague game as well, 8-4. Rick Reed recorded the loss, while Jeff Suppan picked up the win. The Mets notched their first hit and first run when Carl Everett led off the bottom of the first with a home run. He hit another one in the seventh inning, and Todd Hundley and Alex Ochoa also went deep in the loss. The Mets picked up their first interleague win the next day, with Mark Clark getting the win in the 5-2 victory. The Yanks also won their next game, 8-5, with Mike Stanton the winning pitcher.

And then on June 16, 1997, worlds collided when the Yankees and Mets faced each other for the first time in the regular season. Lance Johnson led off the game at Yankee Stadium by grounding out to Jeter, but it was all Mets from there on out. Bernard Gilkey followed Johnson with a double. John Olerud doubled as well, driving in Gilkey. Hundley walked. Butch Huskey drove in Olerud with a single. And then the unlikely pair of Hundley and Huskey pulled off a double steal to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Jeter led off the bottom of the first with the first of nine Yankee hits, but none would score as Dave Mlicki pitched the game of his life, throwing a complete-game shutout, striking out eight and walking two, in the 6-0 win. Andy Pettitte was the losing pitcher, giving up five runs in seven innings. The Yankees went on to win the next two games of the series, though. And the Yankees have won 49 of the regular-season New York meetings, while the Mets have come out on top 35 times. (The Yankees' all-time interleague play record is 158-109, which is the best of any team, while the Mets have a pretty good record themselves, at 128-122.)

If we look at the all-time batting and pitching top lists in the Yankees-Mets 15-year interleague, intracity history, there really aren't a lot of surprises, with Jeter, Pettitte, Jorge Posada, David Wright, Mike Piazza and Jose Reyes all over the place, but there are a few eyebrow-raising names mixed in. Here are the Top 3 leaders for the Yankees vs. the Mets and the Mets vs. the Yankees.

YANKEES (VS. METS):

Batting:

Games: Derek Jeter 78, Jorge Posada 66, Alex Rodriguez 46

Runs: Derek Jeter 34, Alex Rodriguez 31, Jorge Posada 28

Hits: Derek Jeter 122, Alex Rodriguez 56, Jorge Posada 49

Doubles: Derek Jeter 19, Robinson Cano 12, Jorge Posada 12, Bernie Williams 12

Triples: Derek Jeter 2, Robinson Cano 2, Brett Gardner 2

Home Runs: Derek Jeter 13, Jorge Posada 12, Alex Rodriguez 11

RBIs: Derek Jeter 43, Alex Rodriguez 33, Jorge Posada 31, Hideki Matsui 31

Stolen Bases: Derek Jeter 18, Alfonso Soriano 9, Alex Rodriguez 5, Bernie Williams 5

Walks: Jorge Posada 31, Bernie Williams 31, Jason Giambi 28, Alex Rodriguez 28

Strikeouts: Jorge Posada 53, Derek Jeter 44, Jason Giambi 29

Total Bases: Derek Jeter 184, Jorge Posada 97, Alex Rodriguez 95

Average: Derek Jeter .381, Scott Brosius .324, Alex Rodriguez .318

Slugging Percentage: Hideki Matsui .586, Derek Jeter .575, Alfonso Soriano .541

Pitching:

Wins: Andy Pettitte 6, Mariano Rivera 4, three tied with 3

Losses: Andy Pettitte 5, Roger Clemens 5, Mariano Rivera 3

Strikeouts: Andy Pettitte 72, Mike Mussina 41, Roger Clemens 34

Starts: Andy Pettitte 14, Mike Mussina 8, Roger Clemens 7

Saves: Mariano Rivera 20, Dan Miceli 1, Ramiro Mendoza 1, Tom Gordon 1, Orlando Hernandez 1

ERA (minimum 15 innings): A.J. Burnett 1.33, Orlando Hernandez 1.73, Javier Vazquez 2.00

Games: Mariano Rivera 33, Mike Stanton 15, Andy Pettitte 14

METS (VS. YANKEES):

Batting:

Games: Jose Reyes 47, Mike Piazza 38, David Wright 36

Runs: Jose Reyes 28, Mike Piazza 24, David Wright 24

Hits: Jose Reyes 51, Mike Piazza 44, David Wright 43

Doubles: David Wright 10, Mike Piazza 9, Carlos Beltran 8

Triples: Jose Reyes 2, many with 1

Home Runs: Cliff Floyd 8, Mike Piazza 8, David Wright 7

RBIs: Jose Reyes 27, David Wright 26, Mike Piazza 25

Stolen Bases: Jose Reyes 14, Roger Cedeno 9, David Wright 7

Walks: Mike Piazza 19, David Wright 14, Carlos Beltran 14

Strikeouts: David Wright 37, Carlos Beltran 27, Mike Piazza 24

Total Bases: Mike Piazza 77, Jose Reyes 75, David Wright 74

Average: Roger Cedeno .323, Mike Piazza .317, David Wright .314

Slugging Percentage: Mike Piazza .554, David Wright .540, Carlos Delgado .517

Pitching:

Wins: Al Leiter 5, Oliver Perez 4, Tom Glavine 3

Losses: Al Leiter 5, 4 tied at 3

Strikeouts: Al Leiter 44, Johan Santana 24, Oliver Perez 23

Starts: Al Leiter 10, Tom Glavine, 6, Steve Trachsel 6

Saves: Armando Benitez 5, Billy Wagner 5, Frankie Rodriguez 4

ERA (minimum 15 innings): Kevin Appier 0.60, Oliver Perez 1.50, Pedro Feliciano 2.55

Games: Pedro Feliciano 16, Armando Benitez 15, Aaron Heilman 11

(Thanks to Ultimate Mets.com for the numbers)