Weather permitting, Friday night will kick off the 12th year of the Mets and Yankees facing off in interleague play. Here are ten of the best, worst and strangest moments of the Subway series.
10) David Wright hits a walk-off RBI Single
May 19, 2006: Wright hit the game-winning RBI single off of Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning to score Paul LoDuca, giving the Mets a 7-6 victory over the Yankees.
9) The Yanks score two in the bottom of the ninth off Braden Looper
June 26, 2005: Jason Giambi hits a game winning single to bring home Alex Rodriguez and Tino Martinez, giving the Yankees a 5-4 victory.
8) Armando Benitez walks in the tying run
June 22, 2003: Four walks and a wild pitch from Benitez allow the Yankees to tie the game at 3-3 in the ninth inning. The Yankees would score four times in the eleventh inning, giving them a 7-3 victory.
7) Roger Cedeno steals home
June 29, 2002: Cedeno slid in and avoided the tag of Yankees catcher Alberto Castillo, en route to a blowout Mets victory, 11-2.
6) Baerga wins in a photo finish
June 28, 1998: With Carlos Baerga on third and Brian McRae on first, Yankees rightfielder Paul O'Neill caught a fly ball and then threw to first to try to double off McRae. The umpires ruled that Baerga touched home a fraction of a second before McRae was thrown out, and the Mets won, 2-1.
5) Dave Mlicki shuts out the Yankees in the inaugural Subway series game.
June 6, 1997: Dave Mlicki threw a complete-game shut out to beat the Yankees, 6-0, in the first ever regular season meeting between the Mets and the Yankees.
4) Shawn Estes throws at Roger Clemens, misses.
June 15, 2002: Shawn Estes was put in the awkward position of having to throw at Roger Clemens, whose antics in the 2000 World Series (and regular season) led Mets fans to demand retribution when he came to bat at Shea Stadium. Estes' pitch sailed behind Clemens, but he made amends later, hitting a solo home run off the Yankees starter in an 8-0 Mets win.
3) Robin Ventura acts a fool.
June 11, 2000: As fans waited to see whether or not rain would prevent baseball that day (it did), those remaining in the stands were treated to Robin Ventura, sporting a painted on goatee and a #31 jersey, doing his best impression of Mike Piazza. Ventura ran around the bases, sliding into both second base and home, sending up enormous splashes of water on the tarp-covered, rain-soaked field.
2) Day/Night Multi-Borough Doubleheader
July 8, 2000: In game one of the doubleheader, Dwight Gooden went back to the mound at Shea Stadium, only this time he was wearing a Yankees uniform. Gooden picked up the win, allowing two runs in five innings. Tino Martinez homered and drove in three runs for the Yankees, who won 4-2. Game two, which was at Yankee Stadium, is the more famous of the two games, because of moment number one.
1) Roger Clemens: Professional Headhunter
July 8, 2000: In the first of a series of bizarre events between Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza, Clemens hit Piazza in the head with an 0-1 fastball, likely in retribution for a grand slam that Piazza hit off of Clemens earlier in the year. Piazza had to leave the game, but this wouldn't be the last time that Clemens would throw at him. Next time it would be a bat.
-- Tim Fiorvanti
(Thanks in part to Newsday. Find these moments, and more, in this photo gallery.)