Subway Series

Lore & Background

The term historically refers to World Series games played between the city's teams. The Yankees have appeared in all Subway Series games as they have been the only American League (AL) team based in the city. The National League (NL) representative in those series has seven times been the Dodgers, six times the Giants, and the Mets once, in 2000. Since 1997, the term has also been applied to interleague play during the regular season between the Yankees and Mets.

The first actual New York–Brooklyn 'World Championship Series' occurred in 1889, a full nine years before Brooklyn was incorporated into the City of New York. The New York Giants squared off against (and defeated) the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, also called the 'Trolley Dodgers', of the American Association. The following season, Brooklyn withdrew from the Association and joined the League, setting the stage for many future intra-city competitions.

Reader's Guide

The 1921 and 1922 match-ups were played in a single ballpark, as both the Giants and Yankees then played at the Polo Grounds. The Giants won both of these World Series against the Yankees, the first two Subway Series played. The Yankees opened their new ballpark in 1923. Fortunes changed immediately for the Yankees as they defeated the Giants this time in the third straight year of World Series competition between the two teams.

Their new home would host the Yankees' first of 11 Subway World Series victories that year and first of an unprecedented 37 World Series until the stadium closed in 2008. The venues for the 1923, 1936, 1937, and 1951 World Series—the Polo Grounds and the old Yankee Stadium—were a short walk apart across the Macombs Dam Bridge over the Harlem River. The term was used again in 1941 when the Dodgers made their first World Series appearance since. Multiple Hall of Famers took part in these contests between the 'Bronx Bombers' and 'Dem Bums from Brooklyn' and the games involved numerous achievements including Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier as the first African-American baseball player in the World Series and Don Larsen's performance in pitching the only perfect game in post-season history.

The seven matchups between the Yankees and the Dodgers between 1941 and 1956 cemented the term as being mostly associated with the New York vs. Brooklyn contests. Despite Brooklyn's repeated success at winning the National League pennant, it was only able to win one World Series (1955) against the Yankees, the only time the Dodgers won a championship when in Brooklyn.

Did You Know?

• The first usage of the term 'Subway Series' appeared in newspapers by 1928, while 'Nickel Series' appeared by 1927.
• The 1944 Tri-Cornered Baseball Game was a World War II fundraiser that featured the Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees in a round-robin format.
• The Mayor's Trophy Game was an annual midseason exhibition between the Yankees and Giants or Dodgers, benefiting sandlot baseball, and was revived in 1963 after the Mets joined the NL.