“Start spreading the news,” sang Bob Costas after the Yankees shut down the Mariners 9-7 on Tuesday night. The news Costas was referring to is that for the first time in 44 years, a Subway Series will be taking place in the Big Apple.

There has been a grand total of 13 Subway Series. This one between the Yankees and the Mets marks the first time that these two New York teams will meet with the World Championship on the line.

Of the 13 previous Subway clashes, seven took place between 1947-1956. At that time, New York City was home to three major-league teams: the Brooklyn Dodgers, the New York Giants and, of course, the Yankees.

The rivalries between these teams took place in an era during which bragging rights, even if they only lasted a year, meant something. The contests between these teams were furious, the participants were almost all hall-of-famers, and the series were unforgettable by all who witnessed them.

The competition between these teams was so intimate that, amazingly, one could see The Polo Grounds (home of the Giants) from Yankee Stadium, and the Yankees even used to rent out the Polo Grounds.

Although the Yankees were the team winning all the rings at the time, the Giants were definitely New York’s team. The Yankees were looked upon much as they are today: identifiable by all Americans and more of a team than “the suits” rooted for.

The Giants were the most popular and consistently outdrew the Yankees in attendance. When the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, New Yorkers were devastated.

It wasn’t until 1961 that New Yorkers had a team to root for other than the Bronx Bombers. In `61, the New York Metropolitans came to town and immediately established a loyal fan following. That year the Mets lost more than 100 games and still managed to outdraw the Yankees at the turnstiles.

Fast-forward to the year 2000, and not much has changed; the city is still divided between the Yankees and Mets. A geographic breakdown of the five burroughs would assign loyalty as follows: Queens-Mets, Brooklyn-Mets, Bronx-Yankees, Manhattan and Staten Island-neutral. However, this doesn’t always hold true.

Whatever the case, this year’s Subway Series has a number of storylines. Yankees veteran pitcher Doc Gooden was once the young ace of the 1986 Mets team. That year, they won an unforgettable World Series Game 6 over the Boston Red Sox in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs.

Current Mets ace Al Leiter was once one of the Yankees’ top pitching prospects. Current Yankees manager Joe Torre and assistant coaches Lee Mazzilli, Willie Randolph and Don Zimmer all once wore Met uniforms.

Since interleague play began, the Yankees have led the series 11-7, and this season the Yanks hold a 4-2 series edge. Fans can expect to see great pitching from both sides and true coaching strategy coming into play when the Mets take the No. 4 train to the Bronx, or the Yankees take the No. 7 train to Queens.

Torre and Mets manager Bobby Valentine are considered two of baseball’s top coaching minds today, and the two teams feature a host of All-Stars. The matchups are fairly even, with an edge going to the Mets when they throw a lefty. The Yankees definitely have the advantage in the experience area, having won the last two World Series titles.

The Subway Series is the biggest thing to happen to the city of New York in over 40 years, and definitely the best thing to happen to baseball since the McGwire-Sosa home run chase two seasons ago.

The next ten days in the Big Apple are going to be a wild ride, literally. For this former resident of the New York area, I’m going for the Yanks. As my old man says, “The champs are the champs until someone beats them.”