"I felt a joy I had not known before. It was not love, and it was not comfort, nor was it mastery or beauty, but it was usefulness."
-- "Isola," Allegra Goodman
And in its 29th iteration, the Subway Series managed to produce something novel.
A series that meant more to the Yankees than to the Mets.
Because let's be clear-eyed about this: For many years over the nearly three decades this series has now been played in the regular season, winning it has been a bigger deal for the Mets.
In too many of those seasons, the Mets were not concerned about holding on to a division lead or cementing a playoff berth; before this season, the Mets entered the first game of that year's Subway Series under .500 half the time. (The Yankees have done so twice.) This weekend marked just the eighth time in those 29 season series that the Mets entered with a better record than their crosstown rivals.
And so, a lot of times, beating the Yankees was the way to salvage an otherwise forgettable season. (Sweeping the Yankees in May is basically the legacy of the 2013 Mets.)
The 2025 version of the Subway Series felt re-energized because the dynamic between the two teams had shifted. Yes, part of that is that the Mets are good again, a legitimate contender to win the pennant in the National League and to make a Subway Series in October a distinct possibility. The bigger chunk of it, though, is Juan Soto's decision to swap boroughs, citing as one reason for it the brighter future of the Mets.
The present remains very much up for grabs. The Yankees won the series on the backs of their Plan B -- the guys they acquired after Soto chose Queens. The Mets did not play their crispest, with their defense -- one potential area for improvement, president of baseball operations David Stearns said earlier in the week -- betraying them in multiple frames Sunday.
Soto's quiet 1-for-10 weekend contrasted with Cody Bellinger's 7-for-11 with two home runs. Even Devin Williams got Pete Alonso out twice. The series was narratively propulsive for multiple Yankees.
Now, sit back and think how many times a series win over the Yankees felt that way for the Mets.
From their perspective, this time around, it's a basic series loss -- a reminder of how different the regular season can and should play out in Queens this season. It stings in the moment, especially when it plays out like Sunday's eighth inning. But it's a series loss that doesn't resonate the same way as one to Philadelphia or Atlanta or the Dodgers might because this Mets team is concerned about holding on to a division lead and cementing a playoff berth. This Mets team is thinking less about a regular-season matchup with the Yankees than the possibility of a postseason one.
In the meantime, though, sure: It's 47 days until the Fourth of July and Game 4.
The Mets lost the rubber game to the Yankees on Sunday night. They're 29-18 and in first in the National League East.
The Red Sox dropped two of three to Atlanta at Fenway Park and have lost five of six overall. Boston is 23-25 and in second place in the American League East.
The Dodgers were swept at home by the rival Angels, their first series loss in May. Los Angeles' 29-18 record is a game clear of San Diego and San Francisco in the NL West. It hosts the Diamondbacks for three before an off day Thursday to fly to New York.
at Boston
RHP Kodai Senga (4-2, 1.02 ERA) v. RHP Hunter Dobbins (2-1, 3.90 ERA)
RHP Clay Holmes (5-2, 3.14) v. RHP Walker Buehler (4-1, 4.28)
RHP Tylor Megill (3-4, 3.74) v. LHP Garrett Crochet (4-3, 2.00)
v. Los Angeles (NL)
RHP Griffin Canning (5-1, 2.47) v. LHP Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 11.25)
LHP David Peterson (2-2, 2.86) v. RHP Tony Gonsolin (2-0, 4.05)
RHP Kodai Senga v. RHP Landon Knack (2-1, 5.89)
Red = 60-day IL
Orange = 15-day IL
Blue = 10-day IL
Triple A: Syracuse v. Rochester (Washington)
Double A: Binghamton v. Richmond (San Francisco)
High A: Brooklyn at Jersey Shore (Philadelphia)
Low A: St. Lucie v. Jupiter (Miami)
The best compliment I can give "Isola" is once when I got home from work during the time I was reading it, I thought to myself, "Ooh, let me turn on that show about the island," forgetting it was a book I was reading and not a TV show I was watching. That's how evocative Goodman's writing and characterization were to me.
What nine-time All-Star was on base when Omir Santos hit his game-winning two-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon at Fenway Park 16 years ago Friday?
(I'll reply to the correct answer in the comments.)