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In New York, where the Subway Series has the populace in quite a lather, nothing is ever simple. So even something as straightforward as a baseball contest plays out with a political subtext.
The Mets and the Yankees have been natural rivals since 1962, and the denizens of the city (Manhattan), the outer boroughs (the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island), the Island (Long Island), and Jersey have long helped define themselves by their loyalty to one team or the other.
When the traitorous Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants went West in the 1950s, the fealty of both clubs' fans was largely transferred to the Mets. The striving, working-class Mets of Brooklyn and Queens. The nouveau Mets of suburban Long Island and Staten Island.
The Yankees, on the other hand, were the old-money club, and they have continued to cultivate an image of tradition, superiority, and style. At the same time, the Yanks' fabled home in the gritty Bronx imbued the team with a certain rakish quality -- a New Yawkness epitomized by the fury and excesses of Billy Martin (MVP in the 1953 Series against the Dodgers and five times manager), the win-at-any-cost buttinsky-ness of principal owner George Steinbrenner, and the graceful excellence of contemporary players like Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams.
CLUB HOUSES. So what's all this have to do with politics? In the closely watched race to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Pat Moynihan, both Hillary Rodham Clinton and her Republican opponent, Rick Lazio, have made their loyalties clear. Hillary, in a much ridiculed move early in her candidacy, plopped a baseball cap on her head and declared herself a Yankees fan. Lazio, a Long Islander, makes no bones about being a lifelong Mets booster. So both candidates have more than the possibility of some nifty photo ops riding on the outcome of the Series.
Like Lazio, the younger Mets have a slightly wet-behind-the-ears feel to them, and now, after losing the first two games, they are the undisputed underdogs. The club's personality also seems kind of Rickey-ish -- nebulous, more off-the-rack than their rivals. If the Mets were a house, they would be a raised ranch-style home on a half-acre plot in a cookie-cutter Long Island development, or maybe a row house in Queens.
The Yanks, like their newest No. 1 fan, can sometimes feel worn and weary. And the club's personality is as complex as Hillary's: It can be engaging, like pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez; distant, like right fielder Paul O'Neill; and poker-faced like manager Joe Torre (though it's usually never as emotional as the skipper). If the Yanks were a house, they would be an old brownstone with wide floorboards and a patina to its walls.
COVERING THE BASES. Luckily for Hillary, her rival in the November election is not Rudy Giuliani, who dropped out of the race with his health in jeopardy and his personal life in tatters and was replaced by Lazio. Rudy does his duty as the mayor of all New York by cheering on both teams: On a recent weekend during the League Championship Series, he and guest Senator John McCain shuttled between Shea and Yankee Stadiums. But Hizzoner is a ferocious Yankees fan who might have used the Series like a Louisville Slugger to slam Hillary's bona fides as a New Yorker.
Still, the Subway Series must remain a disturbing development for the only Clinton running this year. It's a distraction from the election, and even without Rudy, it could highlight Hillary's outsider status. Lazio has already wondered aloud why Illinois native Hillary is so interested in the Series since neither the Cubs or White Sox are playing.
So what's a First Lady to do? Here are a few pointers for Hill:
* Show up at all remaining games, especially those at Shea Stadium, home of the Mets. Eat a dog. Drink a beer or three (but not so many that you, too, start shouting doubts about the morals of the opposing pitcher's mother).
* Bone up on the lore of both the Yanks and the Mets -- but don't fact-drop. Just keep the history and stats in the bull pen of your mind until you need them.
* Don't be wishy-washy and make statements about whichever team winning being a win for New York: Get some cojones -- you're a Yankees fan.
* Kiss Torre on the cheek when he wins again. Steal some of your husband's Cuban cigars and give them to El Duque. Pray Jeter blows one out of the park and doffs his cap toward you. And don't ever, ever let anyone catch you smiling at Steinbrenner.
Scotti, senior editor for government and sports business, offers his views every week, only for BW Online Edited by Douglas Harbrecht
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