Subway Squawkers Preview: How the 2009 Subway Series sent the Mets on a downward spiral

Squawker Jon and I have been to many Yankees and Mets games together over the years, but two games stand out as being the top ones we attended together. Warning: Mets fans will not like these happy recaps!

The first was on Friday, June 12, 2009. The Mets were about to beat the Yankees, 8-7. Alex Rodriguez was up at bat with two men on and two out, and Francisco Rodriguez on the mound. I had told Jon in the previous inning that the game would come down to A-Rod, and I was right. Alex pops up to Luis Castillo, and A-Rod-hating Yankee fans are in mid-boo when Castillo drops the ball. Let me refresh you memory with this clip:

Here is what I had to say in 2009 in the blog after the game:

After I screamed "Holy Bleep" a whole bunch of times, I literally couldn't stop laughing, especially when the Yanks kept on showing the play over and over again on that gigantic video screen. I also clapped my hands so hard I thought I broke a blood vessel in my finger! ....

I wasn't taunting Jon - I was cackling while looking towards home plate, which was in the opposite direction of Jon. He was very quiet right after the play. It took him a few minutes to speak. When he did finally speak, he was about as devastated as I've ever heard him after a loss.  

Here is what Jon wrote then:

 The worst thing about being at Friday night's horrendous Met loss to the Yankees was Squawker Lisa's reaction. She couldn't stop laughing. 

 I say New York is a two-team town. Lisa says the Mets are the little brother. I want my team to show Lisa that she is wrong. That the Mets are just as good, if not better than, the Yankees. Just as deserving of respect. 

 But after tonight's debacle, even I cannot respect the Mets.

In another blog entry, he said this, about the Yankees' rallying clips before the dropped ball:

Apparently it takes a lot to rally the Yankees. You would think a clip from "Rocky" would suffice, given that the Yankees were only one run down to the Mets and playing in a bandbox where the ball could go flying out at any moment. But no, the sluggish Bombers and their fans apparently also required clips from "300" and "We Are Marshall." How desperate must you be to look for inspiration from Matthew McConaughey?

Ahem. That's now Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, Squawker Jon!

Later on that month, we showed up at Citi Field for the first Subway Series in that ballpark. And wouldn't you know it? There was another memorable game! Mariano Rivera got his 500th save -- and his first career RBI, thanks to Francisco Rodriguez walking him with the bases loaded!

Jon was so depressed after that game, which capped a sweep for the Yanks in Citi Field, that he said the loss was even worse than the Castillo game! He talked about the freeze-frame at the end of the movie "The Wrestler," and had a new wish for the way the series ended:

My highlight show of this year's Subway Series would end with a freeze frame of A-Rod's popup still in the air, A-Rod's bat slamming to the ground, K-Rod starting to pump his fist, Yankee fans starting to boo A-Rod, and Met fans starting to cheer.

If there was any moment to point when the Mets went down the drain, it was right then at the Castillo game! And we were there to see it! Isn't that cool, Squawker Jon?