A-Rod's bizarre game-ending pop-up to Luis Castillo needs a deep rewind

SB Nation

The New York Yankees and the New York Mets have only clashed once for bragging rights during a 2000 World Series dubbed the Subway Series. And the Yankees dominated that.  In the years that followed that 2000 series, the Mets and Yankees have been climbing their way back to the Classic, but on two different paths - the Yankees have struggled to get back into the World Series, while the Mets have struggled to get in the postseason at all. So, a pop-up from current Yankees albatross Alex Rodriguez, seemingly right into the glove of current Mets’ comeback kid Luis Castillo, feels like it could be a turning of the tides during their June 2009 crosstown clash. After all, A-Rod is clearly on the outs with his reported past steroid usage, while Castillo looks like a genius signing for the Mets' front office. Both teams are about to change the "big-brother little-brother" narrative about their respective clubs.  Right?

Transcript

00:00It's June 12th, 2009. We're in the boogie-down for Game 1 of the regular-season Subway series,

00:06and this one looks pretty over. With a one-run cushion and two outs in the bottom of the ninth,

00:13and with the Mets' ace closer on the mound, it's just a matter of making sure Alex Rodriguez

00:19doesn't do something super heroic at the plate and ruin an otherwise good-vibes win for the

00:24Masons. And would you look at that? He just popped up, and he's not happy about that. It's

00:32an easy out for Luis Castillo, who's tracking that ball right now. Easy win incoming. Should

00:38be easy, at least. The Mets could really use that against their big bro team. It's been quite a

00:45while since they had any bragging rights over the Yankees. So yeah, that should come with this catch

00:51right here. But why are we getting so weirdly worked up over a fly ball? There's actually a

00:57great explanation for that. So let's rewind. This episode of Rewinder is brought to you by T-Mobile,

01:03America's largest 5G network. The Mets are on the road in this game, but they're just a few

01:09Subway stops away from their home stadium, the brand-new, sparkly Citi Field. Could explain

01:15them looking so confident right now in this spot. They're comfortable, and they're close to home.

01:19The last time this series really mattered to the city, though, was when the Mets still played in

01:25Shea Stadium and the Yankees in the old Yankee Stadium. In 2000, these teams clashed in the Fall

01:31Classic, the first meaningful interleague series between the two city-dwelling teams in the modern

01:36era. Time to prove their mettle. Both teams came into the championship series in very different

01:42spots as franchises. The Yankees were youthful, led by the storied core four of Derek Jeter,

01:48Andy Pettit, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera. The Mets were sort of on the decline. They

01:55rostered aging stars who were going to the Classic for the first time in their careers,

02:00and they knew that they were the underdogs headed into the clash. But they had traded

02:05for players like Mike Piazza for spots just like this to provide an extra pop against a team like

02:11the Yankees. For the Yankees, this was their chance to add to their dynasty run. With the

02:16potential of winning three chips in a row and four in the last 10 years on the line. For the

02:23Mets, though, it was just their first trip since their championship win back in 86. That's 14 years

02:29of building up to a World Series and a chance at glory in a pretty tough market. However,

02:35the Mets never got a chance to position themselves atop the New York baseball standings. Down three

02:42games to one, the crack off the bat from Piazza in the bottom of the ninth in game five felt like

02:47it might go out, but no. It died in the cold October air and the Yankees won the very unpopular

02:54Subway Series four to one, their third in a row. The entire series might have looked like a typical

03:00gentlemen's sweep if you're a box score watcher, but it was actually very close in every single

03:05game. Just a one run differential separated the Mets from the Yankees in games one, two, and four.

03:11And just a two run difference spelled the end for the Mets in game five. Another close but no cigar

03:17moment for the Queen squad, another legendary series win for the Bronx team. This series loss

03:23while stinging was nothing to worry about for the Mets. I mean, you're colliding with the Yankees

03:28team that featured a youthful and annoyingly good core of four elite players so good they

03:34have a nickname and everything. So while it stung that they weren't able to get it done,

03:39even getting to the Classic was a testament to their season and momentum moving forward.

03:43After that Subway Series though, it wasn't just as simple as running it back for the Mets or the

03:49Yankees. The Mets went back to the NLCS one time after 2000 and lost that to the St. Louis Cardinals.

03:57The Cards went on to win the whole thing that year, adding an extra bite to the series loss

04:03and tacking on another year where they could not get over the hump to the World Series. Other than

04:0806, they missed the postseason every single year after that 2000 appearance. This year,

04:14they have a solid team ready to turn the tide with faces like Jose Reyes, David Wright,

04:19and Carlos Beltran leading the way. The Yankees, on the flip side, were postseason mainstays. They

04:26just haven't won a World Series again since 2000, which is a metric of failure for them. 2008 actually

04:33saw them finally start to come back to earth and within the Mets' stratosphere, I guess?

04:38This season, both teams are primed for a bounce back from a disappointing 2008,

04:43with one season preview describing the Mets as a top NLEs team headed into 09,

04:49specifically praising them for shoring up their bullpen with closers like Francisco

04:53Rodriguez and J.J. Putts. Another preview said the Mets with a retooled roster just

04:58had to worry about getting to fall, sort of implying that there was nothing to worry about

05:03in the regular season despite them choking the previous few years. As for the team just across

05:10the Long Island Sound, the New York Post wrote that with all the spending the Yankees did in

05:14the offseason, no trip to the playoffs should spell the end of Joe Girardi's time as skipper.

05:20It was win or go home, so to speak, for Girardi. But back to tonight. A-Rod just popped up to

05:28Luis Castillo. He looks frustrated beyond belief because this is just another bad

05:34notch in a weird, complicated season for him and the senior citizen Yankees.

05:39Earlier this year, news broke about his steroid usage while with the Texas Rangers from 2001 to

05:492003. After long denying it, he came clean after being confronted with clear-cut evidence. Not a

05:56great look for one of the highest-paid players on the Yankees roster. A roster, by the way,

06:01already facing scrutiny over how inflated its payroll had become with nothing to show for it

06:06except retaining their aging stars. So heading into this season, A-Rod was under a microscope,

06:13and he knew it. He was going out of his way to even tell the press that he planned on focusing

06:18on baseball and staying out of the limelight as much as he had been thrust into it with the steroid

06:23news and his other activities off the field. A-Rod has been looking slightly less consistent.

06:29Batting just .233 up to this moment, he's really only been getting on base if he's hitting homers.

06:36Another thing going on right now in Yankees world? A very personal biography about A-Rod

06:41was published at the start of the season alleging that he had used steroids after the 2003 season

06:48and that he had been using them since high school. Those accusations had just one source,

06:53Jose Canseco, but the release still ruffled some feathers. Yankees manager Joe Girardi's

06:59feathers, specifically. Unfortunately, despite the pretty flimsy claims in the book,

07:04it took the, I'm gonna just focus on baseball stuff that A-Rod was talking about in the

07:09offseason and made it feel moot. On the opposite side of this play, Castillo is experiencing a

07:15renaissance year, pretty similar to how the Mets are bouncing back from being so disappointing

07:21since that World Series appearance back in 2000. Castillo's facing some high expectations from the

07:26Mets this season, especially after such a down year from him. It was a matter of just returning

07:32to form after he was hobbled post-trade from the Minnesota Twins in 2007. In 2008, his first full

07:39year as a Met, he hit just .245. He also didn't play a full season, only suiting up for 87 games

07:45in 08 with lingering injuries and a slow recovery from an offseason knee surgery.

07:51He came into spring training this year with a lot more pep in his step, looking for redemption in

07:56New York, and the Mets entered this season looking for the same thing, especially given their roster

08:01is aging just as the Yankees are. Defying those predictions for the team, though, Castillo has

08:06been raking. He has a .278 average and .376 on-base percentage up till tonight's game, a pretty solid

08:14stat line for a slap hitter. He's also getting rave reviews for his aggressiveness by teammates

08:20and his coaches. The former punching bag for Mets fans is suddenly someone they could root for

08:25alongside favorites like Reyes and Wright. They've given a reason for fans to cheer for them again.

08:30So looking at both of these players' seasons leading up to this moment, it's clear that both

08:35have a lot to prove. They both have to do their job at the moment, easy enough, it's just a pop-up,

08:41but under an immense amount of pressure. This game has been fairly high scoring. A total of 15

08:47runs have been tacked on by both teams, and the Mets are in control with their ace, K-Rod, on the

08:53mound, pointing out the pop-up in the air. Another pop-up in another clutch moment for another star

08:59between these two franchises. Finally, the Mets are going to start turning some heads and Castillo

09:04is going to continue his redemption campaign with them. And on the flip side, A-Rod is going to

09:09continue to draw negative attention for simply not playing freely and maybe put his manager's

09:15job at risk. And the Mets don't even need Castillo to be aggressive here, just has to do his job

09:21and support his team. Simple, passive almost. Well, welcome to a moment in history.

09:27Castillo. Dropped the ball! He dropped the ball! Here comes Teixeira! And the Yankees win! Oh my goodness! He dropped the ball!

09:50Hey y'all, thanks so much for watching. Greatly appreciated. If you want to see more stuff like

09:56this before it's on YouTube, or you want to read or watch exclusive things from the

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