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Mere hours after their own manager openly proclaimed them second-class citizens in New York, the Mets turned the tables - at least for the moment - on the Yankees yesterday.
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An unexpectedly masterful pitching effort from the erratic Oliver Perez powered a 3-1 decision at Shea Stadium that clinched a season Subway Series for the Mets for just the second time in the 12-year history of interleague play.
Although the taut win merely salvaged a game in the three-game weekend set at Shea for the Amazin's, it gave them a 4-2 final advantage for the year. The Mets' only other Subway Series win - also by a 4-2 count - came in 2004.
But it will take a whole lot more than winning a Subway Series to get Mets manager Jerry Manuel to proclaim them the Big Apple's top team.
Serving up yet another controversial sound bite in less than two full weeks as the interim boss, Manuel admitted before the Subway finale that the Mets take a back seat to the Yankees.
"The Yankees have won [26] championships," Manuel said. "They've been here longer. That's just the way it is. That's just my opinion, now. I don't speak for everybody else.
"Being a baseball person all these years, from the outside, I've seen it that way. Up in Chicago [where Manuel managed the White Sox from 1998-2003], if you'd ask me what was the favorite team in New York, I would have to say the Yankees. I don't have a problem with that. I love playing 'em."
Told of Manuel's latest colorful remarks, a high-ranking team source said club owners Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon had no issues with what their manager said.
Manuel said the White Sox face a similar image hurdle in Chicago to the one the Mets deal with in New York, especially because the Mets have won just two world championships to the Yankees' 26.
"The Cubs, even though they never won, they were the favorite team," he said. Manuel, though, said both the Mets and White Sox should use their No. 2 rankings as motivation.
"You want to be first? Win," he said. "Win some world championships. Don't be first by just popularity or who wears what jersey.. .. Win some championships, then you can claim first."
Manuel - who last week used the term "fertilizer" in reference to the fans at Shea - joked yesterday that he might find himself in hot water with management for classifying the Yankees as more popular.
