Fireworks erupted, thousands cheered and the upper deck section seemed to shake like the contents of a bowl of jello at Shea Stadium on October 17.

The battle was long and hard-fought but with a little bit of "Mets Magic" under their hats, the New York Mets clinched the National League Pennant in front of a packed house of 55,000 plus screaming fans at a jubilant Shea Stadium on Monday night.

The Amazin’s defeat of the St. Louis Cardinals put the Flushing favorites right on track to the first subway series since 1956 just before the Brooklyn Dodgers packed their bags and headed out west.

The last time there was a subway series in New York, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, a subway token was 15 cents — 10 times less the price than the current $1.50 fare.

The Mets most recent victory marks only
the fourth time the team has become National League Champions and their first World Series appearance since 1986.

With the help of lefty aces Mike Hampton,
Al Leiter and the hot bats of Timo Perez, Benny Agbayani and Mike Piazza the Mets are sure to give the Yankees a run for their money.

Tickets for the games at Shea will go on sale Saturday, Oct. 21 via phone only from the Mets ticket office at 507-TIXX.

Games three and four of the series will take place at Shea on Tuesday, Oct. 24 and Wednesday, Oct. 25 (respectively) and game 5 (if necessary) will be played on Thursday, Oct. 26. All of the Shea games will begin at 8:18 p.m.

BASEBALL BASICS

By TAMARA HARTMAN

If you woke up Monday morning in Queens and you didn’t know anything about baseball, that
has changed by today.

And if you area New York baseball fan, you
spent the early hours of Tuesday morning tossing and turning in bed with anticipation as you haven’t since the early morning hours of your 13th birthday.

But whatever category you fall into, it’s time to brush up on the basics of the game, so here is a baseball primer in what journalists call the "five W’s and an H": Who, What, When, Where, Why and How . . . the very basic starting points of every story worth telling.

Who: The New York Mets (home: Shea Stadium, Queens) won the National League pennant on Oct. 16 and the New York Yankees (home: Yankee Stadium, The Bronx) won their league (the American League’s) pennant on Oct. 17. These two New York teams will now play each other in the World Series.

What: The country’s baseball teams are divided into two leagues. Playoffs and eliminations leave one team the champion of each league, and these two titans of the game face off in a seven game series called the World Series. To win the World Series, you must take four of the seven games.

When: The World Series will begin on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.

Where: Since this year the two champion teams are from New York, two games will be played at Yankee Stadium before play moves to Shea Stadium. Since fans can see games just by riding the #7 train (from Shea) to the #4 train (to Yankee Stadium) the series is called a "Subway Series" and that hasn’t happened in New York in 44 years.

Why: In 1995, baseball changed the rules. There used to be an east coast and a west coast division in each league. The teams who won the most from each coast played each other and the winner battled their opposing league’s winners. But when the rules changed, the nation was divided into three, making for more playoff games and a "wild card" team to enter the mix. This year, the Mets were the wild card in their league, giving them their shot at this World Series. The Yankees were the first place team in their division.

How: The Game: Divided into nine "innings," with extra innings played in the event of a tie score. Somebody has got to win for the game to end.

Innings: Each team gets a chance to bat every inning. The visitors (at the stadium) bat first, then the "home team," which you can root, root, root for. Each team has the chance to be at bat until their players total up three "outs," then their opposing team gets a chance.

Outs: A batter earns an "out" if he swings at the ball and misses three times (those are "strikes"), if he hits the ball and the opposing team catches it in the air, or if he hits the ball and the opposing teams tags him or the "base" he is headed to before he is "safe."

Base: There are three of them and one "home plate." Altogether, they make up the baseball diamond (named for the shape). The object of the game is to hit the ball, run and touch every base, and then make it to home plate where you began before making an "out." Once touching a base, you cannot be tagged out, and are considered "safe."

Strike Zone: As the batter stands at the plate, the "strike zone" is an area over the white plate (home plate) in front of him and between his armpits and his knees. If the pitcher (on the mound in the center) throws the ball in this zone and the batter doesn’t hit it, the umpire will call a strike (okay, well, he’s supposed to call a strike). If the pitcher doesn’t throw into this prime area for hitting and still gets the batter to swing at the ball, he may get the batter to swing and miss, or the ball may get hit but go foul (of the two white border lines on the field), or just go wild out into the field to the pitcher’s surprise.

A final word of advice:

Safety: New York baseball fans grow up that way and over the next week you will see neighbors turning on neighbors and houses divided over the fierce loyalty to the game. Mets fans love their underdogs who fight with heart no matter what the odds, and they see the Yankees as smug and pretentious. Yankee fans stand on a very recent, very rich and hard-earned World Series victory path, and they see Mets fans as crude and unrealistic. If you don’t fall into either camp, your best bet is to just keep shouting "Go New York," sit back, pass the peanuts and Cracker Jacks, and enjoy what will without doubt be one of the finest and most historic moments in New York baseball history.

Some locals find it hard to believe. Others scratch their heads and simply wonder why. Yet most accept the fact that Queens is, and always has been, home to some of the Bronx Bombers most ardent fans.

When the Yanks played the Mariners in what would prove to be the deciding game of the American League Championship Series on Oct. 17, Queens fans sped down the Grand Central Parkway in droves, taking no notice of Shea Stadium as they passed by, and crossed the Triboro Bridge en route to a place they feel quite at home—the house that Ruth built.

Queens was strongly represented
among the bleacher creatures that night, the section of fans with the reputation as being the Yankees’ most supportive and raucous spectators.

"We want the Mets," shouted one Bayside resident, joining in on a chant that resounded through Yankee Stadium.

With the Bombers’ 9-7 victory over
the Mariners, he and other Queens Yankee fans will get exactly what
they asked for.

With 25 World Series championships already under their belt, three in the last four years alone, the New York Yankees are no strangers to the pressures of postseason play.

Although the Bronx Bombers didn’t enjoy as successful a regular season as they have in recent years, finishing just 87-74 and winning only three of their last 18 games, age and experience figure to be their two biggest advantages over the Mets – albeit intangible ones.

Two Bomber right-handers made history, as closer Mariano Rivera pitched in his 34 scoreless postseason inning and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez won his ninth playoff game, boosting his postseason record to an all-time best 8-0.

With four players, Derek Jeter, David Justice, Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill, boasting over 100 runs batted in during the regular season the Yanks’ bats are always a threat.

Though this will be the first time two teams from New York have locked horns in the World Series since 1956, many within the Yankee organization are no strangers to the Mets and their home borough.

Yankees David Cone and Dwight Gooden both once donned Mets orange and blue, while longtime Yankee organist Eddie Layton continues to make his home in Forest Hills.