Both clubs finished the 154-game season tied for first place in the National League, forcing a three-game playoff series. After splitting the first two games, the rivals met on October 3 at the Polo Grounds for the championship game. The Giants won 4-3 to claim their third straight title and fourth overall.
The New York Giants were founded in 1869 as one of the original members of the newly formed American Association. They moved to New York City in 1876 and have been playing there ever since. The club's official color is blue and white.
The team's most successful years were between 1911 and 1918 when they won four consecutive World Series titles. In addition, they also won another title in 1951. Since then, the franchise has failed to win more than 70 games in any single season. However, they do still hold the record for the longest current drought between World Series victories at 9 seasons.
Giants' owner John Young Lucas Jr. bought the Atlanta Braves in 1967 and relocated them to New York City where they play today at Fulton County Stadium. The New York Mets joined the National League in 1964 and have never left.
The following season, they made the League Two play-offs, but were defeated 1-0 on aggregate by Fleetwood Town in the semi-finals. York, on the other hand, were relegated to the National League four years after returning to the Football League, after finishing bottom of League Two in 2015-16. They remained there for one season before being promoted back to League One as champions.
York had dropped out of the league into non-league football in 1997 but returned to the third tier eight years later. The club won promotion from the Conference North in 2011-12 and earned a place in League Two the following season when Lincoln City were denied entry to the league due to financial problems. However, after just one season back in the third tier, York were relegated back to the fourth tier after losing in the play-off final against Grimsby Town.
Currently, York are trying to establish themselves in League One and have so far achieved a best finish of ninth place in their first season back in the third tier in 2012-13. This season, they are hoping to build on this success and perhaps even challenge for the title.
Their home ground is EDF Stadium which they share with local rivals Leeds United. The stadium has a capacity of 20,000 although some of that is covered by standing areas. York also use OPPF Stadium as their home venue; it is a non-League ground located in Harrogate.
The Yankees were 2 12 games behind the NL Champion San Francisco Giants, who had formerly called New York home. Before the 2018 Baltimore Orioles ended 61 games behind the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox, the Mets were the most recent club to be 60+ games behind in a division. The Angels and Marlins both fell below.500 this year, so it's possible but not likely that either of them would have made the play-offs if they were in the Mets' situation.
In addition to being far behind in the standings, the Mets were also on the wrong side of several important games. There was a game five of the 1912 World Series still to be played in Brooklyn (the series had been tied three games each), and the Mets were defeated by the Giants 8-7 in ten innings. Then, there was the entire 1961 season to be played with only one team in town (the Yankees). The Mets lost all three games of that series.
The Mets have now gone nine seasons without making the playoffs, which is the longest drought in the National League. They last made it in 2006, when they came within one game of their first World Series title since 1969.
However, because of how weak the NL has been over the past few years, it's possible that the Mets could make the postseason soon after winning a dozen games straight off a National Championship.
In addition to the five World Series played between the Yankees and Giants prior to 1940, the two teams occasionally played exhibition series against one other. The games were dubbed the "City Series," and they were occasionally held in October while other teams competed in the World Series. The first City Series was held in 1903, just a few months after the Giants joined the American League. The Yankees won all three of the early series, but later on lost several close games to New York's National League rivals.
The last City Series was played in 1939, just before the start of the World War II. It was also the last time the two teams would meet until 1972 when the Yanks returned to New York for a three game set. That was the only time the two teams met during the 1970s, as well as the only time the Yankees would play in New York between 1962 and 1972.
The 1980s saw more Yankee-Giant World Series than any other decade - four in eight years. This is because both teams were very strong during this period, with the Yankees winning three out of four World Series they played in. However, you cannot blame the Giants for these wins, as they were defeated in three straight games by the Joe Carter-hit Cubs.
The Polo Grounds served as the home field for the New York Giants football team (referred to as the "football Giants" by the newspapers for clarity) from 1925 to 1955, and later, the New York Jets (originally the Titans) for their first three seasons in the fledgling American Football League before merging with the NFL in 1966.
The Yankees and Giants met in the World Series in 1921 and 1922, with all of the games taking place at the Polo Grounds (the Giants won both). The Yankees exacted their vengeance the following year, beating the Giants in the first of many World Series played at Yankee Stadium.
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