Boland: Teixeira a big fan of Subway Series

Mark Teixeira noticed the difference in the atmosphere of the ballparks last year when the Yankees played the Mets, but his real Subway Series baptism didn't come until the season was over.

After the World Series parade in early November, Teixeira and his wife, Leigh, were looking for a cab to their hotel.

A police officer offered a ride, essentially saying the Teixeiras had as good a chance of making it through the throng of thousands near City Hall and finding a cab as they did of finding a Red Sox fan celebrating in the Canyon of Heroes.

Shortly after the couple got into the back of the patrol car, the officer and his partner started arguing.

Good-naturedly, of course.

"One happened to be a Yankee fan, one happened to be a Met fan," Teixeira said before Wednesday's game. "It was funny. They had a nice banter going on. It was great."

Teixeira, involved in the enduring Subway Series moment from last year - scoring the winning run from first base when Luis Castillo dropped Alex Rodriguez's two-out pop-up June 12 in the Bronx - was one of several new Yankees to experience Yankees-Mets for the first time in 2009 and give it their endorsement.

It has been a gradual change in the clubhouse in that regard. The Subway Series used to be almost universally disliked from the Yankees' perspective, starting with the manager.

Joe Girardi's predecessor, Joe Torre, all but detested the hype around the Series, and the attitude trickled down. Much of that, of course, had to do with George Steinbrenner's obsession with beating the Mets, dating to the old Mayor's Trophy Game, an annual in-season exhibition contest discontinued after the 1983 season.

And people around from a decade ago still cringe when considering what the fallout might have been had the Yankees lost the 2000 Subway World Series to the Mets.

One of the old guard, Andy Pettitte, beaten by Dave Mlicki and the Mets, 6-0, in the first Subway Series game June 16, 1997, said games against the Mets aren't the same with The Boss no longer prominently in the picture.

"It was kind of a joke that it was our World Series," Pettitte said. "Now Tampa's the same way, Boston's the same way. It just seems like now there's so much emphasis put on a lot of the [other series], now it's kind of like, whatever."

But the Subway Series has been embraced by Girardi, who liked the rivalry as a player and last year talked about appreciating the "bragging rights" aspect of the series. And the "new" Yankees such as Teixeira liked it as well.

Nick Swisher, who played in the other intracity rivalry games when he was a member of the White Sox (vs. the Cubs) and A's (vs. the Giants), said he especially likes this one.

"Experiencing the one here, it's fun," Swisher said. "It's bragging rights to whatever part of town. And just the electricity in the stadiums is exciting."

Teixeira said the amped-up atmospheres of the two series - the first one of 2010 begins Friday night at Citi Field; the second is at Yankee Stadium June 18-20 - can be a break from some series that can seem repetitive, especially given the 18 games against each AL East opponent.

"When you play the Mets, it's only six games, three times in each place, and we just know how much the city's into it," Teixeira said.

And even Pettitte, who is not scheduled to pitch this weekend, said he sees the value of the Subway Series from that perspective.

"It's definitely fun because the fans are into it," Pettitte said. "They put a little more electricity in the ballpark so that's, for me, the biggest thrill for it."