Hey, I have an idea. Let’s take the greatest event in American sports and name it after a run-down, crime-infested, smelly underground train.

Wait, someone already beat me to it.

What I am talking about, of course, is the World Series, which has, unfortunately, turned into a Subway Series, pitting the New York Mets against the New York Yankees.

As far as the two teams being from the same city, who really cares?

Back in the heyday of baseball, this sort of thing used to happen all the time. Either the New York Giants or the Brooklyn Dodgers would face the Yankees for the title. A Subway Series was nothing special then, and it is nothing special now.

This is the last thing baseball needed.

It is common knowledge that it is nearly impossible for a small-market team to make it to the Series. It is like catching lightninhin a bottle every time a team such as the Oakland Athletics or the San Francisco Giants makes it. The people with money are the people with players, and they are the people with titles. This Subway Series just reinforces that notion, with the two teams from the largest television market duking it out for supremacy.

Another thing I cannot stand about this beloved Subway Series is that it just reinforces the egos of those from the East Coast, and New York especially.

Everything in this country seems to revolve around the East Coast and particularly New York. Sports, politics, news — you name it, the right half of the country gets first billing.

A city that is full of itself already is just getting more full of itself. This Series isn’t about the world, North America or even just the United States. It is all about two burroughs in New York City: Queens and the Bronx.

Baseball desperately needed the Seattle Mariners or the A’s or the Giants to make this Series for two reasons: First, it needed a small-market team to make it to the Series, one the average Joe could get behind.

That is what the A’s are all about — a bunch of guys busting their asses off. Their payroll is something like $80 million less than that of the Yankees. The Giants have a solid team but are led by their coach, Dusty Baker, who can will a team to victory.

Also, a team from another part of the country could have some regional significance. The A’s, Giants or Mariners would have excited the West Coast. The St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago White Sox would have done the same for the Midwest, and the Atlanta Braves could have stirred the South.

Alas, it was not meant to be. Instead of a World Series, we have a New York Series.

There are some out there who say the Subway Series will turn off many a fan. This is true for the casual fan, because most people outside of New York cannot relate to either team.

To the pure baseball fan, on the other hand, a Subway Series does not matter one bit.

I love baseball. I will watch the World Series as much as my schedule will allow. The fact that it is a Subway Series does not get me more excited.

In fact, it turns me off a little, but not to the point that I will not watch. Baseball is baseball. Period.

I’m rooting for the Mets. The Yankees have had their time, with three rings in the last four years.

I’m tired of seeing them celebrate every fall.

Plus, I hope the Mets will win. The Yankees are the highest paid, or maybe the highest overpaid, team in baseball. It’s time for someone else to win.

It looks grim right now with the Yanks up 2-0, but there is still hope that the Amazin’ Mets can work some magic at Shea Stadium.

So, here’s to baseball at its best, Subway Series or not.