The forgotten Subway Series near no-no

There have been six Subway Series no-nos over New York’s baseball history, with the Brooklyn Dodgers no-hitting the New York Giants three times, the Giants topping Brooklyn twice and the New York Yankees’ Don Larsen throwing a perfect game against the Dodgers in the 1956 World Series.

And then there’s the "Cookie Game" in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series, when the New York Yankees’ Bill Bevens threw 8 2/3 innings of no-hit ball before Cookie Lavagetto lined a double off the right field wall to kill the no-no and drive home two runs for the Dodgers win.

But on Sept. 9, 1971, the New York Mets nearly no-hit the New York Yankees in the annual Mayor’s Trophy Game exhibition. (For those who don’t remember the pre-interleague play tradition, the Mayor’s Trophy Game was a once-a-year contest between New York’s AL and NL teams to benefit the city’s sandlot baseball program.)

In front of a Shea Stadium crowd of 48,872, the Mets’ Jim McAndrew and Nolan Ryan no-hit the Yankees for seven innings as the Mets nursed an early 1-0 lead. Ron Taylor took the ball for the eighth and got the first two outs before Frank Baker singled to left for the game’s first hit. The Yankees wound up winning 2-1 in the ninth.

Here are the true Subway Series no-nos.