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When Stephen A. Smith and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo appear together on ESPN’s First Take together, you know there’s going to be some fireworks.

And such was the case Wednesday when Russo introduced his Triple Play segment towards the end of the show, claiming the New York Mets were about to take the pedestal over the New York Yankees as the city’s baseball team.

“Mets owner Steve Cohen who put his money where his mouth is, he wants to be known so he spent a fortune,” Russo stated, his voice escalating as he went on. “He brought Max Scherzer in, paying him $43 million dollars, he brought a center fielder in, (Starling) Marte, he spent a fortune on him. He gave (Francisco) Lindor $341 million dollars, he’s got (Jacob) Degrom sitting there, eventually we’ll see him. Here’s what I’m saying about the Mets,” Russo finishing up his monologue. The New York Mets again, they are; you know what they’re going to do? They are going to take over New York City in 2022.”

This sent Smith off the deep end as he stood up and confronted Russo in the studio.

“WHAT?!” Smith exclaimed at Russo, “have you lost your mind?!”

“Absolutely not,” Russo replied, causing Smith to pace around frantically.

“This is New York City. It doesn’t matter

whether it’s Brooklyn or Staten Island, Queens, the Bronx, it don’t matter. This is New York City, baby. the New York Mets, are you joking,” Smith proclaimed to Russo.

The debate continued as Smith acknowledged the presence of Scherzer but had to remind Russo who the Yankees, and their personnel, are.

“Is (Aaron) Judge still on the Yankees Doggy,” Smith asked.

“Yes he is,” Russo said before Smith interrupted him again.

“Excuse me, don’t interrupt me. When I ask you a question, I want a quick, swift answer,” Smith demanded before continuing. “When you look at what the Yankees have in store, (Aaron) Hicks is still there, (Giancarlo) Stanton is there, Judge is still there. I understand that you got some questions but the Yankees have been in the postseason the last five years, where have the Mets been?”

Molly Qerim tried to knock Smith off his game by asking which team had more money, which he admitted was the Mets, but Smith only saw that as a reason for being second best in your own city.

“He (Cohen) has spent more money, but when you’re accustommed to being a second class citizen, which the New York Mets are, second class citizens,” Smith stated.

“Yeah, like the Jets,” Qerim slipped in with a smile.

“This is what I’m talking about,” Smith continued, pointing to the

Mets/ success in spring training this year. “Would you ever hear a Yankee say that? We don’t care about what’s going on in May and June. We expect to be there in October.”

The conversation continued on for a bit as Smith and Russo continued to argue with one another like an old married couple. Are you not entertained?

Watch above via First Take

Tags: Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, First Take, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Stephen A. Smith