In response to the Garden State's close proximity to both series participants, the Trenton Thunder (a Yankees affiliate) and the Lakewood BlueClaws (a Phillies affiliate) are staging a "Choose Your Champ" contest. Fans of both clubs had until the first pitch of Game 1 was thrown to send an email with their World Series predictions, including the winner, the number of games and the MVP. The fan with the most prescient prediction wins an all-expenses paid trip to the 2010 home opener of the World Series winner.

And here's the catch -- this trip will be paid for by the club affiliated with the losing team. So, if the Yankees win the series, the BlueClaws foot the bill. But if the Phillies come out on top, the Thunder pick up the tab.

"I'm a diehard Yankees fan at heart, so I'm absolutely pulling for them 100 percent," said Thunder general manager Will Smith. "There's definitely been a lot of trash talk the last few days."

Smith has certainly done his share of trash talk, as evidenced by his less-than-nuanced "Go Yanks! Crush Philly!" remark in Tuesday's press release promoting the contest. But Geoff Brown, his counterpart in Lakewood, is equally biased.

"I grew up in Bucks County [Pa.], so I've been a Phillies fan from the get-go," said Brown. "I've enjoyed this year and last year not just from an affiliation standpoint, but as a fan."

While the rooting interests of the general managers are easy to discern, the same cannot be said of New Jersey baseball fans.

"There's a line somewhere in Jersey that differentiates between Philly fans and New York fans, and if you ask 10 people where that line is you'll get 10 different answers," said Brown. "[Lakewood is] right on that line, but there are more Phillies fans here than there used to be because people have been able to watch guys like Hamels, Howard, Ruiz and Happ come through Lakewood.

"But we certainly do well when [Yankees affiliate] Charleston comes to town," he added. "The same way Trenton does well when [Phillies affiliate] Reading comes in."

"It's an interesting dynamic in Trenton," said Smith. "If you go a little bit south you miss out on the New York market, but if you go a little bit north you miss out on Philly. That's why we try our best to promote the Thunder brand above all else."

And this desire to promote the Minor League experience will always unite the two ballclubs, no matter who emerges victorious in the Fall Classic.

"We are proud to be the only two affiliated teams in New Jersey, so we're always happy to join forces," said Smith. "They can get behind the Phils, while we get behind the Yanks."

And that is an arrangement only a Mets fan could hate.

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