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BRIAN WATT: The Yankees won their first playoff game last night. And Today, New York’s other baseball team starts its own run for the championship. To get this far, the Mets have had to work hard and spend big. As Lisa Napoli reports.

LISA NAPOLI: Once upon a time it was a happy accident when the Mets met anyone in the playoffs.

Eric Fisher of the Sports Business Journal says a couple years ago, the Mets launched a campaign to make those wins a lot less random.

They bulked up the team and put a new business plan into play

Fisher says that’s led to double-digit increases for the Mets in . . .

ERIC FISHER: . . . pretty much every available metric that you can think of, whether it be attendance, merchandise sales, Internet hits on their website and on and on and on down the line.

Of course, the Mets still ain’t the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers still top them on payroll, ticket sales and TV viewership.

In New York, I’m Lisa Napoli for Marketplace.