Drum roll please. Cue the marching music.

Twenty-six World Championships.

A slew of players who made their way from the Bronx to Cooperstown.

This just in: The Yankees roll into the Subway Series hot, having won 10 of their last 11 games.

Still, even if the Mets get swept over the weekend, even if the Yankees go on to win their 27th World Series in October, there is one area in which the Mets hold a decided advantage over this historic and revered franchise.

And that is in the broadcast booth. Television and radio.

This is the undisputed truth. The advantage is so clear-cut that in recent years the Mets have actually fired broadcasters - Tim McCarver and Gary Thorne - who are better than most current Yankee voices.

Even an unprecedented in-season, interleague broadcasters trade - tonight Suzyn Waldman works with Gary Cohen in the sixth inning on WFAN and Howie Rose joins John Sterling in the Yankees' WCBS-AM radio booth - in no way tips the balance of talent or power.

Balance. A key word in this equation. The Mets' TV and radio booths are not total propaganda organs for Fred (Skill Sets) Wilpon. The same cannot be said for Steinbrenner's Al Yankzeera and Radio Al Yank.

Of course there are extreme exceptions on both ends of the totem pole. The Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network has straight-shooting Jim Kaat, the top analyst in town. The Mets, on the Madison Square Garden Networks (MSG/FSNY), have the dubious distinction of employing the annoying Fran Healy.

So, if you like, toss out these high and low cards.

The Mets still hold more aces.

On the radio, the Mets have the best baseball broadcast booth in the city - Cohen and Rose. They exemplify a Mets philosophy going back to the team's origins. Mets brass has always placed a premium on play-by-play skills.

In Rose and Cohen, they have virtuoso performers. They are never behind a play. There is never a need for recapitulation. Both men, who are also Mets historians, have showed why you did not have to play the game professionally to analyze it.

Cohen and Rose never talk down to listeners. They don't treat us like morons. They are never shy about ripping the Mets - or a player - when necessary. Sometimes their egos do surface, showing us they ain't perfect. Cohen's distaste for the Yankees, which will be on display tonight, can be extreme and petty. But you never feel cheated after listening to a Mets game on the radio. Fans always come away entertained and informed.

It's the same old song - literally - in the Yankees' WCBS-AM booth where Sterling croons with Waldman. Sterling's shtick has been well-chronicled. A Yankee radiocast is more about Sterling's style - and signature calls - than substance. His affected play-by-play cadence often leaves him trailing a play. With Sterling, there is excitement, but absolutely no balance.

In her rookie season, Waldman does have chemistry with Sterling (he's not as condescending or pompous) but she clearly is still trying to find her way in terms of providing the analytical asphalt to fill Sterling's potholes.

On TV, the Mets announcers' emphasis on quality play-by-play gives them a decided edge over what passes for play-by-play in the YES booth. In Ted Robinson (MSG/FSNY) and Dave O'Brien (Ch.11) the Mets have two tested major league voices. Both know how to get the most out of their analysts/partners. On TV, that's the key. Both men ask their analysts provocative questions. They also can engage in debate without taking away from the game.

The Yankees decided to take Kay, a man with no TV play-by-play experience (he picked up most of Sterling's bad habits while playing second banana on the radio) and make him the face of YES. Having someone who will genuflect to the organization was the driving force behind this decision. While it suits Steinbrenner, and his lackeys at YES, it has resulted in disjointed telecasts.

Unlike his Mets counterparts, who can keep their analysts focused (Robinson even attempts this with Healy), Kay is more inclined to swap analysis or attempt to one-up his boothmates. More often than not, Kay winds up repeating his "analytical" points. I would like to have $10 for every time Kay has wondered why Jason Giambi doesn't attempt to go to the left side when the infield overshifts.

YES' analyst du jour (Kaat, Ken Singleton, Bobby Murcer, Paul O'Neill, David Justice) approach leads to a lack of continuity and prevents these announcers from improving their verbal game.

With strong play-by-play voices, the Mets' TV ship is anchored. And yet, it needs some help and advice. Less Healy. Much more Keith Hernandez. More Ralph Kiner. And more homework assignments for Tom Seaver.

Even without this tinkering, the verdict in this interleague battle of the booths is clear.

Or as a former Hall of Fame Mets voice once said: "The Mets win! They win the damn thing!"