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NEW EGYPT, N.J. — For the rest of the nation, the World Series is the Turnpike Series, a battle of star-studded lineups with dominating left-handed pitchers.
But for New Jersey, the state that connects New York and Philadelphia, it could be the "Whose-Side-Are-You-On Series." The Phillies-Yankees matchup accentuates New Jersey's north-south divide that dates to the late 1600s, when the British mistakenly gave New Jersey to two groups of settlers, from New York and Philadelphia, without telling the other.
That led to a Solomon-like decision to divide New Jersey, which was reunited as a royal colony in 1702 but in many ways has continued to live with its colonial divide.

New York and Philadelphia are 98 miles apart, less than two hours on the New Jersey Turnpike or a little more than an hour by express train. But the division between North and South Jersey is vast in language, food, politics and sports.

There's no official line that says where North and South Jersey begin and end; the general consensus is the dividing point is Trenton, the state capital.

The North is dominated by fans of the New York Yankees and Mets. The South is Phillies country.

Fans near the borderline, such as farmer John Marchese, are caught in the middle.

Marchese grew up in New York but raises blueberries in New Egypt, a central New Jersey town 45 miles from Philadelphia.

For him, this year's World Series is terribly confusing.

"We live halfway between the two cities, and we are a typical 'we-don't-know-who-to-root-for' family," Marchese says.

"We don't know which way to turn. I root for the Phillies, hope for the Yankees," he adds.

"Either way, I'll cheer for one team and get a beer poured on my head."

For most baseball fans in New Jersey, however, the lines are decidedly clearer.

Phillies fans in the South — whether they are on a rush-hour train, sitting in a neighborhood tavern, shopping for Halloween pumpkins in the countryside or attending races at the New Egypt Speedway — aren't shy about showing their love for the Phillies. And they describe the Yankees as a big-money baseball corporation that tries to buy championships.

Ask Donald Jackson, a mixer in a cheesecake factory wearing a Phillies cap.

He was born in the Bronx, N.Y., left as a kid and can't figure out why anyone would root for the Yankees or any other New York team.

"I hate 'em; I hate 'em all," he says as he boards a train leaving downtown Philadelphia bound for Camden, N.J.