Memories
There are many things I’m going to personally take away from the 2015 season. For a moment, I wanted to acknowledge that I went to a World Series game with my Dad and brother. It was a dream come true.
I’ve been going to Mets games with my Dad since 1983 when Darryl Strawberry. I wasn’t much older than my son is now. I’ve been going to Mets games with my brother not too long after that. We thought the moment was coming in 2006. We hoped it would happen in 2007 and 2008. It was getting to the point I would never be there to see this in person:
Friday night it finally happened. We made sure to commemorate the moment:
Note, I thought it was great my Dad and brother wore the hats I had picked up for them a while ago. I was wearing the same All Star Game hat my brother got me. It is the same hat I wore the day my son was born. I wore the Lucas Duda jersey my son got me.
Rare is it that you wait for something so long, and it’s even better than you imagined. There was an amazing energy in Citi Field that night. The place exploded when David Wright hit that homerun:
The three of us shared an embrace just celebrating something we thought we would never see (no, I don’t mean a Wright playoff homerun). We were high fiving strangers. It was pure joy. The place exploded again with the Curtis Granderson homerun:
When Wright broke the game open with a single in the sixth . . .
. . . it just became a surreal experience. I mean I was standing there doing the eighth inning “Piano Man” sing-a-long with Billy Joel:
Are you kidding me? I was there for Pratt’s All Folks and the Grand Slam Single games. I was there with my Dad and brother. This game meant much more than those. This was the World Series. THE METS WON A WORLD SERIES GAME WE ATTENDED!
After the last out, everybody was screaming and yelling. We just gave each other a big hug. We were in disbelief that we were even there. We were convinced the Mets were going to win the World Series. We stuck around a bit longer singing along to “Back in the New York Groove” before leaving. It was then time for one last picture:
We decided to take the left field ramps out of the ballpark. It was fitting that we took the ramps like we had so many times at Shea. We said our goodbyes and headed home. It won’t be the last game we go to together. I pray it won’t be the last World Series game.
On the way to my car, I broke my rule. I bought a World Series hat and fleece. I have 1999, 2000, and 2006 sweatshirts and hats that’ll never get worn again. I’ll wear these again. I will forever want to remember this moment.
So thank you to the Mets for allowing this to happen. Thank you to my Dad for making me a Mets fan. Thank you to my Dad for taking my brother and I to all those Mets games over the years. I still can’t believe the three of us got to be there on Friday night.
The Mets may have lost the World Series, but they won the game we attended. Losing the World Series will always hurt, but at least I got this moment 32 years in the making. It was amazin’.
My son woke up this morning, and said to me, “Mets?” I said not now. It’ll be on tonight. His next said to me, “Murphy homerun!” If I wasn’t excited enough, I became more excited. This was a very good sign. We sang “Meet the Mets” in the car this morning. It’s funny, he’s only lived in a world where the Mets are good. These are wonderful times indeed.
This has all gotten my wife excited. She sees what it means to me. She knows how much our son loves baseball. She comes from a family that never followed sports. Now, she’s correcting people at work about baseball. She actually referenced my blog in correcting someone spewing garbage about the layoff. It’s no wonder I tell her everyday she’s perfect.
My Dad, the reason, I’m a Mets fan is more excited about the Mets than I’ve ever seen him. He’s an original vendor at Shea Stadium. He lived through 1969 and 1986. He’s more excited than that. I get daily “Lets Go Mets” and “Going to Kansas City” texts. I want this for him more than anyone else.
My brother made sure to get his postseason hat as the postseason began. It is a tradition we started at Game 5 of the 1999 NLDS. We used to call it “the hat.” It was good luck. Then the Mets lost the final game in 2007 and 2008. Once Robin Ventura autographed the hat two years ago, it went into retirement. He’s got his new hat, and he’s convinced the Mets are winning the World Series this year.
Me? This has been better than I ever could’ve imagined. I had no grandfathers when the 1986 Mets won, not that I remember it anyway. When the Mets were in the 2000 World Series happened, I was away at college in Western New York. If they were interested in baseball they were Yankees, Blue Jays, or Braves fans. I was alone.
This year I’ve watched nearly every game with my son. I’ve been able to go to games with him, my Dad, and brother. We will all be going to Game Three together (weather permitting for the little guy). I could never imagine watching a Mets World Series game with my Dad, my brother, and my son. It really doesn’t get any better than that.
This is what baseball is. It’s fathers and sons. It’s your family getting together and sharing the experience. It’s sitting there recalling games and moments past. I’m going to be there with my father and son. I will be there with my brother. These are the Mets fans I care about most. I owe a debt of gratitude to the 2015 Mets for making this happen.
Lets Go Mets!
On one warm May night, Matt Harvey took the mound. I had never seen anyone as dominant as Harvey was that night. To say he was perfect was an understatement.
Through 6.2 innings, no one could touch him. He had already struck out nine batters. He walked no one. Then Alex Rios stepped to the plate. I remember leaning over to my brother and saying, “this is it right here. He’s the only one that can do it.” Then he did.
Actually, it wasn’t that simple. Rios hit the ball to an out of position Ruben Tejada, who couldn’t get enough on the ball to throw out a speedy Rios. That was all Harvey allowed. After that, he would strike out another three and pitch nine innings needing just 107 pitches. Believe it or not, it was a no decision as the Mets couldn’t score until the tenth inning.
A lot has happened since then. Harvey had Tommy John. He went from fan favorite to villain to fan favorite again. Rios has changed teams twice in the hopes of making the postseason. He did this year. In Game One, he faces off against Matt Harvey for the first time since that fateful at bat.
Yet again, Alex Rios stands in the way of the Mets making history. It’s time to rewrite the ending.
In many ways, 1980 is a very important marker for the New York Mets. I’m not using this year because this is the year Nelson Doubleday (RIP) purchased the Mets. Rather I’m using this date to create a demarcation in Mets fandom.
Those fans born between January 1, 1980 – October 27, 1986 are a distinct group. Most likely you are part of a group who went to their first Mets game with their father at Shea Stadium. Your childhood home with its ramps and neon figures are gone. As a result, this same group probably brought their son/daughter to their first game at Citi Field.
As your first Mets game was at Shea Stadium in the 80’s, this was what you knew the song “Meet the Mets” to be:
It blared on the loudspeakers outside Shea. It was part of the intro to the WFAN games. Speaking of which, up until this past year, you only knew of the Mets on WFAN. Now, they’re on WOR, and you’re version of “Meet the Mets” has disappeared.
You also grew up with Tim McCarver when he was good. You mostly grew up with Fran Healey, who was never quite as bad as advertised. You knew and loved Bob Murphy, but Howie Rose and Gary Cohen are your guys. You love Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling as players, but if you’re being honest, you really know them more as broadcasters.
You were raised with four divisions, no Wild Card, and no Interleague play. It was baseball when it was more pure, but in some ways, it seems less fun in retrospect. The rivals of your youth all moved to the NL Cental. In their place was the never lose the division Braves.
Mostly, it’s been cruel to be born in this timeframe. The Mets won a World Series in your lifetime, but it was a World Series of which you have little to no recollection. It’s a cruel twist of fate for something so prominent in your team’s and baseball’s history occurred when you were alive, and you really can’t remember it. At least not all of it.
Your only true World Series experience was the Subway Series, and the Mets lost it to the hated Yankees. To make matters worse, Mike Piazza made the last out on what seemed at first glance to be the game tying homerun, and Derek Jeter was the World Series MVP.
Thsnkfully, things are looking up now. We saw Generation K falter, but now we have the stud muffins succeeding. We seem to have the team that can have long sustained success like those 80’s teams. However, we’re now old enough to enjoy it.
We now have a Mets team in the World Series that’s the only show in town. No sharing the spotlight. This is our moment. This is the World Series we get to enjoy and remember. So if you’re from Long Island, New Jersey, Brooklyn, Queens, and Connecticut, Lets Go Mets!
That’s the cheer for the New York Mets!
From the moment he arrived in 1998, Mike Piazza brought the Mets to another level. The Mets went from young and improving to a playoff team.
He was joined by some terrific Mets along the way. Edgardo Alfonzo, John Olerud, Robin Ventura, Al Leiter, etc. However, Piazza was the man. He was (and still is) the greatest hitting catcher in the history of the game. With some bad luck and some other factors, the Mets didn’t win the World Series when Piazza was with the Mets.
The Mets missed their shot. The Mets were beset with hard times and bad decisions after that. However, Piazza still had his moments:
However, he never got his chance to go back to the playoffs, to win a ring. I thought about that in 2006. I was hoping the Mets would bring him back like they did Lee Mazzilli in 1986. I understood why they didn’t.
Paul Lo Duca had a terrific year. Piazza was still a capable starting catcher with pop in his bat. You couldn’t ask either to sit on the bench. You also don’t want to invite the controversy. It still doesn’t mean I didn’t miss him, especially with Ramon Castro being the backup catcher.
For the first time since 2006, the Mets were in the playoffs. For the first time since 2000, the Mets are in the World Series. There was a time it was all because of Piazza. He’s retired now on the cusp of the Hall of Fame. It’s where he belongs.
I just wish he was here.
It’s that time again. With the Mets up 3-0 in the NLCS, it’s time to bring this up again:
Every single time a team goes up 3-0 in any series, we have to bring up the time the Yankees choked in 2004. It’ll be an even bigger storyline than it normally would be because Theo Epstein is now with the Cubs.
I remember I was in school when that happened. When the Red Sox went down 0-3, I remove telling a friend of mine the Red Sox could do it. I pointed out that the Red Sox still had Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez. Much of his response can not be provided on a family friendly site. The gist of it was two-fold:
- This was the Red Sox and stuff like that doesn’t happen to them; and
- Red Sox fans did not see Mets fans as brother-in-arms against the Yankees because of 1986.
I was optimistic because I was a Mets fan. This was pre-2007. Back then Mets fans always believed anything was possible. You waited for the positive to happen whether it was amazing outfield catches in 1969 or a little roller up the first base line in 1986.
Things changed for Mets fans from 2006-2008. The fans were scared and angry. It lasted that way until the trade for Yoenis Cespedes. From that point forward, it seems like anything is possible. Anything except blowing a 3-0 lead in the LCS.
That’s something a second rate New York franchise does.
In 2006, every Mets fan thought the Mets going to the World Series was a foregone conclusion. Confidence was at an all time high after Tom Glavine shut out the Cardinals in Game One.
Then Game Two happened. The Mets terrific bullpen couldn’t protect a two run lead. It all started with a Guillermo Mota changeup to Scott Spiezio. I knew the Mora trade was rotten from the beginning. The Mets somewhat understandably didn’t re-sign Mike Piazza. Then the next year they bring in the guy who repeatedly beaned Piazza. Bad karma.
The game remained tied into the ninth when Billy Wagner allowed a go-ahead homerun to So Taguchi. SO TAGUCHI! I still can’t believe it to this day. Wagner allowed two more runs. I’m still in shock nine years later that the Mets lost that game 9-6. It was the pivotal moment in the Cardinals upset over the Mets. By the way, do you remember who got the save in that game? Adam Wainwright. Yup.
I was thinking about that game a lot last night. The Cubs had a much better lineup. The Mets bullpen is not as good as the 2006 version. However, one part of the Mets bullpen was better. The closer.
Wagner was a terrific closer during his major league career amassing 422 saves. He was great with the Mets in 2006 with 40 saves. However, he was a terrible closer in the postseason. He had a 10.03 ERA and a 1.971 WHIP.
The Mets now have Jeurys Familia. In six games, he’s pitched 7.2 innings. He has not allowed an earned run, walked one, and struck out four. He has a 0.391 WHIP. He’s a perfect 4/4 in save opportunities. He’s better than anyone could’ve imagined. He’s the difference between a Taguchi homerun and a 2-0 series lead.
The Mets are now the closest they’ve been to the World Series in 15 years. The better closer has brought them closer.
The best part of any rivalry is having a foil. In the Mets-Braves rivalry, that foil was always Chipper Jones.
I remember during his 1999 MVP year, the Mets-Braves rivalry was at its height. There was John Rocker insulting everyone. It may be hard to believe, but Shea Stadium was built into a much bigger lather than Citi Fieldcwas last night. However, there was another player Mets fans hated more than Rocker. It was Chipper Jones.
After the Braves swept the Mets in late September 1999, it looked like the Mets may miss the playoffs again. After the series, Chipper famously needled a Mets fans saying, “Now all Mets fans can go home and put their Yankee stuff on.” He hit .267/.517/.368 in the NLDS. For his career, he hit .309/.406/.543 with 49 homers and 159 RBIs.
Chipper would hit .313/.407/.557 with 19 homeruns and 55 RBIs. He hit so well at Shea, that he named his son Shea. He tormented the Mets and their fans for 19 long years. The Mets fans only response was the “LARRY!” chants. That one came courtesy of an Orel Hershiser call into the Fan. Other than that, Mets fans just had to endure his career.
After Chipper Jones built a Hall of Fame career off of the Mets, he’s apparently now rooting for the Mets:
https://twitter.com/bbtn/status/653973386121605120
I knew the Mets were getting some bandwagon fans, but this is ridiculous. However, if Larry, sorry Chipper, wants to come along for the ride, he can hop aboard. He earned that right when he ripped Chase Utley:
That was not a slide and that is not how u 'go in hard'!
— Chipper Jones (@RealCJ10) October 11, 2015
So, welcome aboard Chipper. Nice to finally have you on our side.
I was lucky. When I first became interested in baseball the Mets were really good. They finished second or higher in the NL East from 1984 – 1990.
During that time span, I was only concerned about the Mets. Hating the Yankees didn’t even make sense yet. They were not good enough to be hated. Besides, they played in the American League, and they never played the Mets in the regular season. I really didn’t hate any teams until 1988.
I remember the exact moment. It was the day of my aunt’s bridal shower, which was being hosted at my parent’s house. The men were thrown into the basement to watch the NLCS. With the game tied at three, Jay Howell got caught cheating. He was using pine tar. When the Mets went off to score five runs after his ejection, it was the first time I experienced schadenfreude.
The moment got me really interested and focused on the 1988 NLCS; more than an eight year old should. I lived and died with that team for the next four games. I was devastated when the Mets lost. I then hate watched the World Series for the first time in my life. Kirk Gibson‘s homerun was one of the greatest moments in MLB history. However, I was just angry the Dodgers won again.
My hatred of the Dodgers would only grow from there. Darryl Strawberry was my favorite player. As a kid, I had no real grasp of free agency. The Dodgers would teach me all about it. I was in the car with my Dad listening to WFAN after we visited Nana. I then heard that Strawberry signed with the Dodgers.
I didn’t understand. How could my favorite player go to the Dodgers? He was a Met. I was crushed. It got worse. I also loved Gary Carter. Later that offseason, he would also sign with the Dodgers. I remember the first Mets-Dodgers game in 1991. I was sitting in my parent’s basement playing Strat-O-Matic with my Dad when the game started.
As I grew older, I came to hate other teams more. However, I always hated the Dodgers. It’s what made the Mike Piazza years even sweeter. It’s what made the Paul Lo Duca double tag out at home plate even better. It’s why I’m even more excited for this series.
Lets Go Mets!
You never know what is going to happen before or during a postseason series. How a team responds to it may determine if a team wins or loses a series.
I was reminded of that with another playoff series against the Dodgers. Both times the Mets played the Dodgers, one of their starting pitchers was injured.
In 1988, Bobby Ojeda suffered a potentially career ending injury on the same day the Mets clinched at least a tie atop the NL East. It threw the Mets postseason rotation off kilter. Dwight Gooden started Games 1 and 4 (on three day’s rest). He wouldn’t make another start in the series.
I still don’t know what Davey Johnson was thinking. The Mets had a 2-1 series lead. They already won a game in which Orel Hershiser started. Johnson unnecessarily went to Gooden on three days rest, and then he left him in too long. Even more baffling is the fact that Johnson went to Sid Fernandez in Game 5 with the series tied 2-2.
Honestly, I don’t think Johnson doesn’t make a ponderous decision like this if Ojeda was able to pitch. Ojeda was 2-0 in the 1986 postseason. He stabilized things in Game 3, and he gave the Mets a chance in Game 6. Johnson doesn’t skip his start in 1988, and the Mets probably don’t blow that series.
Eighteen years later, the Mets again found themselves facing the Dodgers in the playoffs. Again, a key starting pitcher went down. Two days before the NLDS, El Duque, the scheduled Game 1 starter, went down with a torn calf muscle. Keep in mind, he was the second choice after Pedro Martinez suffered a rotator cuff injury.
Willie Randolph gave the ball to John Maine. Maine lasted 4.1 innings before hitting trouble. Randolph quickly turned to his incredible bullpen who brought it home. The Mets responded better to the problem in 2006, and they won the series.
It’s possible the Mets have already been presented with their Ojeda-El Duque dilemma with Steven Matz. Matz slept on a sofa, and he injured his back. The Mets now have a critical decision to make, especially with Matz having a successful simulated game. If he responds well, he may be on the roster. If not, it will be Sean Gilmartin.
Whomever the Mets choose, history shows it’s not who you pick that’s important. It’s how you respond to the crisis that’s important. Fortunately, this is one of Terry Collins’ strengths. Hopefully, there won’t be any more surprises.
Lets Go Mets!