My favorite Mets team was the 1999 team. I loved everything about that team from Bobby V to Mike Piazza to Edgardo Alfonzo to Robin Ventura to John Olerud. It was my first real taste of a pennant race and the playoffs. I was lucky to be there for Pratt’s All Folks and the Grand Slam Single. I look back on the year with melancoly because of this:
In 2000, the Mets got Mike Hampton. The season became World Series or bust. A strange feeling for a Mets fan. Hampton would deliver. He was the NLCS MVP. The Mets then had to face the Yankees in the World Series. It was a cruel series with Todd Zeile‘s ball landing on the wall and falling back into play. Timo Perez didn’t run and didn’t score. Roger Clemens threw a bat at Piazza and wasn’t ejected. The series then ended in the most heartbreaking way possible:
The Mets would be terrible for the next few years, but everything came together in 2006. Our homegrown stars, Jose Reyes and David Wright, we’re becoming superstars. They were joined by the two Carloses: Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado. It was a team that ran roughshod over the National League. Beltran was the best baseball player on the planet that year (who somehow didn’t win the MVP). The Mets had momentum in Game Seven with Endy Chavez’s catch. Here’s how that season ended:
In 2007, the Mets reloaded and were primed to go back to the World Series. They were up 7 with 17 to play. On the final game of the season, they sent future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine to the mound with his 300 wins. He wouldn’t be devastated when he got out of the first, but we would:
In 2008, the Mets diagnosed their problem, and much like 2000, they went out to get it. The Mets brought in Johan Santana, and he delivered. they needed him in a strange year that saw Wille Randolph fired after a win on the first game of a west coast trip. The interim manager threatened to cut Reyes if he didn’t come off the field after pulling up lame, and people acted like it was a good thing. Through all of that, the Mets were collapsing again, and yet an injured Santana took the ball on three days rest. He saved the season, but only for a day:
The last three were the most difficult for me because I was there. It got more difficult because Citi Field was initially a disappointment. It got worse because the product on the field was bad.
Then Matt Harvey came up and was an All Star. Jacob deGrom came from seemingly nowhere to become a Rookie of the Year and an All Star. They were joined by Noah Syndergaard. The Mets made a flurry of trades including one for Yoenis Cespedes. Daniel Murphy had an out of body experience. Then this happened:
All that pain. All that suffering. We know what it’s like to be Mets fans. There’s pain and suffering. However, there are moments of pure joy. It’s all the losing that makes nights like last night all the more special.
We’re Mets fans. We were there for all of this. There are older fans who experienced more pain, but also more joy. There are younger fans who only know losing. Now, we’re all Pennant Winners. It’s like the 80’s again when the Mets are the best team of baseball. We’re “Back in the New York groove!”
If you’re a Mets fan, nights like tonight don’t come around often. Keep in mind 1986 was 29 years ago. Since that time, the Mets have only played in three games where a win meant the Mets went to the World Series.
In 1988, Orel Hershiser shut down the Mets in Game 7. In 2000, Mike Hampton, the only Met player to win the NLCS MVP, pitched the Mets into the Subway Series. We are all scarred by Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright in Game 7 in 2006. Tonight, the Mets can win and go to the 2015 World Series.
The Mets have four cracks at it. Obviously, each game the Mets don’t do it, the more nervous you’ll be. Don’t think about that. Just focus on tonight. There should be nothing but enthusiasm for tonight’s game. It’s alright to plan your celebration. I’m waking my son for the final out. Once it’s recorded, I’m talking to my Dad and brother. I’ll text my cousins as well.
We’ve been through all of this together. The ups and downs. We have waited for this day, not for nine years. I’ve waited for this all my life. You have too. Enjoy it.
LETS GO METS!
Nothing can make a team look bad like great pitching. Nothing can take a red hot team to their knees like great pitching. As anticipated, the Mets have had great pitching. Here’s how the Mets starters have performed:
Matt Harvey 7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
Noah Syndergaard 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
Jacob deGrom 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
It’s the reason why the Cubs have been shut down thus far. This is the same Cubs team that scored 20 runs in a 3-1 win over the Cardinals in the Division Series. The Cubs entered the playoffs winning eight in a row before taking out the Pirates in the Wild Card Game.
The Cubs back are against the wall, and they get a slight break tonight with Steven Matz. We’re going to see what the Cubs are made of tonight. I expect them to bring their best.
I still expect the Mets to win.
With the Mets floundering offensively earlier in the season, we were repeatedly told by the front office Michael Conforto wasn’t ready. Then Michael Cuddyer got hurt. Finally, the Mets had no choice but to call up Conforto. The Mets couldn’t send him back down.
It turns out Conforto was ready, and he was better than advertised. In his rookie season, he hit .270/.335/.506 with 14 doubles, nine homeruns, and 26 RBIs. We were told he was weak defensively, but that turned out to be wrong:
The Mets entered the playoffs facing a number of lefties in the NLDS. He sat in Game One against Clayton Kershaw because this year he is a platoon player. He finally got to play in Game Two, and he gets to face Zack Greinke, who is a Cy Young candidate. No problem:
Last night, he comes up in a big spot and strikes out:
Even when he strikes out something good happens. Turns out he was ready. Turns out he was better than we thought. Right now, he can do no wrong.
My favorite part of the postseason so far has been the Mets on the verge of going to the World Series. My favorite off the field part has been the David Wright–Jacob deGrom–Daniel Murphy postgame press conferences.
After Game One of the NLDS, we got “Yowsa!”
They were put together again last night and more hijinx ensued:
— SNY (@SNYtv) October 21, 2015
deGrom fixes murphys mic pic.twitter.com/o9PSS734hg
— jenny ? (@AHotMetss) October 21, 2015
#DavidWright says Daniel Murphy has been ridiculous. #MetsWIN #Mets #LGM pic.twitter.com/nIHYwMnPYd
— New York Mets (@Mets) October 21, 2015
Wright, deGrom and Murphy after the game https://t.co/6nE01Idlmo pic.twitter.com/UYQDV6umc2
— SNY (@SNYtv) October 21, 2015
There were more, but not all have been screen capped. I love seeing this team loose when they’re on the verge of the World Series. The pressures not getting to them and that’s why they’re winning.
I can’t wait to see another press conference with these three because it’s been fun. More importantly, it means something good has happened again.
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.
Normally, if I said to you there was a run scored on an out, you’d assume a fielder’s choice or a sacrifice fly. You’d see the occasional suicide squeeze. In this strange postseason where you don’t have to touch a base to be safe and Daniel Murphy became Babe Ruth, the Mets scored the go-ahead run on a two out strikeout.
In the sixth, Yoenis Cespedes lead off with a single, and he moved to second on a Lucas Duda sac bunt. I thought he was going for a hit against the shift, but they awarded him with a sac bunt. Cespedes would steal third. Michael Conforto came up with two outs and would strike out:
.@ynscspds and @mconforto8 proved three strikes doesn't necessarily mean you're out: https://t.co/Jj12nYEGnV pic.twitter.com/9jj0tMhPzW
— Cut4 (@Cut4) October 21, 2015
Then the inning got strange. Wilmer Flores went the other way and hit a sinking line drive to right. It went under the glove of Jorge Soler. Conforto was already around third by the time the ball disappeared in the ivy.
The common joke all over the place was Bartolo Colon could’ve scored on the play if he hit it. However, because of ground rules written in 1912, it was ruled a groundrule double. No runs scored. Conforto to third and Flores to second. They would be stranded, but the Mets escaped with a 3-2 lead.
That lead would expand in the seventh. Cespedes knocked in David Wright, who had a great game, with a single off of Kyle Schwarber‘s glove. For the second time this series, Schwarber’s inexperience in the outfield cost the Cubs a run. Later in the inning, Murphy would score on a Duda groundout.
On the mound, Jacob deGrom finally had a good start in Wrigley Field. His final line was 7.0 innings, two earned, one walk, and seven strikeouts. Tyler Clippard held down the eighth, and well Jeurys Familia got the save again.
In other news, we care about from this game, Murphy did this in the third inning:
He’s now the Mets all time and single postseason homerun leader with six. He also tied a major league record by hitting a homerun in five straight postseason games.
Wright was terrific. He went 3-4 with two runs, a walk, and a double. Duda snapped out of his funk a bit by going 1-3 with an RBI and no strikeouts. There something else I’m forgetting.
Oh yeah, after the 5-2 win, the Mets are now one win away from the World Series. I can’t believe it. I can’t wait for tomorrow.
As a Mets fan, I’ve become accustomed to losing. As a Knicks fan, I’ve come to expect that my team will never win a championship in my lifetime. It’s why you may think I’d sympathize with Chicago Cubs fans. I don’t. This is the reason why:
First off, I need to mention Moises Alou acted like a petulant child there. His actions more than Bartman’s set the tone for the rest of the game. Seriously, if Alou gets annoyed and walks away rather than throwing a tantrum, the Cubs might not have been as tense.
Instead, the inning, game, and series fell apart. While there are theories whether Alou could’ve caught the ball (he couldn’t), Mark Prior walked Luis Castillo. By the way, Prior was gassed, but Dusty Baker let him start the inning and pitch until Prior allowed a run. The normally sure-handed Alex Gonzalez let a double play ball go between his legs. After all was said and done, a 3-0 lead became an 8-3 deficit.
The Cubs would lose in Game Seven despite having a 5-3 lead with Kerry Wood on the mound. The Cubs blew a 3-1 series lead. They blew leads in Games Six and Seven. So who was to blame? The Billy Goat? Mrs. O’Leary’s cow? Nope. They blamed Steve Bartman.
The Billy Goat Curse is fun. It’s part of baseball lore. However, the Billy Goat never harmed anyone or was harmed. Steve Bartman is a human being who wasn’t treated as well as a goat.
Bartman had to be removed from Wrigley Field that night because he was being pelted with garbage. He received hate mail and death threats. His home needed police protection. They sold shirts with a noose around his likeness. He’s never been able to go back to Wrigley (until maybe now). They did this to a diehard Cubs fan, who was one of several people trying to grab that ball. He was the unlucky one.
If this is his how Cubs fans treat one of their own, they don’t deserve to see their team win a World Series . . . let alone this NLCS.