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.
Over the past seven years, Jon Niese hasn’t become the pitcher we all thought he could be. The main reason is that he’s his own worst enemy. Whenever something went wrong, he would get angry and fall apart. It would lead to big innings. It made me believe he might not be good under pressure.
It turns out I might be wrong. So far this postseason, when things are the most pressure packed, Niese has been good. The issue all along might not have been the pressure but his anger. So far this postseason, he’s already got two big outs.
In Game Two of the NLDS, he came in with a runner in scoring position to face Andre Ethier (Justin Ruggiano pinch hit for him). In that horrendous inning, Niese was the only one who could get the big out to keep the Mets within striking distance. In an inning where everything went wrong, Niese was the one who kept his composure.
In Game Two of the NLCS, he came in during another pressure packed situation. Niese came on for Noah Syndergaard in the sixth inning. Anthony Rizzo stepped up to the plate. Niese struck him out on a full count preserving the 4-1 lead. For the second time in the postseason, Niese came into a pressure situation and came up big:
At least for the playoffs, Niese may be the LOOGY the Mets have sought all year. I give Niese credit for asking for the role. He’s going to be needed with Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber in this series. Rizzo is now only 2-18 with one huge strikeout against him. Schwarber is hitting .143/.213/.268 against lefties.
The Mets need Niese. They need him against lefties. They need him more now that he’s good under pressure.
I’m sure everyone remembers that dirty play by a coward named Chase Utley. In case you didn’t, here it is again:
Sure enough, there would be people who defended Utley even with Ruben Tejada suffering a broken leg. The best response came from Justin Upton:
If that was a superstar shortstop we would have a Tulo Rule being enforced tomorrow
— Justin Upton (@JUST_JUP) October 11, 2015
Did we hear outrage over the play? Yes. However, there was no outrage over the umpiring. This crew botched the play entirely. They missed Tejada missing second base. They missed Utley interfering with Tejada, which would’ve resulted in an inning ending double play. They also missed Tejada trying to throw the ball, which would’ve made it a non-reviewable neighborhood play.
Did anyone call to look into the umpiring? No, of course not. However, when this happens . . .
. . . people call for an investigation into the umpires.
MLB needs to look into ejection of Troy Tulowitzki and respond appropriately, with precedent in mind. https://t.co/rEYcVZX50V Notes/links.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 20, 2015
Justin Upton was right. All it took was for something to happen to Tulo instead of Tejada for someone to take notice the umpires have been terrible.
It’s no secret that Lucas Duda is struggling at the plate. Instead of sticking with him, like the Mets have with David Wright, the team is actively considering benching Duda in favor of Kelly Johnson against righties. I’m baffled.
Yes, Duda hasn’t been good, but neither has Johnson. He’s gone 1-4 with two strikeouts in his pinch hitting attempts with two strikeouts. His career triple slash line in the postseason is .182/.250/.364 with no RBIs. I know Duda hasn’t been great, but it’s not like Johnson is even a good option.
Furthermore, let’s look at Johnson’s numbers against the Cubs starters:
Jon Lester 1-15 with one RBI, two walks, and four strikeouts.
Jake Arrieta 0-6 with three walks and four strikeouts.
Kyle Hendricks 1-2 with one RBI and one strikeout
Jason Hammel 9-30 with one double, two homeruns, six RBIs, one walk, and 10 strikeouts.
Looking over these numbers, you can only justify starting him against Hammel. I’m discounting the Hendricks stats to an extent because it’s only been three plate appearances. Besides Hammel, Johnson has no place in the starting lineup. He isn’t the hitter Duda is, and he’s historically been a poor postseason performer.
The Mets need to get Duda going. With the weather blowing out in Wrigley Field, it should be ripe for Duda to breakout. He better because Kelly Johnson isn’t the answer.
There may or may not be a good reason, but sometimes it doesn’t work for you in a particular place. I remember it was that way for Henrik Lundqvist in Montreal. He had not won there in over five years. Sure enough, he won the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals in Montreal en route to winning the series in six.
As a Mets/Rangers fan, I found this to be informative. It shows that no matter what happens in the regular season, the best players raise their games in the postseason. It doesn’t matter if it’s Nrw York, Montreal, or even Chicago. Yes, Chicago because it’s Jacob deGrom‘s Montreal.
In his two starts in Wrigley Field, he’s been terrible. He’s 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA and a 1.700 WHIP. In his career, deGrom is 23-14 with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.047 WHIP. deGrom has struck out 7.2 batters per nine in Wrigley as compared to his 9.5 career numbers. He’s allowed a triple slash line of .263/.383/.553 in Wrigley compared to his career numbers of .220/.269/.321. It’s the reason why his innings per start has dropped from his career average of 6.1 innings per start to 5.0 in Wrigley.
These are ugly numbers. They promise to get uglier with the current conditions in Wrigley. We know that when the wind is blowing out in Wrigley, it can get ugly for pitchers. So, how do you neutralize batters in conditions primed for hitters? Strikeouts.
This year deGrom has struck out 9.7 per nine. In Game One of the NLDS, he was pumped up, and he struck out 13. Overall, he averaging 13.8 strikeouts per nine this postseason. It’s a big reason he’s only allowed two earned runs in the deciding Game Five when he had nothing. When you can strike batters out, you can always get out of a tough inning. deGrom did that time and again in Game Five.
Overall, I’ve seen it happen. How a player performs doesn’t depend on the venue, it depends on the player. deGrom is special, and he will special again tonight. Wrigley will finally be friendly to him.
The Mets biggest advantage this postseason is the incredible depth of their starting pitching. While we talk about the Dodgers and Cubs duos, the Mets are trotting out three aces. It worked to their advantage in the NLDS with Matt Harvey going up against Brett Anderson. Now, it’s Jacob deGrom against Kyle Hendricks.
The Mets need to take advantage of this pitching matchup. Yes, the Mets have a 2-0 lead. However, as we’ve seen time and again, you don’t want to let a team back in a series. Beating deGrom would only further energize the Cubs. After that, the Cubs get to face a still rusty Steven Matz (I wasn’t as impressed as everyone) and Matt Harvey has a tricep issue. This is how teams that are on the mat get back into a series.
Wrigley should be crazy. The weather should be warmer which will heat up the offenses. Although, I’m not sure how Daniel Murphy could get any hotter. The only thing that can cool down the Cubs bats is another terrific deGrom performance. As he’s shown, he doesn’t even need his A, B, or C game to win. He just needs to bring his guys and guile.
The Mets need it because they need deGrom to get them deWin.
Before the NLDS, I detailed how much I hated the Dodgers. I didn’t do the same with the Cubs because frankly I don’t feel much animosity towards them.
Sure, I believe the Mets true rivals reside in the NL Central. If the Mets were facing the Cardinals, I think I would be writing an anti-Cardinals post that would be over by Opening Day 2017. I’ve ready shared my take on the Pirates. I guess I’ve never had reason to hate the Cubs.
Yes, I know the Cubs were the Mets earliest rival. Of all the teams in existence in 1962, the Mets have performed best against them. I’m aware of the history of 1969:
However, we know the 1969 story ends with the Mets winning the World Series. Besides, 1969 was before my time. So was Rick Sutcliffe and the 1984 Cubs. I vividly remember the 1998 season, but I always put that on Mel Rojas more than anything (although he did come from the Cubs).
Also, I happen to like the city despite its inferior pizza and hotdogs. My wife took me to Wrigley for my 30th birthday. It was a great trip. I got to meet Omar Minaya. I did the touristy stuff like the Chicago Museum of Art:
Hat tip Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Then, we finally made the pilgrimage to Wrigley Field. There were a lot of Mets fans at the game. Mets fans and Cubs fans were commiserating and joking about how both teams were terrible. We can now commiserate on how both teams are great. Everyone should sit in the bleachers once, and I’m happy I did before the renovations:
So overall, no, I don’t hate the Cubs. If this series starts to go differently, I might. However, I doubt it’ll happen. The Cubs are cursed, whether it’s a Billy Goat or something else. As a result, the Mets will advance past them en route to the World Series . . . just like 1969. When and if that happens, at least they have a place to drown their sorrows.
By the way, great cheezborgers there.