may the shade of scrooge o'malley be forced to watch, wherever he/it is.
Let's not forget that the Mets had two lead-off doubles and one lead-off triple and couldn't get any of them home. I.e., still instructional work to be done.
Glad to read that I wasn't the only one to notice those wasted lead-off extra base hits . In all the cheering for the win, they had seemed to be overlooked. There's bound to be a time when such an occurrence will come back to bite ya'. Can't always depend on the long ball and a score of runs to bail you out! Some games to come might require scratched for runs. GO METS
Great to see the Mets getting the attention in the Times. All season long, and every season, the Yanks are the preferred team in your sports section and it shows. The bias even in the highlighted articles online never seems to include the Mets.
Now with the season over for the Yanks, and the mood of NY uplifted by the Mets success, let's yell hooray for the Mets.
The real story again, just like in 1969, and 1986 is You
Gotta Believe as the unheralded heroes of the past like Al Weis, Ron Swoboda, Donn Clendenon, provided that spark, and now it's Daniel Murphy and Wilmer Flores doing their part. 'Senor Smoke' from the bullpen is a fine finisher as well.
Now with the season over for the Yanks, and the mood of NY uplifted by the Mets success, let's yell hooray for the Mets.
The real story again, just like in 1969, and 1986 is You
Gotta Believe as the unheralded heroes of the past like Al Weis, Ron Swoboda, Donn Clendenon, provided that spark, and now it's Daniel Murphy and Wilmer Flores doing their part. 'Senor Smoke' from the bullpen is a fine finisher as well.
7
What a great piece of writing, "like a shark trolling warm waters with a half-open mouth.." Love it!
10
I know that the NFL has sold it's "violence as entertainment" package to America just about as successfully as humanly possible. I know that the NBA discovered that fans love thundering dunks and athletes preening for any camera anywhere.
But neither one comes close to the athleticism required to put a bat on a ball coming at you at 95 MPH with late movement and actually hitting it somewhere. Hard.
Or the thought that the pitcher and catcher put into deciding what spin and speed to throw the projectile at.
Or the grace and athleticism of MLB elite outfielders hauling in liners that you knew were going to find the gap as soon as they left the bat. To say nothing of the ordinary ballet we know as great double plays!
Post season baseball is in a class of its own every fall. It creates moments that imbed themselves in time in such a way as they are never to be forgotten. They become part of American culture.
That the Mets are taking their place among the mighty this October is somehow fitting. Let the World Series bring out the best in both teams!
Play ball!
But neither one comes close to the athleticism required to put a bat on a ball coming at you at 95 MPH with late movement and actually hitting it somewhere. Hard.
Or the thought that the pitcher and catcher put into deciding what spin and speed to throw the projectile at.
Or the grace and athleticism of MLB elite outfielders hauling in liners that you knew were going to find the gap as soon as they left the bat. To say nothing of the ordinary ballet we know as great double plays!
Post season baseball is in a class of its own every fall. It creates moments that imbed themselves in time in such a way as they are never to be forgotten. They become part of American culture.
That the Mets are taking their place among the mighty this October is somehow fitting. Let the World Series bring out the best in both teams!
Play ball!
27
Not to mention the overall beauty of the game itself. The setting, the dimensions, the clarity of the play, the absence of a clock, the arc of the season from spring to fall.
There's nothing like baseball. There's no baseball like October baseball. And there's nothing like October baseball when your team is in it. I'm hesitant to blink, lest it be over, and the long, dark season of waiting commences once again.
There's nothing like baseball. There's no baseball like October baseball. And there's nothing like October baseball when your team is in it. I'm hesitant to blink, lest it be over, and the long, dark season of waiting commences once again.
17
Two posts above are positively Angelian: elegantly written baseball prose. Ya done Bart Giamatti proud!
4
@ jr - you are a poet, sir - what a terrific and perfectly accurate statement regarding this crazy, wonderful game.
1
The New York Metropolitans do not deserve to be the National League Champions headed towards another World Series. Like their fellow team from the New Babylon -Yankees-they have made an obvious pact with demonic devilish supernatural forces. There is no other natural law MLB explanation for surpassing the Cards, Pirates, Dodgers and Cubs. The consequences of a Mets victory are set forth in Revelation 6:7-8 aka "Behold a pale horse."
5
Incorrect Blackmamba - Baseball, especially at this time of the year, has its own natural law and its it's called "pitching."
7
Mamba, I can understand your Illinois bitterness, but the karma that launched this run lues with the team at the foot of your division, the Brew Crew.
Before the teade deadline, the Mets had agreed to trade Wilmer Flores and young Zack Wheeler (rehabbing Tommy John surgery, natch) for Carlos Gomez. Fans at Citi Field told Flores when he was in the on deck circle that he had been traded. Flores cried, both on the bench, and in the field. It was the Brewers who backed out of the trade, sending Gomez to the Astros, instead. A day later, Flores hit a walk off home run, Sandy Alderson got a call from Wheeler asking NOT to be traded, and he went to plan B and got Cespedes from the Tiggers for other prospects, not yet major league ready. The rest, as they say, is history. If ever there was confirmation of the old saw "sometimes the best trades are the ones you DON'T make," this was it. Flores was signed to the Mets at 16, and after struggling, both offensively and defensively, came good. In this case, not a pale horse, but the ownership as a blind squirrel stumbling across the world's biggest cache of acorns.
Before the teade deadline, the Mets had agreed to trade Wilmer Flores and young Zack Wheeler (rehabbing Tommy John surgery, natch) for Carlos Gomez. Fans at Citi Field told Flores when he was in the on deck circle that he had been traded. Flores cried, both on the bench, and in the field. It was the Brewers who backed out of the trade, sending Gomez to the Astros, instead. A day later, Flores hit a walk off home run, Sandy Alderson got a call from Wheeler asking NOT to be traded, and he went to plan B and got Cespedes from the Tiggers for other prospects, not yet major league ready. The rest, as they say, is history. If ever there was confirmation of the old saw "sometimes the best trades are the ones you DON'T make," this was it. Flores was signed to the Mets at 16, and after struggling, both offensively and defensively, came good. In this case, not a pale horse, but the ownership as a blind squirrel stumbling across the world's biggest cache of acorns.
4
Oh, blackmamba. Enough with the superstition and calling in biblical bogeymen. It's really quite raional. The Mets have been on a ride since the Utley play, which the baseball gods frowned upon, and therefore anointed the Queensmen.
2
Speaking of torment, as a lifelong Met fan (since '62), it's always been a key element of my fan experience. The way the Mets methodically dismantled the Cubs in this series, there was a noted absence of meaningful torment for me here. It was almost too easy. This is confusing to me. You're right, Michael. It's almost as if, for the moment at least, we've become the dreaded Yankees.
16
True. The most nail biting moment was on Tuesday when the Cubs tied it a few ties before the Mets ran away with it in the end. The Mets showed drive and confidence against the Dodgers and had a few games there when they appeared to be a league of their own. After winning that series they took on Chicago with this incredible confidence that I have never seen from them before. they hit, they pitched, the played defense. They hardly ever made it look too hard. Hopefully they can carry that over the weekend and into the series. but for now, i'm a proud Mets fan. GO METS!!!!!!!!!!!!
2
Mr. Powell:
You can be proud of the Mets without dissing the New York Yankees. Until the Metropolitans win 25 more World Series, they will always be in the Bronx Bombers' shadow. Sorry. Be proud, be happy, enjoy.
You can be proud of the Mets without dissing the New York Yankees. Until the Metropolitans win 25 more World Series, they will always be in the Bronx Bombers' shadow. Sorry. Be proud, be happy, enjoy.
1
The author's sole reference to the Yankees was complementary -- it favorably compared the Mets' the Yankees:
"In the past two weeks, it’s almost as if the Mets ... have become a bit like the Yankees of a decade back."
"In the past two weeks, it’s almost as if the Mets ... have become a bit like the Yankees of a decade back."
5
Mr. Powell you are a joy to read, especially under these glorious circumstances. It is very clear that your family, like mine, bleeds orange and blue. I hope we will have the pleasure of reading you throughout The World Series. Let's Go Mets!
15
As a Queens kid and Mets fan since 1962, I can unquestionably say this
is the most exciting time to be a Mets fan since 1985 and 1986
WOW!
is the most exciting time to be a Mets fan since 1985 and 1986
WOW!
13
So your not including the 69 team in your thinking? Hard to forget the u-gotta believe team as well.
2
He said "since 1985 and 1986". 1969 happened before that.
Holy Shazam, Batman !
The Mets are going to the World Series !
Gotham baseball at its finest.
The Mets are going to the World Series !
Gotham baseball at its finest.
11
You got their goat. Bàaaaaaaaaa!
Even after the trades and the call-ups, it was still hard to imagine this night. The Pirates swept the Mets in New York in August. And the Yankees took two of three in September, embarrassing the Mets after Matt Harvey was removed. The Mets looked outclassed by the Yankees that night.
And now this. All I can think of is Casey Stengel in 1969 saying over and over, "Amazing, amazing, amazing..." The Ole Perfesser knew whereof he spoke.
And now this. All I can think of is Casey Stengel in 1969 saying over and over, "Amazing, amazing, amazing..." The Ole Perfesser knew whereof he spoke.
11
Congratulations to the Cubs on an excellent, turning-point season for their long-suffering franchise. Other than the Mets, there is no other team I would rather see win it all. Cubs fans are every bit as passionate as Mets fans, and I felt a twang of heartache for them at the end there tonight.
But that twang didn't last long - somehow, some way, fate has decided that the New York Mets are the Champions of the National League. We've only been able to say that four times before tonight. So I'll say it again:
New York Mets.
Champions of the National League.
But that twang didn't last long - somehow, some way, fate has decided that the New York Mets are the Champions of the National League. We've only been able to say that four times before tonight. So I'll say it again:
New York Mets.
Champions of the National League.
36
Well said.
4
ffj, I completely agree! Well thought out, well meaning, and very well said!
Me thinks this is not the last time we will see the Mets and Cubs meet in the postseason. As a lifelong Mets fan living in Chicago for the past 18 years I look forward with great anticipation to future Octobers. But for now I look no further than this coming Tuesday! Lets go Mets!
3