For Mets, One Fateful Pitch Was Two Years in the Making

it was a spectacular home run.

and when he hit it, i said, kc is going to win this series, and very
possibly in 4.

ok. it took 5 .
that's how massive that home run was. huge mistake by familia.

I've never noticed an NYT repy section before. That's great. Thanks!

Alex Gordon just happens to feast on fastballs. I'm not confident that he wouldn't have done the same damage to a not-so-quick pitch from Familia.

He should quickly retire the "quick pitch." His stuff is more than good enough without it.

LaTroy Hawkins was an amazing pitcher. He not only had very good stuff, he threw strikes, didn't walk many and fielded his position well, pitching in MLB until he was 42 years old. Not many players can make that claim.

Yeah, the Royals spanked the Mets pretty good. But there were a few bright spots. The Mets had a lead in every game and took a lead into the ninth inning in the two extra-games. Just tip your hat to KC and learn the tough lessons for next year. Remember that even Rocky lost his first fight to Apollo Creed. :-)

It was Harvey's game to win or lose. It was poor pitch selection by him or the Mets pitching game plan on how to pitch to the Royal hitters in the beginning of the game who eventually tied it in the 6th that set the stage for Familia later on.

Great article. Would d'Arnaud have called for the pitch, or was it all Familia's idea? I haven't seen any commentary on that.

Interesting to know Familia had thrown it to the previous batter, Perez. Possibly it would have been a good idea to try it on Gordon, even with the toe-tap, if he hadn't just shown he had it. Still, with the count 0-2, it's pretty incredible Gordon was able to park it over the fence in dead center even if he was alert to the pitch. Collins's comments are typical of him: conventional wisdom. Same with Rodriguez. Well, it was a great post-season--lots of heroic moments; so what if they didn't turn out to be Mets highlight reel material? Rooting for a team gets you into the ballpark, from there it's up to you to make of the experience what you will.

Seriously? It was one pitch. The Mets got crushed 4-1 in front of their home crowd. The Royals were the better team. period.

Collins bringing in Familia with a huge lead in the ninth inning in Game 3 sent a message to all; this pitcher needs his confidence boosted. What kind of a message is that, to the rest of his teammates who play behind him and also have to score runs? What kind of a message does that send to the Royals, who have appeared to put a crack in the Mets last inning invincibility? It was Collins who needed his confidence boosted more than anyone. The collective memory of the first four mediocre months of the season had sneaked into the clubhouse. Perhaps the Cespedes error on the very first pitch, along with his limits at the plate and game adaptability revealed, set the stage in Collins's mind, that this team couldn't erase a collective identity with a trade or two.

Fascinating story that I couldn't put down...but there's only one (1) tiny quote of four (4) words from Familia about the entire incident, pre- or post-pitch. It is much more of a Hawkins-told tale than Familia's. Did Familia refuse to cooperate? If so, why? And if so, why is this not made clear in the piece? Very strange omission, or appearance of one anyway, in an otherwise, terrific behind-the-scenes tale.

To me the most interesting part of the story is that Gordon's home run was the only 'over the wall' home run of the series. KC won in 5 games and only hit one home run. That is an example of how KC was the better team. They could win without having to homer. They could win when being behind late in the game. They clearly had many more tools and options than the Mets. Speed, defense, execution (one pitcher, who never has to hit because of the DH, laid down a perfect sac bunt, and was almost safe at first, the bunt was so good), led to the better team winning. Who needs tricks when they have all that?

Having just arrived at the last stage of grief, Acceptance, I had to read this to open the wound once more. It's what we Mets fans do. The gut wrenching I felt echoed the Scioscia home run in 1988 when Doc Gooden surrendered the tying run and the Mets could not recover through many extra innings and for the rest of the series.
Still, we haven't got time for the pain, but if only......

Equating the 2015 Series where the Mets were outplayed in defense, hitting, baserunning and oh yes bullpen pitching with poor Bill Buckner (as if Boston losing the 86 WS was his fault...decidedly not) is not only the mark of some Yankees fans in these comments but at least one commenter whom I know is a Mets fan. Choking is when you have it in your hands and you give it away. The Mets had 3 hits at the end of 9 innings in Game 5, their last gasp to at least bring the WS back to KC. It wasn't Game 7, people. When you lose one game after another and then die in 5 games you were not close.
At the start of 2015 the Mets hoped to make the playoffs. Ask the Dodgers and Cubs whether they did OK for their first winning season since 2008.

What goes around comes around...

Billy Buck wishes the Mets a pleasant winter.

Another Met World Series loss that will burn in infamy.

We will all take this Met horror show to our graves.

Mets fans, lets face it, the incredible Karma of "there is a bouncing ball to Buckner..." has come back to even things out, and perhaps will continue to even out against the Mets for another 86 years...

This is like reading about the Cubs. Get over yourselves Mets fans; your team choked. Just like the Cubs choked against the Mets! Your players didn't hit and they couldn't catch and the pitching wasn't as dominant as you thought. As a White Sox fan, I advise you to simply revel in spanking the Cubs, common though it may seem.

The last time a gimmick pitch was used in A World Series was in 1975, when the Red Sox's Bill Lee threw an Eephus pitch to Tony Pérez. Perez hit a two-run home run. Gimmicks work better when the batter isn't concentrating. Batters tend to concentrate during the World Series.

Jeurys Familia began the year behind Jenrry Mejia in the Mets bullpen. After Mejia was suspended by MLB on July 29, Jeurys was thrust into the closer spot.

Jeurys finished the regular season with the following statistics:
76 Games (1st in MLB)
78 Innings (1st in MLB)
43 Saves (3rd in MLB)
1.85 ERA (4th in MLB)

Jeurys pitched brilliantly in the NLDS and NLCS:
8 Games
8 Games Finished
5 Saves
0.00 ERA

Jeurys provided major contributions in 2015 as the Mets rallyed from a 52-50 record in late July to winning almost 2 out of 3 for the remainder of the season 38-22, clinching the Division Championship. His lights out postseason closing anchored the team during a super postseason run, winning two series against strong Dodgers and Cubs teams on the way to clinching the National League pennant.

In the World Series, the Mets played tough against a battle-hardened Royals team. The Royals were not to be denied after losing a heartbreaker game 7 in the 2014 WS.

Thanks Jeurys for a great 2015. Have a great winter break - you've earned it !!

See you in the spring. LETS GO METS !!

Get over it. One run in the first game of the series is hardly determinative. You should be writing about the Kansas City Royals tenacious refusal to ever be "deflated," which is a key to their true championship.

Time for the young Mets to absorb their lessons and come back stronger, just like the Royals last season

The pitch that was fatefully deadly was the first one of the Series which Cespedes misplaced, in part by not taking charge as a center fielder should, for an inside the park HR.

The problem with this quick pitcher was its location with the count 0-2. And there were many other 0-2 counts were Met pitchers gave up hits on the next pitch (Matz twice in successive innings which led to 2 runs in Game 4) or walks (Clippard, 8th inning Game 4) or Harvey (9th inning Game 5). I realize every pitch can't be perfect, but location and getting outs after 0-2 are key.

Sometimes you bite the bear. Sometimes the bear bites you...

Time to relax and think about next year.