The Mets? THE METS??? Really?
I didn’t see them coming. I had no idea these guys were this good. How come no one told me? “Yo, Mike,” a friend from New York could have texted me. “I don’t know if you know, but the Mets have a player named Daniel Murphy who has the combined strength of Superman and Thor. I thought you ought to know.”
Daniel who? Never heard of him. “I think Murphy might hit home runs for the Mets in six straight postseason games,” my imaginary friend could have told me. “Hahaha,” I could have texted back.
Guess what? He did. Daniel bleeping Murphy. Six homers in six games as the Mets marched right into the 2015 World Series with a bang and five more bangs. I thought only a New York Yankee could do this kind of Mr. October superhero stuff.
Oh, and that’s not all. “Yo, Mike,” my invisible Big Apple BFF could have added. “Mets also got a guy named Jacob deGrom with hair down to his knees and an arm that throws lightning bolts. And a guy named Noah Syndergaard with long blond hair they actually call Thor. I think he is actually a god.”
“LOL. LMAO. OMG. WTF,” I could have answered. “How many other Avengers you got there?”
I didn’t see what Met fans, Met media, even Met mascot Mr. Met and many more in the New York metropolitan region could see. That these guys were GOOD, and getting stronger every day.
Me? Oblivious, man. I have seen my share of Mets baseball. I was in the park on October 15, 1986, when the Mets beat the Houston Astros 7-6 in the Astrodome in 16 innings to take the National League pennant. I interviewed Keith Hernandez long before he helped Jerry Seinfeld move. I met Doc and Darryl and Mookie. I met lots of Mets, man.
I just didn’t think the 2015 ones would be much good.
2014: Mets record 79-83, end up 17 games out of first place. 2013: Mets 74-88 and 22 games out of first place. 2012: Mets 74-88 and 24 games out of first place.
Were the Mets a bad team? Ha, does Matthew McConaughey drive a Lincoln?
I barely gave them a second look when it got to be 2015:
OPENING DAY: I liked the Nationals (what pitching!), the Giants (three championships in five years!), the Tigers (great talent!), the Padres and Mariners and Red Sox and White Sox (great off-season moves!) and such.
MIDSEASON: I liked the Yankees (A-Rod is back!), the Twins (vastly improved!), the Rays and Orioles and Braves (all lurking!) and such.
OCTOBER: I liked most of the playoff makers. Cardinals (best record in baseball!), Pirates (next-best!), Royals (awesome all year!), Dodgers (best team money can buy!), Blue Jays (smokin’ hot!), Cubs (way overdue!), Rangers and Astros (O-for-Ever).
It’s anybody’s ballgame!
Hey, you forgot the Mets! Nah, not really. Fewest wins of the five NL playoff teams. Young pitchers, De Gumby and Cinderella, whatever their names are. David Wright, good bat. But hasn’t he been hurt? Matt Harvey, good arm. But hasn’t he been hurt? Curtis Granderson, good player, great guy. But the last couple of years, he hasn’t hit worth spit, has he?
Mets might be good NEXT year, I said. A great late July pickup, Yoenis Cespedes, he can carry a team. Watch out for this team NEXT year.
I didn’t know they would come to Dodger Stadium and defeat the Dodger stars. I didn’t know they would welcome the West Coasters to Citi Field by racking up 13 runs in one night. I didn’t know deGrom and Syndergaard would out-ace L.A.’s aces, or that Harvey, known to his fans as “The Dark Knight,” would silence L.A.’s bats, or that 2,000-year-old Bartolo Colon could still teach a thing or two to L.A.’s kids.
Too bad they had to play the Cubs next, I said. Cubs haven’t won a World Series since around the time Christopher Columbus discovered America or something like that. This is their year!
Then they did the part where they actually played the games. Mets win, Mets win, Mets win, Mets win. I believe this is known as telling the Windy City to go blow.
Mets, you amazed me. Daniel Murphy, I don’t know what kind of legal performance-enhancement stuff you’re on, Wheaties or spinach or what, but A-Rod says he’ll have whatever you’re having. You hit fastballs like it’s T-ball, man.
I mistakenly thought Wednesday night before Game 4 that the Cubs might win four in a row and shock the World Series and the world. Uh, no. Game 4 was over in about a minute and a half. The Mets got up so fast, I think TBS was still in the middle of a commercial for Cialis.
So, go Mets, I now say. You impress me. You remind me of the New York Yankees, except for this being, you know, THIS century, not last.
I won’t be a big fake and pretend to be a Mets believer now. I won’t even pick them to win the World Series now. You know what this means for the Mets, don’t you, Mets fans? It means they probably will.