I just finished reading an article on another site that said last night proved the Mets “are a good team” and “belong on this stage.”
Gee, that’s weird… I thought the fact the Mets spent 3 1/2 months in first place and another 2 1/2 months within ear shot of first place was proof enough that they were a great team and not just a good one.
Gee, that’s strange… I thought the fact that they won 90 games and had a .645 winning percentage from July 30 until the end of the season and finished with a 7 game lead over the consensus choice for this year’s World Series champs was ample proof they deserved to be on the playoffs stage.
I guess that’s just me, and I’m biased because I’ve loved this team from the word go and suggested in March that everyone ditch the Wild Card talk because the Mets can win the division and beat the Washington Nationals this season.
When the Nats decided they could do without Adam LaRoche and Tyler Clippard, I wrote, “I could just kiss Mike Rizzo. I think we just got an invitation to the top spot in the NL East.”
But forget all that, it’s ancient news at this point and let’s instead relish the magic of last night’s 3-1 victory over Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
What we witnessed was a pitching duel that was written in the stars… and one for the ages. An epic battle between two of the game’s best that ended with the younger of the two warriors coming out on top. Total DeGromination.
It was the kind of pitching matchup we hoped for and neither Kershaw or deGrom disappointed. But this is a Mets world and everyone else is just living in it. In a word, I would have to describe deGrom’s performance as scintillating. With every one of his 13 strikeouts it felt like he was driving another nail into the Dodgers’ coffin and there was no escaping for Los Angeles this time.
Remember yesterday, when I said it was probably a bad idea to have all those lefty hitters in the lineup against Kershaw, but added that somehow they’ll end up looking like brilliant moves? In any other alternate universe we probably lose this game, but as I keep saying again and again – the planets have aligned themselves for the Mets this season and no mater what, they can do no wrong. This is a team of destiny.
When you awoke this morning, you had a big smile on your face and thought nothing was going to wipe it away today… Didn’t you? You had some extra bounce to your step and even though you barely got enough sleep over the night, you are wide-eyed, full of pep, and ready to go. “What’s for breakfast, I’m starved!”
For some of you, you opened your front door to see the newspaper on your doormat with a photo of Jacob deGrom or David Wright and the word “AMAZIN!” splattered on the front page in big bold letters. “This is going to be a wonderful day,” you thought as you looked around to see if any of your Yankee fan neighbors were up and about, smirking all the while. “Hee, hee, hee…” Come on, admit it…
You’ve loved and rooted for this Mets team all year long, but this… this amazing tingling sensation… this feeling of satisfaction and validation… this is very different.
It’s an indescribable heart-warming emotion and all your senses are in hyper mode… It’s a feeling of nirvana that goes far beyond what you felt during that three-homer game by Kirk Nieuwenhuis, or that walk-off home run by Wilmer Flores, or that 16-run outburst against the Philadelphia Phillies, or that three-game sweep in DC, or that clincher in Cincinnati.
This is a thousand times more incredible… It’s unlike anything you’ve ever felt about the Mets in almost a decade. The team we love is in the playoffs my friends, and last night we fired off a shot heard ’round the world of baseball. And all you could think was, “One down, ten to go!”
You can add last night to our long list of magical and memorable Mets moments. It is now a part of Mets lore. Today is going to be an awesome day for Mets fans, because last night was truly some kind of wonderful. Enjoy the moment. Savor it. We earned it.
