Some of the greatest moments in baseball have come from unlikely heroes.
Kirk Gibson hitting a home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series with two bum legs to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a dramatic win. Steve Pearce playing an integral part in the 2018 Boston Red Sox’s World Series season. Tony Wolters‘ clutch 13th inning go-ahead RBI in the 2018 National League Wild Card Game, just to name a few.
While the Mets aren’t quite there yet this year, the games they have pulled off the last two nights against the Washington Nationals have felt like October ball.
And the reason I bring up unlikely heroes, is because in the bottom of the eighth inning of Saturday night’s game, contact hitter/glove first infielder Luis Guillorme went yard to tie the game up at 3-3. New York would ultimately go on to win 4-3 after the red hot J.D. Davis drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
There’s no doubt that New York has positioned themselves for a stretch run backed with offensive big guns like the aforementioned Davis, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto, but when things are going right and there’s that feeling (you know which one, it’s an unmistakably great one!) it rubs off on the other players.
It’s like on Sept. 8, 2015 when outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis went deep off Jonathan Papelbon against the same Nationals to propel the Mets to a come from behind 8-7 victory.
For the Mets, Guillorme’s home run really struck a chord with me. The first thought that popped in my head was, “Jeez. If someone like Guillorme is going deep in the clutch, we have something special brewing here.”
It’s beautiful.
Each guy has a role and they’re doing what they can to keep the carousel going. One step at a time. A hit here, a hit there and boom, they’re back in it. Now they’re ahead, and then another win in the books.
It was the same thing in 2015, and whether we see that same run again, who knows. But this team is sure as hell ain’t going down without a fight.
In my car on Friday night, listening to WFAN after the Mets’ dramatic comeback win (part one) against the Nationals, Steve Somers said something along the lines of, “Even when the Mets were down and out, they never stopped believing in themselves. They never thought they couldn’t win.”
Can I say the same? I’d be lying to you if I said yes. I think most of us can. But I’m glad I was wrong, and I’m glad to be watching meaningful games in August. Let’s ride this train until we can’t anymore.
And from Luis Guillorme to all of us: Don’t stop believing!
