I couldn’t resist digging up this vintage photo of the scoreboard at Shea Stadium when the Mets climbed into first place for the first time in the history of the franchise in 1969.
While the Mets have spent a good chunk of time in first place already this season, it gravitated into a month-long period where faith in the team and confidence began to evaporate.
Suddenly we were having way too many low-scoring affairs that began to chip away at all the good vibes that were amassed during that 11-game winning streak.
The offense was struggling mightily, and one great pitching performance after another was being squandered until soon the Washington Nationals zoomed right past us and we fell out of first place.
Even the manager Terry Collins was at a loss for words and admitted that he had run out of ideas and options.
Last night, felt pretty symbolic to me. It wasn’t just that we felt the tide changing again, but this time we all believed in what we were seeing and also that we could sustain it based mostly on all the acquisitions of the past six days.
Here at MMO, we were on top of it all this weekend. We had our finger on the pulse of the team and of course on the pulse of an exuberant and excited fanbase.
It was remarkable to see what transpired this weekend and particularly on Sunday, when we completed the sweep and climbed back into a virtual tie for first place with the Nats.
This was not your garden-variety three-game sweep, this was a message that was bold and in your face. I knew it, the team knew it, the fans knew it, and thanks to ESPN the whole country knows it too now.
“Speaking from experience, this is not a fan base you want to wake up,” ESPN’s Curt Schilling said last night as a jacked-up and loudly enthusiastic crowd at Citi Field screamed, “We want first place! We want first place!” in deafening unison.
I know the old saying goes what a difference a day makes. But here in Flushing it was more like what a difference a weekend makes.
This weekend was a game changer. And who knows, it may even be the turning point to what could potentially become a great, memorable and historic season if we go all the way.
The Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals for the first time since May of 2009, and in doing so they catapulted themselves into a virtual tie with the Nats for first place in the NL East. Yes, that much is true. But this time it felt so different.
With the sweep, the Mets sent the Nationals a clear and convincing message that they are for real, and that they are not going away anytime soon.
The fact that all three games had a playoffs feel to them was not lost on the fans or the players. And you can credit the New York Mets fan base for creating that electric environment that fed what transpired.
“The electricity in the ballpark during that inning was unbelievable,” Terry Collins said about the Mets third inning.
“The energy they bring to the ballpark is unbelievable. If we keep this up they are going to help energize us.”
“That’s probably as close to a playoff atmosphere as we’ve had in a while,” Bobby Parnell said.
“It reminded me a lot of Shea in ’06 and ’07 and ’08–just the rowdiness,” David Wright said. “There’s a buzz that hasn’t quite been there.”
“It’s so much fun to be a Met right now,” Noah Syndergaard added.
This was such a fun weekend. It invoked memories and emotions that had been dead and buried for far too long.
Suddenly all of us are revived again and it was so amazing to see everybody bonding together and become one voice – a voice that I said on Saturday was “loud and proud.” I love this.
And it wasn’t even what was happening at Citi Field that was remarkable to me. Right here on this site I saw bitter rivals burying the hatchet and celebrating and relishing the moment together. It was really good to see and I hope it lasts.
But overall, all of our hopes and all of our feelings for this team that we all love, where resuscitated in such a grand and epic way this weekend.
I am so proud to see how all of us have come together in support of this team and how we’ve all put aside any prejudices or doubts to say in one magnanimous voice for the first time in a long time, Ya Gotta Believe!
