An MMO Fan Shot by Brandon Butler
As I write this, I have to be very honest. Heading into the 2015 season, we heard loud and clear once again that “this was going to be the year we go from a rebuilding team to a title contender”. Sandy Alderson reiterated to the media once again that the Mets were going to “win 90 games”. We heard all of that jazz. But hearing that same old stuff copied and remanufactured again brought me absolutely no hope, no optimism, and nothing to really get all hyped up and excited about. And I know I was not alone in that regard.
We heard the same story at the beginning of 2014. The team thought they were going to contend, but we all knew they could not and would not, especially without Matt Harvey. It was the Washington Nationals who took the NL East Division without any sort of fight. And seeing how the Nationals signed Max Scherzer to a massive contract, it seemed as if they would hold the reigns of the National League East Division for years to come because they improved an already great team while the rest of the division continued to look absolutely weak.
But If there is one thing I’ve learned over the last several years, it’s that while you can speculate and predict baseball outcomes on paper, never forget that ultimately it is all settled on the diamond come game day.
To get on a nice roll during the beginning of the season for the Mets was nice. Winning 11 straight games was great to watch. But I still couldn’t believe the Mets were “title contenders” this year. Not by a long shot. Yes, the rotation was young, dominating and exciting, but I felt eventually they would run out of gas and struggle.
By the time July rolled around, I have all but given up on the Mets season. Especially in early July when the Mets were soundly beaten by a very good Chicago Cubs team. It didn’t seem as though the team was ever going to get out of the offensive funk they were in. Even if the rotation was on point and allowed the opposition to score two or less runs, the Mets’ offense squandered one stellar start after another. And if we grabbed a lead and the coughed it up, they couldn’t salvage a comeback.
My pessimism got worse when the Mets blew a 5 run lead against the San Diego Padres in the ninth inning after a lengthy rain soaked affair in stunning fashion. Seeing a large lead blown like that made me extremely worried about playing the pivotal three-game series against the Washington Nationals that began the following day, where a sweep would give us a virtual lock on first-place in the division. If you would have told me the Mets would sweep the Nationals and take over first place and run with the division afterwards, I would have called you crazy, or a complete moron.
After seeing the Mets acquire Yoenis Cespedes, I thought that one player couldn’t change the overall makeup and confidence level of the team. That was, until we all saw the type of play both at the plate and on the field we saw during the month of August from not just Cespedes, but the entire Mets ball club as well. That is right around where I felt the Mets could maybe, just maybe, steal away a division title that everyone in Major League Baseball thought would belong to the Nationals.
When it came to September, I was like many Mets fans where I was nervous and afraid to watch the team because of what most people called it “The Ghosts of Collapses Past”. I thought that the Mets have struggled greatly with a great team before, and while August was the best month the Mets have had since 2006, I still wasn’t 100% sold that the Mets would hold the lead in the East and steal the division crown. We began to struggle through the middle part of the month and I was freaking out when the lead went from 8 ½ games down to less than 5 games. Even after the Mets swept the Nationals again, I still wasn’t entirely convinced the team would clinch the NL East Division Title.
The moment I realized that the Mets were going to clinch the NL East was when the magic number was down to two games. How can a team with about a week left in the season blow the division with just two games to clinch right? Especially with the way the Nationals were playing in the month of September.
When the Mets went into Saturday afternoon with the chance to win and clinch the division, I have to say that I was beyond thrilled. For someone who has said all along that he was pessimistic through and through, I was so happy to see that the Mets controlled their destiny from that point on and we didn’t need to rely on any other team to lose/win to finally clinch.
Once I saw Jeruys Familia strike out Jay Bruce, all I could do is just jump up and down in excitement, and said “We finally f*****g did it.” After all these years of disappointment, pessimism, and heartbreak, I finally got to witness another postseason celebration like I haven’t seen in quite some time. It was Amazin’ to say the least!
I was somebody who has been pessimistic and bitter about the Mets for many years since 2006. But as much as I want to see my team win, I am someone who tends thinks in a realistic manner. Like a realist if you will. I try to think about the realistic possibilities and not try to shoot for the moon when it comes to whatever life throws our way. That is why I tend to sound more pessimistic and not optimistic. But being able to witness the Mets capture the National League East crown when I thought there was no chance in hell at the end of July made the celebration the more exciting and rewarding. Especially when you saw that nobody thought the Mets would win the division.
If there is anything I can say after watching how the 2015 season unfolded, it’s that this Mets ball club never gave up, and from now on, I’ve learned that never giving up will reward you. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year, or even 10 years. But when the moment comes and your rewarded for your patience, the times you were pessimistic make it that much sweeter!
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This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Brandon Butler. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 30,000 Met fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to [email protected]. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.
