Before this season started not too many would have guessed that our New York Mets would be headed to the World Series for the first time since 2000. No one also would have believed it if I told you that one, Daniel Murphy, would be the one to carry the offense through the National League championship and onto the World Series, almost single-handedly.
In last night’s 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs to complete the four game sweep, Murphy went 4-for-5 with a HR, double and two singles while scoring two runs and knocking in two.
That home run Murphy hit last night was his seventh of the postseason and his sixth consecutive game with one, breaking the major league record previously held by former met, Carlos Beltran. The NLCS MVP belonged to no other than Murphy in recognition of a truly remarkable and unbelievable series.
“I got a chance to play with Babe Ruth,” Curtis Granderson said after the game, joking about his teammate. “That’s what I’m going to tell people when I get old and gray.”
Prior to the postseason, Murphy had never homered five times in any month. His career-high for home runs was 14 this season. In fact, he didn’t hit his seventh home run of the regular season until Aug. 2. He has already hit seven during the team’s nine postseason games this October.
“Yeah, it’s cool, I think,” Murphy said, “and even more … each one of those home runs has almost helped us try to win a ballgame. … That is really exciting for me. To come into the playoffs where runs are at a premium — again, I can’t explain why the balls keep going out of the ballpark, but they do. And we keep winning ballgames, which is the most important part and the coolest part.”
“We just have open mouths, staring at each other,” added Michael Cuddyer. “Really, there’s nothing else that we can say. It’s not surprising. It’s not shocking. We just open our mouths and stare.”
“It’s fun to watch,” team captain David Wright said. “Being a hitter, I understand how difficult it is to do what he’s doing, to continue this hot streak for 10 days or whatever it’s been. I mean, it’s impressive doing it off these pitchers.”
Daniel Murphy himself cannot explain the phenomena that has occurred so far for himself.
“I don’t know. I’ve talked to Kevin Long about it. I can’t explain it. It’s just such a blessing to be able to contribute to what we’ve been able to do. I really can’t explain it. It’s just a complete blessing, and that’s the only way I can describe it,” Murphy said. “I’m just excited to be able to do something to help us win ballgames, but I can’t explain it.
“I can’t even explain it. Murphy’s on a different planet right now. He really is,” hitting coach Kevin Long said. “Last at-bat, he’s looking for a changeup and he hits a [96] mph fastball out. That’s where he’s at right now. It’s mind-boggling, it really is.”
Murphy becomes just the second Met in franchise history to be named NLCS MVP since it was introduced in 1977. The only other Met to receive this honor previously was pitcher, Mike Hampton.
In a day where most players love to pad their own numbers, Murphy is a throwback player who clearly cares about his teammates. Anytime a question is asked of himself and his performance, he throws it right back to the 24 other players in that clubhouse.
“I think the group of guys in there makes it that much more fun when each guy still cares for the guy next to him. You get so excited when you’re able to come together and accomplish something like this. We know there are still some more wins we want to get our hands on, so we’re going to enjoy this right now, and you see everybody get a piece of it, it makes it very special.”
Manager Terry Collins couldn’t contain his awe and overall happiness after last night’s win and rightfully so. Speaking about his second baseman, Collins couldn’t help but gush with elation.
“There’s times when players who are good players, once in a while they get to show the world how good they really are, and this series so far in the postseason Daniel Murphy has done that.”
“He is a good player. He is an overachiever. He’s not blessed with the greatest of talents. He can hit. I mean, he can hit. But this guy works to make himself a good player, and that’s why I love him,” Collins said.
Daniel Murphy and the Mets will now have some days off to reflect on what so far has been an absolute joy ride. They get ready to prepare themselves to head to either Kansas City or Toronto for game one of the World Series, Tuesday night.
