“This team continues to be resilient in the face of injuries and adversity and I think that speaks volumes about their character. This season hasn’t played out quite the way I envisioned it, but here they are only 3.5 games out with a healthier team, a revitalized offense, three young power pitchers in the rotation, and a shutdown backend of the bullpen. Looking at the remaining schedule, the Wild Card is there for the taking. We can do it… Let’s get this done.”
I wrote those words a week ago today and of course it was met with a lot of the usual consternation by the readers, one who wanted to know what kind of drugs they were giving me at the VA. But that’s okay because I actually love reading the snickering chatter whenever me or one of my staff pours it on with the optimism.
And I don’t do this as often as I should, but I gotta say thanks to MacDaddy for sticking up for me that day, and to TheFordhamFlash who saw how quickly that thread had devolved and wrote: “You people stink. Literally incapable of any sense of optimism.”
Those are the kind of fans I enjoy writing for and that keep me going. Having witnessed a couple of Mets miracles in my lifetime, I can’t surrender a season as quickly as so many other fans do. Where’s the fun in tossing in the towel in May or June or July?
Anyway, enough about that.
Guys… With last night’s win the Mets have now won 9 of their last 11 games, and more important than that – we have leapfrogged the Pirates and the Marlins and we’re now only 1 1/2 games behind the Cardinals in the Wild Card standings.
Everything has changed so much in the past week and it actually has me saying screw the second wild card… We want and deserve the first wild card. And we have the team, the resiliency, the character, and the drive to get this done.
What I have seen from this team in the last seven days has emboldened the Ya Gotta Believe spirit within me.
Faced with the jeering and scrutiny of an unforgiving media, the Mets had the guts to hand five critical starts with playoff ramifications to youngsters Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo and Rafael Montero – and they each came through in the most incredible, unimaginable and magnificent ways.
That, more than this recent bluster of home runs, has impressed me more than anything else during the Cardinals and yet to conclude Marlins series.
And can I say this again? Kelly Johnson is without question the best bench player in baseball right now.
This Mets team never gives up no matter how much pain and adversity comes their way. They have no quit in them. None.
That begins at the top with Sandy Alderson, who reacted with such remarkable speed to acquire players like Johnson, James Loney, Jose Reyes and Justin Ruggiano in rapid response to a key injury to one of our integral players.
And even on the eve of the September 1 ultimate trade deadline, he snagged righty reliever Fernando Salas from the Los Angeles Angels to bolster the bullpen.
I love this team and I am so proud of how they seemingly play at their best when all the signs and odds point to the worst.
So yes, I say the hell with the second wild card. Let’s bring that one-game playoff to Citi Field where it belongs. Let’s not just stop at catching the Cardinals, let’s keep pouring the pressure on the Giants and Dodgers. We can do this.
It feels like we are a team of destiny, much like the Kansas City Royals were last season. We have all the pieces to bring home the gold this postseason.
The Mets are a team hardened by last postseason’s experience and this season’s commitment to finish the job. A commitment that has never once wavered in the Mets clubhouse even amidst all the doubts in the fan base.
What an incredible group of players we have in that clubhouse. That Ya Gotta Believe spirit is alive and well with this bunch, Tug McGraw would be so proud. LGM
