The New York Mets were defeated by a score of 3-0 Wednesday night at the hands of the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wild Card game. They have no reason to be down on themselves after going through a roller coaster of a season.
This team was left for dead at 60-62 before a series against this very same Giants team had helped to give them a pulse entering the final weeks of the season. They were down and disappointed at the end of Wednesday’s game, just as most of us were. Manager, Terry Collins though showed nothing but praise for a club that had been written off numerous times this season.
“Well, they’re hurting, but there’s no reason to be,” Collins said. “I mean, they were written off so many times this summer and yet they kept fighting back, and they said the other day you’ve got to have special people and special character to play in this town and in this environment, and that’s in that room.” (Newsday)
Their ace showed up in what was the biggest game of the 2016 season, Noah Syndergaard could not have done anymore. He pitched to seven shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out 10. It was possibly the best pitched game in his career, exceeding all expectations. Despite a loss, he would find solace in the fact of just how hard this team fought this season.
“It stings a little bit right now,” Syndergaard said. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet that this season’s over with. But I couldn’t be more proud of this group of guys right here, for everything we went through.”
The result of the game is not what they wished it would be. The game was handed to their closer, Jeurys Familia, a man who had saved a franchise record 51 games this season. He though would falter, giving way to another postseason victory for the Giants in an elimination setting. He too would reflect on just how much this team battled this season, enduring obstacle after obstacle.
“A lot of people thought we weren’t going to make it here this year,” Familia said. “Everybody should be proud in this room because we made it with those injuries.”
The resounding opinion in the Mets clubhouse Wednesday night was that of feeling accomplished. No, they did not make it past this first round Wild Card game, but they have every reason to be proud. This was a team who were on there way to a disappointing season, only to turn it around and make it back to the postseason. Too many injuries, bad managerial decisions and just bad luck at times, they endured.
The 2016 Mets are a team to be proud of. A team with great heart that was such a pleasure to watch. A team that taught you to never give up because if you just keep moving ahead, good things will come.
