A Citi Field Celebration, Finally, Amazingly

What a sight! For the first time, the New York Mets popped bottles at Citi Field!

With the 4-1 win over the division rival Phillies, the Mets move on to the National League Championship Series for the ninth time in franchise history! It was a spectacularly improbable run for a team that was 11 games below .500 at the end of May. Local sports talkers (and MMO commenters) were starting to stir about which Mets might be traded at the deadline, including future playoff hero Pete Alonso.

“We’ve been through a lot,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “And this is not it. You know, we gotta continue to ride the wave. We gotta continue to believe. It was hard. It’s been hard. Nothing has been easy for us. Nothing at all.”

New York went on a run. They won 27 out of 40 to enter the All-Star break at 49-46. And a 39-26 record post-break brought the Mets to a must-split doubleheader in Atlanta. Francisco Lindor hit one of the biggest regular season home runs in Mets history in the playoff clincher.

Three days later, two outs from elimination in Milwaukee, the slugger some fans wanted traded in May hit a home run in the Wild Card round so big that it made Howie Rose go viral. (I have listened to this, give or take, 86 times.)

And less than a week later, Lindor hit another home run in a clincher, this one a game-changing grand slam in the Division Series to help send the Phillies home.

“I want to win it all,” Lindor said. “I want to be a team that comes back every 10 years and they eat for free anywhere they go.”

Referring to his superstar shortstop’s contract, owner Steve Cohen quipped: “That 341 (million dollars) is looking pretty freakin’ good right now.”

For many teams, the turnaround from May to Wednesday night would be unprecedented. For the Mets, well, the nicknames Amazin’ Mets and Miracle Mets were earned. Where does the ’24 team rank in Mets history when it comes to LCS surprises?

’69 is No. 1

The 1969 club was 10 games back of the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 14 when they went 38-11 to win the division by eight games. That team also shook the baseball world because up until 1969, the Mets, in seven years of existence, had never finished higher than ninth place in the 10-team National League. They lost at least 100 games in five of those years.

So, with apologies to Candelita, Grimace, and Pete’s playoff pumpkin, the ’24 Mets aren’t the biggest surprise NLCS team in franchise history.

Second Biggest? OMG, no!

The 1973 Mets were 12 games under .500 with 44 games to go on Aug. 16. New York was in last place as late as Aug. 30, though the division was so mediocre that they were just 6.5 games out of first. This was the year that reliever Tug McGraw coined “You Gotta Believe” and less well-known is how he backed it up, earning five wins and 12 saves in his last 19 appearances while pitching to a 0.88 ERA.

The ’86, ’88, ’99, ’00, and ’06 Mets were all special in their own ways, but none would qualify as a bigger surprise than the ’24 bunch.

Battle for Bronze

That leaves this group in a debate for third place in a battle with the 2015 team.

The ’15 Mets were 52-48 on July 29 when Wilmer Flores broke down on the field when he thought he was traded. But the deal fell through and two days later he hit one of the most famous regular season home runs in Mets history, walking off the Washington Nationals in the 12th inning.

Flores remained, but the Mets did complete a trade for Yoenis Céspedes, who blasted 17 home runs in 57 games as the Mets finished the year at 90-72 and beat the favored Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.

Was that run to the LCS a bigger surprise than ’24? I’d say no, but local sports talkers and MMO commenters will have their own thoughts.

Up Next

The NLCS starts Sunday, with time and whether it’s on FOX or FS1 is to be determined. By clinching Wednesday, the Mets have many options when it comes to setting up the starting rotation. The ’24 Mets will try to become the sixth team in franchise history to advance to the Fall Classic.

“That’s our goal,” Edwin Díaz said in the jubilant locker room. “Our goal is to get to the World Series and win it. Right now we got another step ahead. Let’s win the National League series and go to the World Series.”

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