(Twitter: @mets)
I had to pinch myself this morning to make sure this was real.
And yes, the 2015 Mets were celebrating winning the Pennant at Wrigley Field last night after sweeping the Cubs.
Chicago never led in the series and had to wait for the eighth inning of Game 4 to even put up a crooked number in an inning.
As Casey Stengel would have said, “Who would have thunk it?”
David Wright that’s whom.
“People kind of giggled at us and laughed at us when we proclaimed we were going to be a playoff team,’ the Captain said. “This is a long time coming. We’ve been through some bad times. We’ve been through Septembers where you’re just playing out the schedule and that’s no fun. To be able to completely reverse that 180 and now celebrate and get a chance to go to the World Series, I wish I could bottle it all. I really do. That’s an emotion I’ll never forget.”
Yes, it’s true. The Mets will be playing in the World Series on Tuesday in Toronto or Kansas City. This was something even the most ardent, Kool Aid drinking, blue and orange glasses fan would never have thought in May and June when manager Terry Collins trotted out John Mayberry, Jr. and Eric Campbell on a regular basis.
You heard general manager Sandy Alderson preach about next year, but no one knew what year he was talking about.
You saw Collins almost lose his mind on more than one occasion when he had to explain why he was trotting out a lineup of 4-A players on a nightly basis.
Who would have thunk it?
But this is as real as it gets and Collins knows who deserves this the most.
“I’ve been in baseball for 45 years,” he said. “I’ve never met more passion, and fans that want to win more, who love their team more than Mets fans. This is for them. This is for all the hard work, for all the bad years, all the tough years. They’ve hung in there. And this is for them. We’re going to bring the World Series to Citi Field.”
Yes it is. The Mets have always been called The People’s Team and when they win, you feel like they are doing it for New York. It was like that in 1969. It was like that in 1986.
It feels like that today.
That’s why you are seeing many Yankee fans jumping ship to Queens, trading in their Derek Jeter No.2 for Wright’s No. 5.
It’s also why the Mets are the only “little brother” team in the city that has a chance to take over the town.
It happened in ’69 and ’86 and it’s happening now.
No matter who they play next week, these Mets feel like a team of destiny. Their starting pitching seems unstoppable as does Daniel Murphy.
And over the last two games, you saw other Mets starting to heat up.
More importantly, these Mets are extremely likeable. A bond has already developed with the players and the fans. It’s something that comes out on the field and you see it in the clubhouse as well.
“This isn’t a team,” Wright explained. “This is a family. A lot of teams say that and don’t mean it. This team means it. We’ve got guys that are genuinely the best of friends away from this field. We go out there and we play for one another, and I think that shows up. I think that’s one of the main reasons why we’re going to the World Series, because of the guys in this clubhouse, the character and what this team can do together.”
So get ready for time to stand still over the next two weeks. The Mets are in the World Series. It doesn’t matter if it’s against Toronto or Kansas City. This is New York’s team now and it will surely be a fun ride.
Hot dog.
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