(Andy Esposito/NYSD)
After all the disappointment, hurt, and utter disgust of Game 5’s loss wears off, just remember 2015 was a tremendous season for the New York Mets.
You won’t feel it today, tomorrow or maybe you will have to wait until Spring Training, but mark my words, you will be proud of this team and what it accomplished this season.
Simply put, the Kansas City Royals played better. They executed and didn’t make the little mistakes that cost the Mets runs over the past five games. They learned it last season when they lost to the Giants in 7 games.
Now the Mets need to take this defeat as a lesson and bring it into next season. David Wright sat in the Mets dugout for a few minutes and watched the Royals celebrate their championship. He said he wanted to see what it was like and take it in.
He’s going to learn from this as will the rest of the Mets.
Believe me they will be back.
Over the past month, we saw this pitching staff mature into one of the best in baseball. You only have to look back to September and you saw Steven Matz as an unproven starter, Noah Syndergarrd couldn’t win on the road and everyone wanted to run Matt Harvey out of town.
We saw this team jell together as a unit. New York fell in love with this team and many a Yankee fan came across town saying how they had to root for the Mets because they are so likable.
Terry Collins became everyone’s favorite uncle, while Wilmer Flores was the franchise’s most beloved .260 hitter since Ed Kranepool. Ruben Tejada became a rallying cry, while you exploded with David Wright as he showed the joy every Met fan felt inside.
We finally saw Citi Field come alive as a tremendous home field weapon. The Mets edifice finally felt like home seven years after replacing Shea Stadium. Before this season, Citi just seemed like a work in progress. A place they just didn’t get right when they built it. It was nice, but it felt like the place where the Mets just played their games. Now it’s finally our house.
Just remember when you are thinking back to this season, 28 other teams were not playing baseball on November 1 and those other franchises did not win a championship. They Mets may not have won the World Series, but they are the National League Champions.
There’s a good chance they will be playing in late October next season as well. With the four starters coming back and many of the core players, the Mets can do what the Royals did this season. Kansas City went from Wild Card to No. 1 team in the American League, so why not the Mets in 2016. With a few tweaks here and there, the Mets could be the National League’s powerhouse next season.
Finally, here’s the best news of them all. The Hot Stove League starts tomorrow and pitchers and catchers report in around 105 days.
Wait ‘til next year.
It will be here before you know it.