This is the conclusion to a series of posts postulating what could have been for the Mets, dating back to the 1962 expansion draft. Some of the players mentioned in these posts played for the Mets, some didn’t. In the end, these posts have been an exercise in logical fantasy to see what differences there [...]
Note: This is a series of articles creating an alternate history for the Mets. They started with a reinvention of the 1962 expansion draft and have progressed from there. In actual history, some of these players were Mets, some never were. This isn’t meant to be an historical re-examination of the franchise. It’s supposed to [...]
In 1973, our Mets reached the pinnacle of baseball for the second time in five years. The legendary Willie Mays was able to end his career as a World Series champion instead of how the real 1973 ended, with Mays being remembered for several flubbed plays in that championship contest. Tom Seaver won his second [...]
After a terrific regular season in 1972 and a nail biting rush to the division title with the Pirates, the Mets had fallen short of returning to the World Series, again falling to the Big Red Machine from Cincinnati, as they had in 1970. After losing out to the Reds twice in three years, the [...]
After winning back to back division titles, our Mets went into the 1971 season with high hopes. Unfortunately, despite a solid 90 or so wins, the Mets were outplayed by the Pittsburgh Pirates en route to a World Series Championship. It was a disappointment, yet the team had to hold to those high expectations as [...]
By the end of the National League Championship series in 1970, it was the clear that the Mets were here to stay. Back to back NLCS appearances and a young roster full of talent made the Mets, former laughing stocks, into a force in the National League. Heading into the 1971 offseason, off of back [...]
The Mets were champions. All of the building that had occurred from 1962 on, with the team finally breaking through as a competitive unit in 1968, had resulted in a title in 1969. Soon after the World Series ended, Tom Seaver, who had won 25 games, struck out 208 batters and posted a 2.21 ERA, [...]
The Mets had become contenders in 1968. With what was, statistically, the best pitching staff in the National League, combined with an elite slugger in Dick Allen, surrounded by a group of quality hitters and solid defenders, along with a versatile and productive bench, the Mets had finally risen to the status of being a [...]
As the 1967 season came to a close, the Mets had to look back with an odd mixture of disappointment and hope. Whereas the season had not been successful, considering the attempts to bring in veterans to supplement the young players the Mets had been cultivating, the progress of those said young players put a [...]
1966 would have been the most successful the early Mets would have been. Solid pitching and defense, along with a blossoming young lineup would have put the Mets on the brink of seeming success. Gil Hodges and General Manager Bing Devine would have looked at the 1966 roster and thought that a few additions, hopefully [...]
In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high. So, keeping in mind these words of Henry David Thoreau, what’s the appropriate thing on which the GM of the Mets should focus his aim? Surely, we need to aim higher than the oft-mentioned “meaningful games [...]
In some ways, the 1965 season was a disappointment. It would have been the first year since expansion that the Mets didn’t improve record wise in our reinvented world. This was partially due to some chances that were taken by the front office that didn’t pan out, such as the acquisitions of Billy Cowan (who [...]