What a great time it is to be a Mets fan! It wasn’t that long ago we were bogged down by too many injuries, a stuck-in-his-ways manager and a semi-active GM. Now the team is relatively healthy, Terry Collins is finding playing time for all of his extra pieces and Sandy Alderson looks like a genius for his moves to import quality players near, during and after the trade deadline. Let’s look at the major players.
Travis d’Arnaud – Developing into one of the top offensive catchers in the game
Lucas Duda – Coming back from a DL stint and gives the team a major power hitter
Daniel Murphy – Brings passion and he can swing the bat a little, too
David Wright – He can hit, he can field and he unexpectedly brought the passion, too
Wilmer Flores – He’s hitting HR again after a lengthy power outage
Michael Conforto – The club’s top hitting prospect has been better than expected in pretty much every way
Yoenis Cespedes – Keeps raising the bar and now has the chance to go 2004 playoffs Carlos Beltran on everyone
Curtis Granderson – Does everything the team asks and looks good doing it
Jacob deGrom – Continues to pitch like an All-Star
Matt Harvey – Has provided stellar pitching through most of the year
Noah Syndergaard – Giving us a taste of future dominance
Steven Matz – How great it is to see a lefty wearing #32 and pitching so well
Bartolo Colon – It’s tremendous fun to see him dominate the dregs and his next start’s against the Braves
Jeurys Familia – Has been better than anyone could have possibly imagined as a closer
Tyler Clippard – Could use a few days off but has been a gift in the 8th-inning spot
Addison Reed – After trying to figure out how to get Addison Russell, this was the Addison we needed
Collins – Will become just the eighth manager in club history to finish a full season with a winning record
Alderson – Responsible for adding six of the above names over the past two seasons
The Mets have annihilated the Phillies and gotten revenge on the Nationals so far this year. There’s one more regular season debt to collect for the fans. It’s time to march into Atlanta like General Sherman and complete back-to-back sweeps.
Was high fiving colleagues at the office this morning. Damn it feels good to be a Mets fan.
I cannot remember enjoying Mets games this much!… 1986 was an entire season of this!!!…and 1969 was surprising in such a different way…and I was 10!
I’ve maintained for 2 years that the pitching deserved an offense…and Oh Boy!!!!!
Fun, fun, fun .. magic is finally back !
Another amazing win last night.
Mets shut up an entire nation’s capital. The silence was stunning..!
Serious revenge handed down. Mets should win 90 games, no problem,
(I say 92-70) then battle the Dodgers, take them out 4-2.
Sure Greinke and Kershaw will be tough, but they won’t each beat us 2x, and the other P’s are scrubs.
Would love to then meet the Redbirds and take them out too ! Revenge 2006.
Sandy, hear me now, dude, start the calculator rolling to keep Cespedes and Clippard. You can do it with the salaries coming off the books (thanks for the memories Bartolo, Murphy, Gee, Niese if he can be traded) and Wilpon needs to step up to the ATM !
With this pitching staff, Mets are the new Braves….can be winners for a long, long, time, year in and year out, just need the bats to keep it going.
Division series is best of 5, but I like our chances anyway.
In a season loaded with terrific personal stories — and what’s happening with David Wright might be the best one of all — it has slowly dawned on me that Terry Collins is a pretty great story too.
If you accept that he was an overly intense manager who always came up short in Houston & California. A guy who was out of baseball, probably never to manage again. Who worked in the Mets system, anything to stay near the game, got a break, and was given a last, nearly miraculous opportunity to manage once more. He seemed different, as if he had perhaps grown as a person. Older, mellower, kinder. He had some lousy teams. And all he did was work and work with unfailing enthusiasm.
Then one day he wakes up to find himself with a full, major league roster. He has to weave together pieces that include Cespedes, Wright, Uribe, Johnson, Conforto, Cuddyer, Murphy, Lagares, Flores, Tejada. Most with unclear, uncertain roles. Rookies and superstars, fading veterans and emergent youth. And somehow, for whatever reason, it all comes together beautifully. Everybody is on the same page, pulling together, and the feeling in the dugout is awesome. They play like a team and it is such a pleasure to watch.
His team surges and sweeps the Nationals in early September. And rather than seeming tight and twitchy, Terry Collins appears relaxed and grateful. He tells the media that these have been the biggest three games of his career, and his team has hit them out of the park. It looks like a long barren streak is over and this guy, the oldest manager in baseball, is finally going to the playoffs.
He sure looks like a manager who loves his team.
He’s Joe Torre all over again. The “imbecile” who suddenly got a lot smarter when he had a better roster. This is about a baseball lifer enjoying the season of his life. It’s a nice story, a happy story. It’s one more thing to enjoy about the 2015 New York Mets. Something to feel good about. Terry Collins deserves this. He’s earned it.
Of course, if TC ever uses O’Flaherty again he’s dead to me.
James, that was lovely but it doesn’t count as your post. 🙂
I always root against The Monkey (on someone’s back) !!!!
It has been a magical year…It is interesting to consider all that was written here, both in articles and commentary.
Spring training brought excitement with several us here at Mets360, in particular, saying, “Conforto…hmm, perhaps he should start at AAA and be considered later should he…”
Who could have predicted the turnaround for Wilmer Flores, or that NY would see him as a nice kid—the ovation was classy in saying goodbye to someone who has been a Met since he was 16 years old!
The early streak…how many of us here said, “Come September, we may just be glad we got the early wins for the standing!”? I think most of us thought to enjoy the ride.
Our frustrations with Terry Collins…I would not have pinch hit Wilmer last night, for Kelly Johnson, but Collins saw what a rough time he was having with that nasty curve ball. Kudos to him.
I did not see Grandy having the year he has had. His positive attitude seemed contagious.
I thought that David Wright may have been finished, for his career and am wonderfully wrong.
I did think we would see heavy and healthy competition from the young pitching staff, but I did not think Bartolo would have the strong finish to the year that he has had.
I thought Plawecki’s bat would have been more productive. It is going to take time.
I followed Conforto closely since Brooklyn, loved him in Spring training, and loved how NY Media would not let up on Sandy to promote him.
I think most of us worried that Travis D would miss significant time again. It seems to follow his career. I also did not think he would drive a ball almost 470 feet. He has more power than I thought! If he stays healthy, imagine his progress!
The come-from-behind magic is just insane. I can only imagine and watch the body language, of its impact upon these players. I don’t recall seeing David as demonstrative as he has been. He looks like a little kid on Christmas. He loves the game for what it is.
It has been a marvelous season and a wonderful August and start to September.
Shame on those who panicked last week.
This whole year turned around when Wilmer Flores went deep in the 12th on July 31.
In spring training and throughout most of my posts, I have said the Mets need bats. The additions at the 7/31 deadline were good and the addition of Cespedes has been much better than anyone thought. I never dreamed that the team would gel this well and have the inner strength to never give up in any game. It is 2006 all over again with a much more solid pitching staff. They really don’t have to wait until next year to win it all. We all want it now. Let’s go Mets.
You know you are loving life as a Met fan when you can’t find find one weakness on the team. Your list of major players just went on and on!