By now, the charter has touched down at LAX. At around 10:30 EDT on Friday, October 11, 2024, Fernando Tatis, Jr. of the San Diego Padres hit a first-pitch grounder to third baseman Enrique Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the final out of Los Angeles’s 2-0 victory in Game 5 of what is officially called the National League Division Series 2.
In case you hadn’t heard, the New York Mets had already won what is officially called National League Division Series 1.
A Mets-Dodgers National League Championship Series: words that haven’t been uttered in nearly 40 years. And if you’re a long-time Mets fan, as I am, that seems utterly ridiculous. We all know their 2024 narrative, don’t we? How this year was going to be the “transition season,” where the young talent acquired in 2023 in exchange for the off-loading of bloated, underperforming contracts would only just begin to bear fruit? How the focus would shift more towards 2025 or even 2026? How these Mets flipped that script and became, basically, the 2022 versions of their closest NL East rivals? They overcame a 10-plus-game deficit in the standings at the end of May to secure a playoff spot at the very end of the season, as the Atlanta Braves did that year. Then they made an unlikely run to the NLCS, similar to the ’22 Philadelphia Phillies. To say nothing of how they had to defeat both of those teams this year to get where they are today. By the way, those ’22 Phillies made it past the Padres, reaching their first World Series in 14 years.
I’m just sayin’.
Baseball is the one sport where it’s fairly easy to compare eras. In fact, that’s part of the fun of it. Teams not only compete against the opponent in front of them, they also compete against MLB history and their own, as a franchise. They compete against their former selves. If you look at the history of the Mets’, this current run has no comparison.
Following is the Mets’ postseason record:
1969 – won the World Series
1973 – won the NL Pennant
1986 – Won the World Series
1988 – Won the NL East
1999 – Won the NLDS
2000 – Won the NL Pennant
2006 – Won the NLDS
2015 – Won the NL Pennant
2016 – NL Wild Card, lost the NL Wild Card “Series”
2022 – NL Wild Card, lost the NL WCS
2024 – Won the NLDS (so far)
In the two seasons the Mets won the World Series, they basically dominated their League in the regular season. Yes, the ’69 team came out of nowhere and had to make a furious run in August, while the Chicago Cubs collapsed to take the first ever NL East title that year, but they won 100 games to do it and thoroughly destroyed the Hank Aaron-led Braves in the first ever NLCS. The ’86 team, of course, spread-eagled the field early and won the division going away, their only obstacles to glory showing up in the NLCS & World Series.
’88 was another hundred-win season in which they dominated the Division and the same can be said for the 97-win 2006 team. How 2022 went should still be fresh in our minds: 101 wins in the regular season. So, there was never a point where it was said of any of these teams that making the playoffs was in any jeopardy. In 2024, the Mets weren’t supposed to be close.
We can basically toss out 1973 — despite the mad last-to-first scramble of that September – since that team was comprised of mostly veteran holdovers from the ’69 squad and the fact that their competition in the division largely disappeared down that stretch. This actually might be the closest comp, tough, seeing as they had to get by a dynastic Cincinnati Reds team to get to the Series and took the Oakland A’s – an even bigger dynasty than Cincinnati – to a Game 7. 1999 and 2000 are close, too, but these were veteran teams, with a seasoned manager. Their leaders were named Mike Piazza, Al Leiter, John Olerud, Robin Ventura, Todd Zeile and Rickey Henderson, all aged pretty well north of 30, and were managed by Bobby Valentine, a well-tenured MLB manager by that point. They’d won 97 & 94 games, respectively, and they have a gutsy St. Louis Cardinal team to thank for wiping the Braves out of the playoffs in 2000. These Mets are led by guys like Pete Alonso, just 30, Mark Vientos, 24, Francisco Alvarez, 22, and of course, Francisco Lindor, who, yes is 30, but plays like he’s 23. And let’s not forget, all evidence to the contrary, Carlos Mendoza is still a rookie manager.
That leaves the twin playoff teams of 2015 and 2016. The ’15 team doesn’t really compare, as they were looked at as a playoff contender from early in the offseason that year – as soon as they’d acquired outfielder Michael Cuddyer and with the solid core and young pitching already in place, many pundits placed them in the postseason mix from that point. And in 2016, they were coming off a pennant, of course, and thus expected to compete for another one, though they had to put on a ‘73/’99-style run at the end to get there. As noted above, there were no such expectations placed on the shoulders of this young 2024 team; if anything, it is way ahead of schedule.
So, they’ve drawn the Dodgers again, another chance to avenge 1988. A first thought, for those of us with long memories, it would appear the Mets have had the Dodgers’ playoff number since then: they beat them in both the ’06 and ’15 NLDSs. It is nine years since these teams last faced each other in the postseason, so of course, there is very little from either team still in place. We won’t see Clayton Kershaw vs. Jacob deGrom. Chase Utley and Ruben Tejada have both retired. Matt Harvey is a spectator, like the rest of us. These Dodgers had the best record in the game over the course of the entire year. These Mets had the best record in the game from May 29 onward. This should be a barnburner of a Championship Series, one that will more than likely go seven games.
Nobody saw that coming in May. Not even the ghosts of playoffs past.
Excellent historical summary and article Mr. Hangley, thank you for it. All evidence to the contrary, I am glad that we are playing the Dodgers rather then the Padres. Whether we knock off the #1 team or not, I also think it’ll be a “barnburner” of a series.
Great memories Charlie. I kind of forgot about Cuddyer and what it was expected that he’d bring, but they had a great year in 2015 despite him being pretty much a bust.
As far as our opponent, I’ve been neutral to this point. I honestly didn’t care whether it was the Dodgers or the Padres. Both are tough teams. We got the Dodgers so let’s just play the way we have been for since June, and in particular for the past 2 weeks. Keep the magic going. There’s a different feel right now and I hope it keeps up.
I believe in magic!
That 2015 team was going nowhere until the trade deadline. They were a barely .500 team running out lineups that featured Eric Campbell at cleanup. The young pitching was there but that too didn’t fully gel or dominate until the post season.
I enjoyed this piece.
But this 2015 preseason (Feb) Over/Under had the Mets’ line at 81 wins. And Cuddyer signed in Nov.
https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/2/19/8039491/mlb-odds-over-unders-wins-2015-vegas-vs-regression
Also, I’d say it’s a coin flip if the 70s A’s were more of a dynasty than the 70s Reds. Yes, the A’s held the WS wins advantage at 3-2. But the Reds started earlier (made WS in ’70), lasted longer (made WS in ’76) and made it to one more WS than the A’s.
The ’76 Reds swept their opponent in the WS, something the ’72-’74 A’s never did. The A’s needed to win Game 7 twice. Kudos to them for doing that but the ’76 Reds destroy whatever the best A’s team was in that time frame. In the three seasons after their last 70s WS, the Reds won 270 games. In the three seasons after their last 70s WS, the A’s won 248 games
Speaking of dynasties, the Orioles from 1969-1980 belong in the conversation. Had they beat the Mets in ‘69, they’d probably get more recognition. They were in three WS in a row, 1969-71, only winning in ‘70. They lost to another miracle finish in ‘71 to the Pirates. A couple times that decade they won 100 games and didn’t make the post-season in that pre-wildcard era. 4 in the Hall too (Weavers, both Robinsons, and Palmer.)
That the Mets win in ‘69 helped knock Baltimore from true dynasty status has always been a little extra treat.
I too enjoyed this article. Once to rewind the hands of time. My fading memory recalls that the Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe signings were a real turn around that year, along with Cespedes at the deadline, who went for Michael Fulmer if I recall.
Nice article. Was just talking about the ‘88 season this afternoon and how the underdog Dodgers did not match up well against the Mets (except for Hersheiser who was a dominant force at the time). I would err on the side of the Big Red Machine who were strong up and down the order. If you think about the Mets, they have Alvarez batting near or at the end of the lineup. Doesn’t that tell you how strong a team they have?
I remember the ‘69 season quite well and their March to the division was about the team gelling and dominating the competition from mid August on. And yes, the Cubs fell apart, but then the Mets out slugged the slugging Braves and won three straight. Feels like the Mets are a team of destiny. Looking for 5-6 out of Senga – why not?