Since my last entry in which I bemoaned the Metropolitans ugly trend of losing games in which they led, the unthinkable has occurred: they’re winning. A lot. It seems almost as if the post-All Star Break second half of the season is a completely new season. The less famous NY MLB club, at one point the second worst team in the league, is now actually in contention for a post-season spot as the Wild Card in the National League. How it’s happened is hard to pinpoint, but they emerged from the break pitching like the powerhouse staff we expected them to be, playing solid defense and scoring runs in dramatic fashion. It’s been a sheer joy to watch.
First off, the second half schedule put them in a position to make up some ground in the standings straight away, because they played some teams that are not having stellar seasons themselves. But any Major League team can beat any other Major League team on any given night. There’s no free pass to victory. They put together amazing streaks of W’s leading up to what would be a key series against their division rival and fellow Wild Card candidate, the Washington Nationals.
I’m not going to do a play by play recount of the games, but in their two victories they came from behind in spectacularly unlikely ways, including a game tying 3-run HR in the 9th, followed by a walk-off single to right that cost Michael Conforto his jersey as enthusiastic rookie sensation Pete Alonso was so overjoyed he rushed the field and literally took the shirt off Conforto’s back.
Suddenly, the team I was sulking about in the last post has done exactly what I said they’d need to do to get in contention: go on a serious tear. There are many games yet to play and there are many teams yet vying for that illustrious backdoor way into the playoffs, but midway through August, the Mets are one of those teams. I wore my Mets hat to the gym on Sunday with some pride, even though I had little to do with their success.
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