“It sure does feel like rock bottom” was an actual statement uttered by Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen just 5 and a half games into the 2024 season. While hyperbolic on its face with 150 games still to play, it captured the essence of what it has felt like to be a fan of the New York Mets over the past three decades. It is a fanbase that specializes in self-mutilation and pessimism, always looking for the proverbial other shoe to drop. Even in a year that most considered somewhat of a gap year, many fans felt themselves muttering a familiar phrase under their breaths: “here we go again.” When Cohen uttered his now-infamous decry, he was staring out into an abyss of empty seats, watching a winless Mets team get blanked by a mediocre Detroit Tigers pitching staff. The weather was barely north of 40 degrees that day, and the entire Mets kingdom felt as stiff and lifeless as the blades of grass shivering in the Citi Field outfield.

From the Ashes

It was only two years earlier that the Mets had won 101 games and narrowly missed their first NL East Division title since 2015. A pair of embarrassing playoff losses to the Padres in the Wild Card round ended their season, but things were looking promising for a team that sent four players to the All-Star Game that summer and featured a roster of household names. Manager Buck Showalter would be crowned the National League Manager of the Year later that winter, and something akin to real hope began to flutter through Flushing, Queens. But, in true Mets fashion, the abysmal finish to an otherwise amazing season would be a harbinger of misery to come. It started with hometown hero Jacob deGrom leaving for the Texas Rangers that offseason, followed by the signing of the ghost of Justin Verlander to replace him. Japanese phenom Kodai Senga was also added to bolster the rotation, but despite his obvious brilliance early on, the aging arms of both Verlander and Max Scherzer showed obvious signs of decay. The injury bug quickly spread through the 2023 Mets like the bubonic plague, and the Mets headed into the All-Star break a disappointing 42-48. They would only win 33 more games the rest of the way and eventually shipped off both Verlander and Scherzer at the deadline for prospects and some cash incentives. The Mets limped into the offseason in fourth place and watched in dismay as the Texas Rangers and their former ace lifted the World Series trophy that November. Showalter was unceremoniously relieved of his duties shortly after, and the New York Mets seemed to inexplicably be back at square one, staring at a 2024 season with little promise and almost no expectations.

But then something magical began to materialize. It was unassuming at first, almost indiscernible to even the most keen baseball observer. But slowly and quietly, the Mets began to build something special out of the ashes of the usual disappointment.

The David Stearns Effect

It started with the hiring of David Stearns as the President of Baseball Operations in September 2023. The move was an expected one in baseball circles and offered the promise of a new mentality in Queens. Stearns would be filling the role left vacant by longtime front office stalwart Sandy Alderson, who stepped down earlier that year due to health concerns. Stearns is a Harvard grad and architect of multiple division title-winning teams in Milwaukee, but his heart seemed to always be in New York. The Empire State native grew up rooting for his hometown Mets, and rumors of Stearns’s desire to run the show in Queens had been circulating for years. Owner Steve Cohen, who purchased the Mets in 2020, had Stearns on his wishlist since he took over, and he wasted no time in making that move official as soon as he could.

This was the first domino to fall, the first sprinkle of magic that would dust over the confines of Citi Field as spring turned to fall.

The next step was to find a manager, and they didn’t have to look very far.

Managing Expectations

Shortly after the season concluded, Carlos Mendoza was announced as the 24th manager in the history of the New York Mets. Mendoza had been working for the crosstown rival Yankees for the past six years, most recently as their bench coach. At 43, Mendoza was a youthful upgrade to the 67-year-old Showalter and brought with him no shortage of praise from his contemporaries. A relative unknown to most baseball fans, the news was not greeted with tremendous enthusiasm by Mets faithful, who were coming off three straight failed managerial experiments in the form of Showalter, Luis Rojas, and Mickey Callaway. But there was a certain knowing exuberance in Mendoza’s eyes and a personality that players felt at ease with immediately.

The Mets were not destined to make any big free-agent splashes in the inaugural season of the Stearns-Mendoza era. After missing out on mega free agents Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and failing to put a trade package together for superstar Juan Soto, the Mets looked to retool their roster with cheaper and less sexy alternatives.

They opted to forgo the retention of players like Carlos Carrasco, Luis Guillorme, and Daniel Vogelbach and instead chose to offer contracts to a handful of veteran players that were not on many teams’ wishlists.

Among them: Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, Harrison Bader, Tyrone Taylor, and journeyman infielder Jose Iglesias.

Perhaps their biggest splash of the offseason was inking veteran DH J.D. Martinez to a one-year deal just as spring training was concluding.

The 2024 Mets roster would not strike fear into the hearts of many opponents. Outside of Kodai Senga, who would miss the beginning of the season with a shoulder injury, the pitching staff was a hodgepodge of flameouts, unfulfilled potential, and Hail Marys. Severino was cast aside by the Yankees, Manaea was coming off multiple high-profile playoff implosions in San Diego, and the rest of the Mets staff was made up of homegrown prospects that hadn’t lived up to their potential. Guys like Tylor Megill and David Peterson were set to take on expanded roles, which gave comfort to absolutely nobody who had watched them take the mound over the past few years.

The lineup they would roll out every day showed a bit more promise but still carried glaring weaknesses. They still had their $341 million shortstop, Francisco Lindor. Rookie of the Year and home run champ Pete Alonso was in a contract year and looking to add some zeroes to his next contract. They still had fan favorite Brandon Nimmo and a batting champion in Jeff McNeil. Their 22-year-old catcher, Francisco Alvarez, showed some serious power and poise behind the plate in 2023, and many were ready for him to cement himself as one of the game’s best backstops. In short, they weren’t hopeless, but for most Mets fans, the wish was to stop just short of embarrassing.

The Slow Start

Whatever hope there was (and there was little) was quickly extinguished right around the time Gary Cohen made his now-infamous observation on that windy April afternoon. The Mets started off losing their first five games of the season—first getting swept by Milwaukee and then dropping the first two games of a three-game series against the equally hopeless Tigers. In the second game of a doubleheader on April 4th, the Mets failed to enter the hit column until Harrison Bader hit a soft single into center field in the bottom of the eighth inning. A sarcastic cheer flitted through the hundred or so people who were still at the game, but the Mets failed to score and headed into their last at-bat down 1-0. But then, something miraculous happened. Pete Alonso stepped to the plate against pitcher Alex Faedo and deposited his 0-1 offering over the left field wall. Tie game. On this day, the Mets wouldn’t be no-hit. They wouldn’t be shut out. A couple of small victories in a season that was already shaping up to have very few. But then, their young third baseman Brett Baty worked a walk, Starling Marte bunted him over, and Tyrone Taylor drove a single down the left field line. Baty scored. Mets win.

It was hard to tell at first (and frankly, for quite a while), but this type of win—this kind of gutsy, grind-it-out victory—would be a hallmark of the 2024 New York Mets. To be clear, the Mets were still 1-5, had shown little to nothing in their first two series of the year, and had convinced few that they would be competitive this season. Despite all that, 1-5 feels a hell of a lot better than 0-6, and any signs of life were a welcome sight for Mets fans.

Signs of Life

But then the Mets went to Cincinnati, where they won their next game. Two in a row. They would go on to win that series in the Queen City. Then they won their next series in Atlanta. And then another against the Royals at home. They would go on to win six games in a row. The Mets, after starting 0-5, would go on to win 11 of their next 15 games. That’s baseball. And all of a sudden, the Mets started to climb the slippery rope up from rock bottom, and a bit of sunshine started to peek in through the brine.

That sunshine failed to become more than a glimmer, however, because it became obvious to just about everyone that this team was not very good. On June 2nd, after losing to the Diamondbacks on a ninth-inning meltdown by pitcher Jake Diekman, the Mets stood at a season-worst 11 games under .500. On the morning of June 3rd, they woke up 16.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and were sitting at 13th place in the National League overall, on pace for 96 losses and just a 7% chance of reaching the postseason. But this is when everything began to change.

Grimace

In a year with little to no hope, no life, no charm, the Mets found a spark in June. After losing the first two games of the month, they finished June with a 16-8 record. They slashed .283/.358/.507 and set a single-month franchise record in both slugging percentage and OPS (.865). The spark came from a couple of places. First, their veteran franchise shortstop. Lindor hit .290 in June with 11 doubles and stole seven bases. Next, their emerging young core. Francisco Alvarez hit .375 during the month, and little-known quantity, 24-year-old Mark Vientos, who was called up to replace the struggling Brett Baty, hit .277 and led the team with seven home runs.

But there was something else that people were looking to as the reason for the Mets’ improbable rise. It wasn’t a player or a coach. It wasn’t a big hit or a game-ending diving catch. It was Grimace. Yes, Grimace—the giant amorphous purple mascot for McDonald’s. On June 12th, the Mets, still fighting for the life of their season, saw a gigantic purple mascot with a giant glove stuffed onto the wrong hand toss a baseball from the front of the Citi Field pitcher’s mound that bounced a few feet short. Nobody is sure how or why everything changed at that moment, but it is undeniable that it did. The connection is unclear, but what is clear is that the Mets have been the best team in baseball since that very moment. The Mets went an astounding 66-38 since the infamous first pitch, and the era of the “Grimace Mets” was upon us.

Oh my God.

Grimace, or whatever dark magic he carries in his hideous purple body, seemed to inspire everyone in a Mets uniform. Most notably, Jose Iglesias. When Iglesias was signed by Stearns in the offseason, it was little more than a footnote in the MLB transaction report and I don’t think Mets fans expected much from the 11-year journeyman in his first season with the team. The 34-year old had played for six other teams in a career that was far from noteworthy. He was serviceable with a .283 career batting average but had made only one All-star team in 2015 for Detroit and failed to find a consistent starting role with a playoff team. For the 2024 Mets, however. Iglesias would be a godsend. An icon, rallying cry and key contributor all rolled into one. Iglesias would hit an astounding .337 for the Mets after taking over full time for an injured Jeff McNeil but it can be argued that his biggest contribution came off the field. Because when Iglesias is not terrorizing opposing hitters or playing impeccable defense at 2nd base, Iglesias moonlights as Latin pop star Candilita. Or maybe you could argue he moonlights as a professional baseball player because Iglesias’s debut single “OMG” has been number one on the Latin pop charts since mid-summer. Besides being impossibly catchy, the chorus of the song, a loud and deliberate “OH. MY. GOD.” Has become the anthem of the 2024 Mets. The song plays after every Mets home run and blasts through the Citi Field speakers at every available moment. The Mets have even taken to using a wood cut out of the letters “OMG” as a celebratory prop whenever a hitter goes yard or a starting pitcher finishes up a stellar performance – both very common occurrences in the second half of this season. 

Iglesias’ career was floundering much in the same way the season was floundering before he and Grimace showed up and changed the fortune of the 2024 Mets forever. You can call them the “Grimace Mets” or the “OMG Mets” or even the “Miracle Mets” if you are trying to harken back to the ‘69 World Championship team that initially coined the phrase. Whatever you call them, there is no denying that there is something special happening in Queens. 

But of course, none of this would mean a damn thing if the Mets didn’t make the postseason. And, despite being the best team in baseball for the better part of three months, they were fighting for their playoff lives when they headed into Atlanta against the hated Braves in late September. 

To Atlanta, with Love

Because they started off so poorly and played the first half of the season with such an incredible lack of consistency, the Mets would need another miracle to leapfrog the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 3rd Wild Card slot. 

Because this was no ordinary season and this was no ordinary team, there was no chance this season would end in ordinary fashion. And, naturally, in their way would be the Atlanta Braves, a team that has terrorized the Mets and their fans for the better part of two decades. 

On September 24th, the 87-69 Mets were set to take on the 85-71 Braves. If the Mets won this game, they would have a three game advantage over Atlanta for the final Wild Card spot and would be a near shoe-in for a postseason birth with only five games remaining in the season. But, in true Mets fashion, they lost that game getting diced up by rookie Spencer Schwellenbach on their way to a 5-1 defeat. Despite all of the miracles that had transpired since June, the same fans who cheered uproariously for the “Grimace Mets” wore a different kind of grimace and began muttering the usual “here we go again”…again. 

But then of course, a hurricane made landfall in the Florida panhandle and the next two games of the Braves series were postponed. The last two games of the season would now be played as a doubleheader in Atlanta with everything on the line. But first the Mets had to head to Milwaukee in what was supposed to be the final series of the year. If they swept the series – they were in. If they won two out of three – they were in. If they won just one of the games, they would need to split the doubleheader in Atlanta to punch their ticket to the postseason and complete a miracle season once and for all. But, again, these are the Mets. So they responded by losing the first two games of the Brewers series. They needed to win the next game to have any hope of hanging on. To the mound went David Peterson. The big lefty was on nobody’s wish list in the offseason and barely squeaked into the Mets rotation despite it’s ramshackle construction but ended up having the best season of his career. He went 10-3 and pitched to a 2.90 ERA in 21 starts but this was the only start that truly mattered. Boy did he deliver.  Peterson threw seven innings of one run ball and won the game. On to Atlanta. All these Mets had to do was win one game of the final two and it would be off to the playoffs. 

Going to Atlanta is always a stressful affair for Mets fans and that stress is exponentially amplified when the season is on the line. Atlanta ripped the division title away in 2022 when the Mets came into town and were decisively swept and now they were looking to do it again. It lined up like this – if the doubleheader is split, both teams make the playoffs. If either team swept the doubleheader, that team was in and the other was out. The Diamondbacks would back door themselves into the playoffs in this scenario and were as anxious as anyone to see the results. 

Game 1 would be Schwellenbach again, a guy that owned the Mets in a way that few others in the league can claim. He was brilliant, tossing seven shutout innings and left the game in the 8th with the Braves leading 3-0. But this is where the Mets had thrived all year – face down on the mat staring at their own mortality. They refused to quit. They couldn’t quit because that would mean the magic would end. 

They scored six runs in that 8th inning capped off by a majestic two-run bomb by Brandon Nimmo that extended the lead to 6-3. 

But the Braves weren’t going to rollover and die either. They weren’t going to let the Mets of all teams walk into their house and steal their souls. They responded by scoring four runs in the bottom of the 8th inning seemingly sucking up, in a way only the Braves can, all of the magic that had floated over this Mets team since Grimace threw his infamous pitch. 

The 9th inning started off with an Alvarez pop up as millions of Mets fans tucked their heads into their hands. Sure they had another game of this doubleheader to play but how do you come back from a loss like this? Had all of the magic worn off? Would we have to sit back and watch the Diamondbacks and Braves drink our champagne as we throw our OMG shirts into storage, a fun vestige of an almost great season? Sure seemed that way. Because this is the Mets after all. Or rather, it WAS the Mets. THESE Mets are different. 

All the sudden, Marte was on base. He singled sharply up the middle. And then stepping to the plate came the Mets’ MVP. The guy that had carried them all year not just physically but emotionally as well – Francisco Lindor. Nursing a back injury that had kept him out of 16 games in September, Lindor had just enough strength to carry this team and its rabid fan base once again. He drove the first pitch he saw from Pierce Johnson over the right-centerfield wall for a home run. 8-7 Mets. As he hit home plate, Marte lifted an exhausted Lindor into his arms in a bear hug, embodying the feelings of millions of Mets fans as they watched on in amazement. This team doesn’t die. This team is magic. 

They didn’t blow this one. The Braves went down quietly and the 2024 Mets had clinched a postseason birth. The power of Grimace and Candilita, and most importantly Francisco Lindor, prevailed. 

Gary Cohen, beside himself with emotion in the SNY booth, summed up the moment brilliantly. 

“From 0-5 to O M G! The Mets are going to the postseason!” 

The Braves went on to win the finale of the doubleheader and clinched their own postseason birth in far less dramatic fashion. The Mets doused themselves in champagne in the visiting clubhouse, seemingly unable to believe like so many others, what they had done. 

Onward to Milwaukee 

The Mets were heading to Milwaukee to play the NL Central champion Brewers in a best of three series. Having just returned from a series where they dropped two out of three, they knew if history repeated itself, their miracle season would be cut short. But at this point it was hard to care too much. The Mets were playing with house money. They shouldn’t be here. It took 161 games and countless “holy shit” moments to even get to this point and if it ended after a tough series against a great team – so be it. At least thats what most of the fans felt but it was clear as soon as they rolled the ball out for Game 1 that the team was not satisfied yet. 

Game 1 was a back and forth affair. The Brewers got out to an early 2-0 lead against Luis Severino but the Mets responded back with three runs of their own in the 2nd inning. Milwaukee took a momentary lead in the bottom of the 4th before the Mets exploded for five runs in the top of the 5th. That was all she wrote and the Mets found themselves one game from the NLDS. Whispers of “team of dynasty” began float around and it was officially time to dream of bigger things in Metland. 

That was until Game 2. With their backs up against the wall, in what could now be described as “Mets-like” the Brewers erased a one-run deficit in the 8th with three of their own thanks to a pair of home runs by their 20-year old superstar Jackson Churios. 

So it was on to Game 3. A do or die sudden death matchup that would either continue on the magic of the 2024 Mets or crush the dreams of one of the best Brewers teams in recent memory. Just when we thought the Mets had used up all of their dramatics fighting for their playoff lives, they seemed to save the best moment for this series. 

The entirety of Game 3 was tense. Both teams seemed tight and anxious at the plate and pitchers on both sides threw the ball brilliantly. Jose Quintana cemented himself into Mets lore by tossing 6 shutout innings and rookie Tobias Meyers added five scoreless frames of his own. The game was devoid of any runs going into the 7th inning when Milwaukee hit what looked to be the kill shot. Back-to-back home runs off the bats of Jake Bauers and Frelick put the Brewers ahead 2-0. The Mets went down feebly in the 8th inning in a crucial shutdown inning for the Milwaukee bullpen and then it was on to the 9th to face closer Devin Williams. Williams was arguably the best closer in the National League pitching to a 1.25 ERA giving up only three runs in 21 innings during the regular season. For almost everyone tuning in-this game was over. Devin Williams didn’t blow saves. 

The calculus quickly shifted, however when Francisco Lindor gutted out a lead off walk to get a runner on base to start the inning. After a Mark Vientos strikeout, Brandon Nimmo hit a sharp line drive into right field to put runners on first and third with one out and the Mets down by two runs. Into the batters box stepped Pete Alonso. The contract year for Alonso did not go as planned after turning down a 7-year $125 million contract offer from the Mets in the offseason. Despite being the lone Mets All-Star selection, Pete finished with a .240 batting average an OPS south of .800. He had amplified his mediocrity in the Wild Card round, hitting under .200 and failing to drive in a run in the first two games. With the season on the line, Alonso worked the count to 3-1 and was able to lay off a handful of nasty Devin Williams changeups – his signature pitch. 

In the 5th pitch of the at-bat, Williams threw another change up, this time hanging up and out over the plate. Alonso attacked the pitch like a rabid dog and mashed the barrel of his bat into the ball, driving it deep into right field. 

Alonso let out a primal, jubilant scream as soon as he made contact. He knew right away. That ball was going to leave the yard and give the Mets a 3-2 lead. 

Pure pandemonium broke out in the Mets dugout, the players equally as disbelieving as the millions of fans watching at home. Thousands watching remotely on Citi Field’s Jumbotron were shown in raucous celebration. 

Not only had Pete Alonso brought the Mets back from the brink of elimination against one of the preeminent pitchers in baseball but he rewrote the story of his legacy and his career with one swing of his bat. He was now an eternal hero in Mets history. He had done the impossible. 

After adding an insurance run, the Mets closed out the Brewers 4-2 and once again celebrated on an opponent’s pitchers mound. The Mets were moving on to play the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS and only seemed to be adding to the magic.

A Grand Statement 

In the 62 years that the Mets and Phillies have coexisted, they have somehow never faced off in a postseason series. The highly anticipated battle between division foes brought with it all of the stress of having your championship aspirations dashed by a hated rival. There is no love lost between the two fan bases who frequently exchange heated rhetoric and barbs online and in person. Bragging rights and so much more were at stake in the best-of-five series and because they handedly won the NL East crown, the Phillies had home field advantage and were well rested after the bye week. 

Game 1 in Philadelphia got off to an inauspicious start for the Mets who were looking to carry their heroics into the city of brotherly love. Kodai Senga, finally back and healthy, saw his third pitch of the afternoon sail into the upper deck of Citizens Bank Park off the bat of lead off hitter Kyle Schwarber. At that moment, it seemed like it might be a long series for the underdog Mets. Things continued to look bleak through the next 7 innings as Phillies’ ace Zack Wheeler utterly dominated Mets hitters. Wheeler was nearly untouchable surrendering just one hit and no runs through the first seven frames. But four walks and some tough at bats throughout elevated his pitch count enough that manger Rob Thompson went to his bullpen in the 8th inning with the Phillies leading by just a single skinny run. 

Thats when the Mets went to work. 

They treated reliever Jeff Hoffman rudely in the top of the 8th who failed to record an out in the outing. Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering were equally as unaffected and by the time Tyrone Taylor popped out to end the inning, the Mets had scratched across five hits, 5 runs and now led the game 5-1. They had done it again. 

When the dust settled, the Mets won the game 6-2 and had taken Game 1 of the series in comeback fashion. A shell shocked Phillies team had wasted a legendary performance from their best starter and watched their dominant bullpen get swatted around by Mets hitters. 

In Game 2 it was the Mets that got out to an early lead thanks to a long ball by Mark Vientos off Christopher Sanchez in the 3rd inning. New York got on the board again when Pete Alonso went deep off Jose Ruiz in the 6th. But things quickly began to unravel after that. Luis Severino surrendered back to back home runs to Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos which tied the score at 3-3. Despite a go ahead home run by Brandon Nimmo in the next inning, the Phillies answered back in resounding fashion when Bryson Stott tripled off Edwin Diaz in the 8th inning to break the stalemate and put the Phillies out in front. Vientos failed to handle a slow roller by J.T. Realmuto in after that and the Mets went into their final at bat down by two runs and were looking to once again come back to life in dramatic fashion. 

In the 9th, Francisco Lindor smashed a single into centerfield with one out bringing up Vientos as the potential tying run. The 24-year old was tearing up Phillie pitching in the series and was looking for his own signature moment to add to the Mets highlight reel. And boy did he deliver. 

After working the count to 3-2, Vientos drove a neck high fastball deep into the Philadelphia night and over the left field wall. Tie game. 

Just when you thought this Mets team was out of surprises, they delivered yet again. A stunned Philly crowd watched on in collective horror as the Mets once again pulled themselves back from the brink. 

This story would not have a fairy tale ending, however. The Phillies and Nick Castellanos walked it off in the bottom of the 9th sending the series to New York tied at one game a piece. But the Mets had proved again that they were made of stronger stuff and they would never ever say die. 

Game 3 in New York had none of the drama of the first two and the Mets won it in dominating fashion by a score of 7-2. Brilliant pitching by Sean Manaea and yet another home run by Pete Alonso helped put the Mets in a position to clinch a postseason series at Citi Field for the first time ever. 

Game 4 was setup to be the most dramatic yet. The Phillies were staring elimination in the face and the Mets were looking to cement themselves as true championship contenders and a certified “team of destiny.” Not only was the NLCS on the horizon for the Mets if they won, the prospect of a loss struck fear into the hearts of every fan and player alike. If the Mets failed to clinch in Game 4, they would be looking at a  do-or-die Game 5 back in Philadelphia with Zack Wheeler on the mound for the Phillies. That is not a fortuitous position for any team to be in and the Mets knew that this game was the one they needed. 

Jose Quintana started on the bump for the Mets and once again pitched brilliantly. He held the Phillies to just a single run in five innings but the Mets failed to break into the scoring column against the Phillies and Ranger Suarez. This was not for lack of opportunities, however. The Mets left nine men on base in the first 4 innings including loading the bases twice without scoring. 

But in the 6th inning, the Mets were about to show the world that they were not even close to running out of magic. In fact, you could say they this moment was their most amazing yet. 

A single, hit by pitch, and walk is how the Mets greeted Jeff Hoffman in the 6th inning. Rob Thompson, looking to thwart another bases loaded opportunity for the Mets offense, walked out to the mound to retrieve Hoffman and exchange him for all-star Carlos Estevez who would come in to face Francisco Lindor. 

It is no secret that the Mets would not be in this position without Lindor. He had been the Mets best player all season and had already delivered one legendary moment just a few days earlier in Atlanta. But the Mets needed one more. They needed their MVP to deliver for them one more time. 

And deliver he did. 

With a raucous Citi Field crowd on their feet, Francisco Lindor turned on a 2-1 fastball over the heart of the plate and smashed it into the right field bullpen. Grand slam. The Mets now led 4-1. 

To say this was the greatest moment in Citi Field history would be an understatement. Never before had a Mets player delivered in such tremendous fashion in front of his home fans. Lindor circled the bases like he had just hit a solo shot in a July game in Miami while everything around him was pure pandemonium. 

They had done it again. This Mets team never gave up. They never wavered and most importantly they never died. 

The Phillies, who hit .186 as a team during the series, could not muster up a fight after such a tremendous knock out punch. They went down quietly the next three innings and the Mets once again had reason to celebrate. 

They were off to the NLCS. The story continues. 

The Mets will face the Dodgers in the National League Championship series which kicks off this weekend in souther California. The Dodgers were the best team in the National League this year and have a lineup filled with all-stars and MVPs. But what we will soon find out is if they have the fortitude or the wherewithal to wrestle with the divine. 

This Mets team has turned even the biggest cynics into true believers. They play with a charisma and a grit that is unmatched by any team in their franchise’s history. They have over delivered in every conceivable way and will be looking to bring their unique brand of magic to Dodgers stadium and vanquish their final National League challenge. More so, they will be searching for their first World Series championship in 38 years and they need just eight more wins to make that reality. 

Destiny awaits and the show must go on. 

O M G