Take a moment and suspend reality for a minute as a dream world sets in. Suddenly, you wake up and it’s October. The leaves have started to change color, but you’ve missed baseball season and to your utmost surprise, the New York Mets have been crowned World Series Champions!
Shocked? I’m sure. But not as shocked as the Detroit Tigers were watching Justin Verlander give up the game-winning home run to Lucas Duda in Game 7 of the World Series.
How did that happen you might ask? Let’s take a look.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7 –
|
In only the third game of Spring Training, there is already magic in the air for the Mets. Jose Reyes wears his hideous new Miami Marlins jersey for the first time against his former team and proclaims, “I wish the Mets offered me a contract, between my dreads and this uniform, it’s obvious I made the wrong decision.” |
THURSDAY, APRIL 5 –
|
R.A. Dickey is given the Opening Day nod while Johan Santana still rehabs his shoulder. Dickey doesn’t disappoint and holds Braves hitters to only three hits over eight innings. After the game, Dickey said climbing Mt. Kiliminjaro over the winter gave him a spiritual edge over his opponents. |
SATURDAY, MAY 26 –
|
Lucas Duda hits his NL leading 15th home run to give the Mets not only the series sweep over the Padres, but the division lead. Joel Sherman of “The New York Post” calls Duda the next Adam Dunn in his Sunday column the next day. |
FRIDAY, JUNE 8 –
|
Just in time for the first Subway Series of the year, Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson announces Andres Torres will no longer be starting in center field and that prospect Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been called up to take his place. Nieuwenhuis delivers immediately, knocking in the winning run off Mariano Rivera to give the Mets a 3-2 win over the Yanks. |
MONDAY, JUNE 18 –
|
Johan Santana makes his first start since his injury in 2010. Johan tells Joey Votto and the Reds not to mess with him as he fans six hitters over the 5.2 innings he pitches. After the game, Votto tells reporters, “I didn’t believe him out there, he’s back.” |
SUNDAY, JULY 1 –
|
The Mets and their outstanding play leaves ESPN no choice but to add the Amazin’s to their Sunday Night Baseball lineup. Despite not being on the schedule earlier this year, the team will face the Dodgers. New ESPN analyst Terry Francona calls the Mets “unbeatable” during the telecast also noting that Terry Collins “is a better manager than I ever was.” |
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25 –
|
Stephen Strasburg struggles as the Mets clobber the Nats. Jason Bay continues his resurgence as a middle-of-the order bat and hits three home runs off the young phenom. Asked about his re-found hitting-stroke, Bay simply replied, “The walls at Citi moving in certainly helped.” |
TUESDAY, JULY 31 –
|
Standing atop the NL East with a 68-39 record, the Mets are aggressive buyers in the trade market. Looking for starting pitching, the team reaches a deal with the Chicago Cubs to acquire Matt Garza in exchange for prospects Cesar Puello, Juan Urbina and Jordany Valdespin. “The cost was high,” Alderson said on Twitter after the trade. “But we’re going all in, plus we’ll send them a box of chocolates.” |
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29 –
|
Despite the Phillies making a late-season push, the Mets are able to overcome both Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay in the same series, cementing them as the team to beat in the NL East. “I know I talk way too much,” Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said after the team’s 5-0 defeat. “But they are damn good.” |
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 –
|
Daniel Murphy leaves the game after an errant double-play slide by Ryan Braun knocks him to the ground. For the third time in three years, Murphy tears ligaments in his knee, knocking him out for the season. “I think I need to play a position I’ve actually learned,” Murphy said after the game. Prospect Reese Havens is called up from AAA to replace Murphy. |
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 –
|
With a two-hit shutout over the Pirates from Johan Santana, the Mets clinch the NL East for the first time since 2006. In the midst of the champagne shower, Terry Collins beams with happiness, “People doubted us from the beginning,” the manager said. “But we showed them, this team had heart and we played to win every day.” |
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9 –
|
The Mets handle the Wild Card winning L.A. Dodgers with ease, putting them down in three games. “I should have hit free agency,” Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp said after losing the series. “I could have been playing for the Mets.” |
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16 –
|
The NLCS goes to the Mets after Mike Pelfrey is able to squash the offensive might of the Phillies and give the Mets a chance in the final inning of Game 7. Down by a run with the bases-loaded and two outs, centerfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis steps up to the plate and racks up a 3-2 count. With a final pitch from Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon, Nieuwenhuis doesn’t go down looking, but smacks a single over the head of Ryan Howard. “I’m glad I swung in that situation,” Nieuwenhuis said. “Who wouldn’t?” |
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31 –
|
As spooky as it might seem, the Mets clinch their third World Series title to commemorate their 50th season as a franchise. After Duda’s solo homerun to break the 0-0 pitcher’s duel between Matt Garza and Verlander that had unfolded in Game 7, the team storms home plate. |
—-
Alright, snap out of it. That was all fairy tale worthy and likely won’t be the case come November. But baseball is a funny thing; you never truly know how the season will end. So, cheer up Mets fans, maybe things can go our way.