After a sweep of the Washington Nationals and finding themselves in first place Tuesday morning, New York Mets fans are understandably giddy.
By Armando Perez
In 1984 a young New York Mets team went into Wrigley field late in the season and got swept by the eventual division winners, the Chicago Cubs.
In 1985, the Mets battled the St. Louis Cardinals late in the year, only to come up short once again. Cardinals’ second baseman Tommy Herr seemed to get a big hit every game against the Mets that year.
Herr finished the ‘85 season with 8 home runs and 110 RBI. Herr and Paul Molitor are the only players in the history of MLB to have 100 RBI and less than 10 home runs. Molitor did it in 1996 when he had 9 homeruns and 113 RBI.
The Mets hosted the first place Washington Nationals this weekend at Citi Field, perfectly setting up their three young, talented arms: Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. The Mets swept Nationals and are now tied for first place in the National League East.
- Harvey pitched 7.2 innings, gave up 1 run, struck out 9 and walked 0 batters.
- deGrom pitched 6 innings, gave up 2 runs, struck out 7 and walked 1 batter.
- Syndergaard pitched 8 innings, gave up 2 runs, struck out 9 and walked 0 batters.
Against first place Washington, the Mets starters struck out 25 batters and only walked one in three games.
Lucas Duda continues to lead the Mets in offense. He now has 9 home runs in his last 10 games. He became the first player since Marcus Thames (2008 Detroit Tigers) to have 8 consecutive hits, all be home runs in 24 at bats.
The Mets were the big winners at the trading deadline. All told they acquired:
- Pitcher: Tyler Clippard 18 saves
- LF: Kelly Johnson, .265 batting average, 10 homeruns, 35 RBIs
- 3B: Juan Uribe, .269 batting average, 9 homeruns, 25RBIs
- OF: Yoenis Cespedes, .290 batting average, 18 homeruns, 61 RBIs
With Cespedes in the lineup (or as Jerry Seinfeld Tweeted “a Cespedes for the Rest of us”) the Mets now have three legitimate power hitters, (Duda, 21 HR, Curtis Granderson, 17 HR, Cespedes, 18 HR). If and when David Wright comes back, the Mets lineup could be scary. Any of these four players can carry a team on offense.
The Mets are built for the future, but they can win now.
They have three “stud pitchers,” and their two relievers Jeurys Familia and Clippard have a combined 46 saves. The Amazin’s also have a favorable schedule down the stretch, they only play 15 games against teams with an over .500 record.
New York will make the playoffs, and with their pitching and offense, they have a legitimate chance to win the World Series this year.
When the New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, their announcer, Sam Rosen said, “The waiting is over!” Mets fans have suffered long enough, but, the wait is over.
The Next 5-10 years, Citi Field should be amazing.
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