It was 30 years ago that the Mets won the world championship. I almost did something for the site on the 30th anniversary of Game Six, but I fought the urge. To me, Game Six means nothing without Game Seven. Without fulfilling the destiny, the glory of Game Six is the Carlton Fisk home run in the 1975 World Series: a tremendous moment, but invariably anticlimactic because Boston blew a 3-0 lead in Game Seven in ’75. And the Red Sox blew a 3-0 lead in Game Seven in 1986.

Many people forget that the Mets were down by three runs in the sixth inning and were dominated by Bruce Hurst in the deciding game, who’d already beaten them twice in the Series. Then in the span of just over a dozen pitches, the Mets rallied to tie the game. Keith Hernandez’s two-run single to put the Mets on the board may be the biggest hit of his Mets career. And during our interviews for One-Year Dynasty, Keith still couldn’t believe that it was almost the exact same situation as Game Seven in the 1982 World Series, when Keith the Cardinal got the big hit with his team trailing the Brewers in the deciding game. “I just did what I always did in a tight situation,” he said, “which is take a couple of deep breaths and count to ten, slow everything down and get in the box. I mean you can’t run and hide. There I am. I’m either going to do it or I’m not.”

If he’d hit into a double play, the inning is over. Maybe Hurst pitches a complete game like he did in Game Five. Then there is no Curse of the Bambino and perhaps Boston has an even more inflated image. It’s possible. Hurst had already been voted Series MVP. But of course, Keith got the hit, Ray Knight got the Series MVP, and Hurst and the Red Sox got the short end of the stick. But who cares about them? It’s the Mets who have had to hold onto that moment, milk it, have people not yet born accept it as their team’s greatest moment. It was a superb moment. The team didn’t have staying power but the moment certainly did.

I still have a pennant from that season—as do the Mets—but all the swag I received at Christmas disappeared over time. And while I have bought a couple of Mets NL Champion shirts and Division Series shirts over the intervening three decades, I rarely wear them. I am holding out for the real thing. And I am going to make sure I don’t let it out of my sight. With the Mets you never know how long you’re going to have to make it last.

One of the tenets of being a diehard fan of a team is that you are rooting for that team, no matter what. If Damien Satan III was called up from the minors and got on base every time up, while at the same time All-Stars on your team’s rivals began dying, a hardcore fan might say that’s some extraordinary luck and change the subject to how cute Damien’s rottweiler is and how he helps the poor trade their souls for goods and services. As a Mets fan I have rooted for some loathsome characters and players I just did not like, only to cheer them without a second thought when they came through at a key—or even not so key—moment.

Postseason battles between other teams are a different matter. Most of the time, who cares who wins or who doesn’t? Unlike the Super Bowl, which is just a day (thankfully), sometimes you never really get behind either team and instead put much of your energy into devouring guacamole or your favorite intoxicant at the party spread before one team takes a 32-0 lead. But to watch the World Series—and what red-blooded baseball fan does not? (though if the Yankees are involved you do what you have to do)— is a four- to seven-night commitment. It’s hard to watch for that long while staying objective. Just ask Joe Buck! (And thank you, Fox, for finally deeming this round of baseball competition worthy of a channel not numbered in the 400s, where people staying in hotels or living within their means might have access.)

I used to pick my rooting interests before the World Series and stuck by them. Then the 1993 World Series happened. I have loved the Blue Jays since their first-ever game in 1977, played in a snowstorm, when I spent hours willing the broadcast beamed onto my black-and-white TV in New York by an ESPN that did not yet exist. The 1993 pennant winner was the Phillies, a team I have never liked since much of my baseball fan apprenticeship in the 1970s and early 1980s, was spent watching the Phillies serve as the boxing glove to the Mets’ punching bag. Yet there I was in October of ’93, rooting for the Phillies to come back on the Jays in the butt ugly 15-14 Game Four that Toronto held on to win. I was never so relieved in a non-Mets rooting/non-Yankees loathing postseason circumstance as when Joe Carter hit that walkoff home run, touched them all, and put an end to Philadelphia’s and my misery. I felt dirty when it was over. Or maybe that was the bender I was on from my high school reunion that weekend. But that is nothing compared to the impending benders throughout parts of the Midwest if either the Cubs or Indians take the title they have been cumulatively been waiting 174 seasons for.

The Cubs have not won since 1908. You may have heard this. Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown and Orval Overall won the four games against the Tigers, whom the Cubs had beaten the previous year for the world’s championship, as they possessively called it then. Three Finger and Overall each pitched complete games shutouts in the final two games of the World Series. The 2016 Cubs had that many complete-game shutouts all year. It was a different time, but as forever Cubs fan and forever funnyman Bill Murray said, most people don’t get what it’s like to root for a team that never wins. “It builds character.”

Cleveland fans would know all about that. Cleveland has not won the World Series since 1948, with a team managed by Lou Boudreau. The 30-year-old player-manager had come up with the first widely discussed shift for Ted Williams and Lou was 1948 AL MVP (when only one manager was honored by The Sporting News, Billy Meyer was named TSN Manager of the Year with Ralph Kiner’s ’48 Pirates). Boudreau did lead the league in WAR, which in 1948 he might have thought was a slight at being declared 4-F during World War II because of arthritic ankles.

There are the silly curses: Billy goats in Chicago, Rocky Colavito in Cleveland. There is the Midwestern sturdiness aspect. And there are the nicknames that are the last in a long line for these franchises. “Cubs” stuck as the name after the White Stockings, Colts, and Orphans came and went. Cleveland started with Blues and went with Bronchos (not sure of why it was spelled that way) and Naps (for the great Napoleon Lajoie, long forgotten despite his stellar name and game). “Indians” has been the name for more than a century, but I can’t say it’s right. Charles Bender was already a stellar member of the Philadelphia A’s for a decade and had long been known as “Chief” when “Indians” became the official name for Cleveland’s team. I’m sure he kept calling them “Cleveland” or “Naps,” just as he kept signing his name “Charles Bender” for autographs until the end of his life in the spring of 1954, a year after he was elected to the Hall of Fame. That the ’54 Tribe won an AL-record 111 games and were swept in the World Series is a coincidence, I’m sure.

I’m not here to talk about the team nickname. That it is offensive to a people that has so much dignity is enough for me. I will try avoiding using the word “Indians” here and in speech, but it will be difficult. You see, when I was in my back yard, throwing a ball in the air and hitting it, I made up not just a whole cast of teammates, but an entire  American League of fictional stars. (I picked the Indians for my fictional career because beiong on the Mets seemed too far-fetched.) And I was third baseman when the Indians finally won the World Series. This was in the 1970s, but given that I was 11 and 12 at the time, their championship was projected as around 1990. And now we’re 40 years past me teaching myself to switch-hit so I could be a switch-hitter in my pretend American League. And we’re 26 years past the projected date of that world championship. (By the way I hit the Series clinching inside-the-park homer, lefty, naturally—and don’t think the hair didn’t prick up on the back of my neck when Cleveland’s Tyler Naquin ended a game with a touch-’em-all home run earlier this year.

Just like I don’t summarily discount clutch hitting because the player at the plate believes it exists, I am not going to assume that because I may be OK with a nickname that the group it targets isn’t deeply affected. My family goes back far enough in this country that I am not sure if we are more German or Irish or Spanish or whatever. But whoever it was carrying my genes was a newcomer next to the natives. And they may be as insulted as they might be if Cleveland’s team was called Krauts or Micks or what have you.

But this is about taking sides in a ballgame. And I remain torn. I have numerous friends—and some relatives—who are Cubs fans. I have a new edition of a book on the Cubs I co-wrote that you can buy while supplies last. And they play in the best ballpark still in existence, though I have not been to Wrigley Field since it had its up-do.

On the other side, I know just one Indians fan, and the book I was paid to work on about the Indians is 20 years old and so long out of print I can’t even find a mention of it on the internet. Though I may have gone the other way on the nickname, I am not opposed to the ballclub. They pitch, they hit, they run, they win, they are not the Yankees.

But I am a prisoner, awaiting my heart to tap me mid-game and say who I am rooting for. A prisoner of baseball. And happily so.

For the second time ever the Mets went to the postseason two years in a row. For the first time ever the Mets were dumped without winning a postseason game, much less a series. One-game Wild Card play-in game, or whatever you wanted to call it, you had your chance to woo me that this was a great way to start the postseason. I’d still rather see a best-of-three Wild Card to give teams a taste to the way the schedule is for six months, or, to be honest, I’d rather see one Wild Card instead of two. Does not matter much now. That Mets-Giants game was a spectacular game for eight innings. And if that had been a single or a double instead of a home run by Conor Gillaspie—the Bucky Dent (or Brian Doyle) of a new generation—there may be a different vibe to the post mortem. I have taken a few days for perspective’s sake, but I am not going to tarnish what was a really impressive season. I like the youth movement. If there are players that are not healthy or out of the price range, they need to move on. They have so much pitching that they actually need to trade some because they cannot all make it (or stay healthy). And I think the Mets are at that point where getting a postseason veteran or two in the lineup can help. A Mike Napoli type or Keith Hernandez Jr., if such a person existed. But this is the team the Mets had to play with this year. Some of these names were as obscure as Mr. Gillaspie was until the top of the ninth inning, but they were part of a winning formula. And while these grades are individual, I traditionally grade the team based on number of wins. That is 87 in my marking book, and an 87 is a B+. Pretty good considering the best students in the class were home schooled for the last semester. As for who qualifies for grades, I went with 50 ABs, 25 IP, though I have painstakingly listed everyone who appeared at all for the 2016 Mets on this report card. Now let’s get these grades handed out. Final 2014 Grades 1H   2H  Final         Notes Noah Syndergaard A    A    A   Start here because there is no triumph in 2016 if this stud is not healthy all year. He is the leader of staff. Jeurys Familia       A     A-   A   Mets achieve nothing without club record-shattering 51 saves; 94 saves since ’15 more than McGraw Mets career. Bartolo Colon        B+   A-   B+ He is the Thornton Mellon of the Mets: Back to School Bartolo can do anything, including clinching Wild Card spot. Addison Reed       B+   A-   B+ You wonder if Reeder can possibly be this good again. Despite overwork, .181 BA at home, 1.15 ERA on road. Yoenis Cespedes   A     B   B+  When hot, Yo is as good as any Mets hitter in history. Backbone of lineup. Hurt in second half but still a warrior. Asdrubel Cabrera   B     A-   B+ Speaking of warriors, this guy was glue to infield while playing on one leg. Had biggest HR of year. A real leader. Jacob deGrom      B     B-   B    It’s hard to give a guy who was pitching hard a bad grade for second half. Had losing record but ERA under 3.00. Steven Matz         B     B-   B   Like deGrom, hard to give a bad grade to a guy pitching hurt. And the rook pitched well mostly with 3.40 ERA. Neil Walker           C+   B+ B    May be back. Had 6 HR and .389/.450/.667 in August when he went down for year. Weird: 23 HR and 9 2B. Wilmer Flores        B-    B   B    Hit .340 vs. lefties (.232 vs. RHP). Versatile, homegrown, and very much missed down stretch and in WC game. Jerry Blevins         B     B-  B    Lefty not as good as first half, but healthy all year, 52 K’s in 42 innings, and earned 2 saves in big spots. Curtis Granderson  C      B   B-   Curtis the Magician. Slightly lower numbers in 2H than 1H but was stud down stretch: 30 HR and hit .302 in Sept. James Loney        B-    B-   B-   Not as good in second half, but came up so big in final week he earns B-. Fit in well with team and solid glove. Kelly Johnson        B    C+   B-   Slow finish, but big July & August: .286, 6 HR, 17 RBI. Mets struggled vs. Atlanta, but K.J. had 2 game-winners. Hansel Robles        B    C+   B-   Still could have big future with club. Can’t spell Robles without Roles. Staggered a little in 2H, but came out OK. Rene Rivera          C-    B-   C+  Not as good in second half, but came up so big in final week he earns B-. Fit in well with team and solid glove. Michael Conforto    C    C-    C    Off year all way around, but too young with too much upside to give up on. Exiled in minors far too long in ’16. Jim Henderson      C+   D    C    Didn’t serve much purpose in 2H. His 7.71 ERA in August made sure 1.80 Sept. ERA came in one-sided games. Travis d’Arnaud     C     D    C-   Caught every inning last postseason. This year lost job to journeyman. Was more useless then hurt in 2H. Alejandro De Aza  F    C+   D+   Absolute waste in 1H; absolutely essential in 2H. Hit .255 as PH, .365 in July, and had .333 OBP in 2H. Logan Verrett        C-   F     D    Wonder if Mets might have contended with Nationals if they split his 12 starts between Lugo & Gsellman. Eric Campbell         F    C-    D    Soup was of more use in September than rest of year. Made contact plus a few nice plays at 1B. Kevin Plawecki       D     D    D    Close as to whether should be INC for 2H, but served as third string for last month. No longer a prospect. Only Appeared in One Half as Met 1H   2H         Notes T.J. Rivera                   B+        PCL batting champ comes to NY and hits .333 when starting 2B goes down. Hard hitting and hard nosed. Jose Reyes                   B          Most controversial move of year turned out to be one of the best. Only speed on team and most energy. Seth Lugo                     B          Postseason impossible without Lugo coming out of nowhere to be solid starter: 5-2 with 2.67 ERA. Robert Gsellman             B          Ditto on Gsellman. Showed poise of veteran with hair that fits right behind Noah and deGrom—at stylist. Brandon Nimmo             C+        Didn’t qualify for grade in 1H, but showed good bat and eye. Went 6 for 12 as PH. Fast but had no steals. Jay Bruce                     C           With Mets, you get bonus points if you excel in final week of season. Hope he comes around in 2017. David Wright        C                    Hope we will see him on field again sometime. He had to feel pretty lousy that Mets rallied without him. Lucas Duda         C        Inc        Lost season for Duda. Back issues, then ineffective after return so 2H mark incomplete. Just 7 HRs all year. Juan Lagares       C        Inc        Same for Juan; was mostly defensive replacement. Hit .222 as starter and .294 as sub. Only 5 PA after injury. Matt Harvey        C-                   Best game was 1-0 loss in duel vs. late Jose Fernandez. Makes whining over Harvey seem inconsequential. Ty Kelly                        C-         Amazin’ this guy got 80 plate appearances and AB in WC game. Hustle guy: versatile with good patience. Eric Goeddel                   C-         Didn’t pitch enough for first half grade, though turned out had much better 1H. And way better at home. Antonio Bastardo   D-                  That they got out of 2-year contract for him and brought back live body yet another Sandy steal. Not Enough Time Served for Grade Jon Niese                      Inc        Of course, guy Mets got for Bastardo was old pal Jon. Biggest contribution was making Mets use Gsellman. Fernando Salas               Inc        Never knew what to expect, but usually meant a clean seventh. Walked none in 17.1 IP with 2.08 ERA. Josh Smoker                  Inc        Lefty pitched 20 times, but missed innings limit for inclusion. Good arm, attitude, mustache, and name. Justin Ruggiano               Inc        Not sure why this guy was on team, but would someone with grand slam off Bumgarner has some merit. Gabriel Ynoa                  Inc         Don’t know if he has talent, but he has nerve. Debut ended losing streak and kept Mets in game in starts. Rafael Montero               Inc         Mets needed a starter and Montero made 3 starts, only 1 of them bad. Not all prospects are prospects. Gavin Cecchini                 Inc         Played very sparingly in Sept. Did have 2 2Bs and 2 RBI in 6 AB. Could be him or Wilmer in future. Sean Gilmartin                 Inc         Did not pitch enough for grade, but know what we have here. Even 17.2 IP can’t hide 7.13 ERA. Josh Edgin                      Inc         Still left-handed but not much else. Specialty was Sept. special: T.C.’s 5th and 6th inning lefty reliever. Management Terry Collins            B     A-   B+     Tough loss in WC game, but came up with big wins down stretch. Manager of the Year in this grade book. Sandy Alderson        B+   B+  B+    He had magic touch this year. Though Jay Bruce struggled, getting him showed Sandy knows time is now!

October 4, 2016

 

Favorite Nonplaying Met has been a favorite noncrucial award doled out by yours truly dating all the way back to the early 1990s. It began as a way for me to subtly posit that I could be the manager if I had A. played minor league ball, B. endured 10,000 bus rides between Cedar Rapids and every Springfield ever made, C. knew what I was talking about, and D. had the power to make out a lineup.

So I pick out a player each year to be FNP Met. Maybe he is in the real manager’s doghouse, or maybe he is stuck behind someone I think he’s better than, or I am just using the power of what might have been to make my point. Sometimes, such as the rare case of Heath Bell, I was right (for a while, at least). But when you look at the long list of scrubinees and the many “they were Mets?,” you’ll see that every skipper from Bud Harrelson to Terry Collins might have known something. Past winners have included Chris Donnels, Todd Pratt, Dicky Gonzalez, Anthony Recker, Kirk Nieuwenhuis… you get the idea. Nick Evans was the only two-time winner, that says a lot about this award right off the bat. One of the first, if not the first FNP (even my memory gets fuzzy about something that was invented after about 10 beers) was Mackey Sasser. Mackey couldn’t throw but sure could hit; he can scout, too, giving the Mets the scoop on his former Wallace College player T.J. Rivera, who had been undrafted and now looks to be a start in at least one postseason game.

Last fall I was up to my ears in editing and updates and there really was no good choice because everyone played so well and just about the right amount, So after the postseason I went with Jose Uribe, who got a little forgotten after David Wright came back. Then Jose got hurt and didn’t play the last few weeks of the season. Sort of like Wilmer Flores now. My biggest beef about Jose’s playing time was how he was not chosen to be DH in the first two World Series games in Kansas City. When he pinch-hit in Game Three in Flushing, he looked plenty healthy as he rocketed an RBI single. And he didn’t play again. Uribe only played in every game during the curse-ending World Series titles by the White Sox and Giants. Surprised he wasn’t on the Royals roster the way they broke their own 30-year drought. Now the Mets’ drought has reached 30, you may have read about that.

Well, let’s give Terry Collins credit this year—and if T.C. gets ripped off for the Manager of the Year Award like he did last year, you’ll hear a distant upstate scream some time next month. Terry could have and maybe should have benched Curtis Granderson this summer, but despite sitting him for a brief time, he stuck with Grandy, who responded with 30 homers (his record-low 59 RBI for a 30-homer guy is not all his doing). Terry likewise stuck with Jay Bruce and it paid off in the crucial final week of the year. Asdrubel Cabrera went two months (and 32 at bats) between hits with a runner in scoring position. Nobody is complaining about that now.

Wilmer Flores saw more bench time than he should have—playing only against lefties for much of the year—but when he was injured and knocked out for the season in Atlanta, he was playing second base every day. Wish he was still available for October.

But it is October now and I am going to go with an FNP that as of this writing I am not sure is on the postseason roster. And I’m not even sure he deserves to be on it. But I am still picking Michael Conforto with an even more half-hearted vote than last year. I almost went with Brandon Nimmo for the award because he’s almost exclusively been a pinch hitter—and pretty good at that role—but Nimmo was not up for very long this season. Conforto was in New York enough to come to the plate 348 times—way more than any past FNP—but I am granting Michael dispensation for his long exile in the minors, especially for someone who looked so good last October and looked great making that sliding catch to clinch the 2015 postseason berth.

So come claim your prize, Conforto. And lay off those pitches in the dirt! I’m out on a limb for ya. Let’s go Mets!