Photo Credit: Kathy Willens/AP
What is one of the best things about sports? Getting to watched teams that none of the experts picked succeed. This year, that team was the New York Mets who went on to win the National League Championship. The Mets have been the butt of so many jokes over the last few seasons. However, the team had some stars waiting in the wings, or just in their farm system. Pitchers like Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom impressed many fans and showed this franchise was finally headed in the right direction.
The Mets were overshadowed by the Washington Nationals who had players like Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper on their roster. However, this team believed in itself. Despite being one of the worst lineups and being three games out of first place at the time of the All-Star Break, the team went out and made some trades to bolster their lineup. The Mets started making moves, including one that was supposed to send injured pitcher Zack Wheeler and shortstop Wilmer Flores to Milwaukee in exchange for outfielder Carlos Gomez. However, that trade fell through and an even better trade emerged.
Right at the trade deadline the team was able acquire to Detroit slugger Yoenis Cespedes. The addition of Cespedes’ bat made the team official contenders with a stunning rotation that featured four aces; two being rookies. After an impressive August, the Mets had the National League East lead and looked like they were headed to the playoffs. Of course fans were not exactly celebrating, still having memories of the epic collapse in 2007.
The team won the division while in Cincinnati and went on to play the Dodgers. After some dramatic moments, the Mets defeated the Dodgers in five games and was set to face another young team, the Chicago Cubs. The Mets were unable to win a game against this same Cubs team during the regular season making many think this would be the end of the line for a team that’d already exceeded many expectations. However, thanks to a smoking hot bat from second baseman Daniel Murphy, the Mets swept the Cubs and were headed back to the World Series.
Unfortunately, the team ran into a Royals team that was playing phenomenal baseball all season. Even though they fell just short of winning the whole thing, this season’s Mets were like none before. They were fun to watch because they were having fun playing. This team never gave up and always gave fans a reason to believe!
