I sympathize with Cleveland Indians fans.
A walk off win is going to provide two vastly different experiences, depending on which team you root for.
Last night, we got to enjoy JD Davis doing his best WWE wrestler impression in his post game interview. That came after watching the Mets chase him into the outfield and tear his jersey off . We got to watch Gary Cohen call the winning hit and throw his pen down.
You don’t have to guess what was going on in Cleveland. The Mets are insanely hot right now, but the wounds of 2017 and 2018 are still fresh.
Indians fans were likely debating each other on who should have covered first base last night. Maybe a few people had some thoughts about Terry Francona’s bullpen management. Scroll back to last week when Callaway pulled Matz after 79 pitches to get an idea.
I mentioned 2017 and 2018 for one reason. The Mets don’t win that game last night if it was played during those seasons.
The starting pitcher was pulled after 4 innings? We need a minimum of five innings from the bullpen? We would be waiting for stomach punch.
This Met team is finding ways to win. At the end of the day, that’s what good teams do.
Are the Mets a good team? Are they just hot?
That remains to be seen, but they sure look good. Dropped ball in the outfield? Conforto makes them pay. No one covers first on a double play ball? Davis makes them pay.
That’s ingrained the the DNA of a good team. Take advantage of mistakes.
In 2018 we’d be waiting for the other shoe to drop. Once the starting pitcher was removed with an injury, we’d just be wondering what reliever would give up a run. And then we’d debate all night about which reliever should have been in the game instead.
Not in August of 2019. What really makes this run special is that every night has a different hero.
Juan Lagares. Luis Guillorme. Joe Panik. Everyone is contributing. (Everyone except Aaron Altherr, that is.)
And guess what? Our relievers did give up runs. Brad Brach gave up a run. Luis Avilan gave up a run. No big deal. We got them right back.
Mets fans will never agree about anything. The manager could have always done something different. A different player should have always been in the game.
These discussions are always more bearable when the team is winning, though.
Credit to the Mets. This team was dead and buried and are now playing meaningful baseball in the middle of August.
And how sweet it is! Keith Hernandez is moaning and groaning about bad fundies, but he isn’t talking about the Mets!
LFGM