Aiden Miller
After a season filled with humor, whimsy, and joy, the Mets’ 2024 campaign has come to an end with a devastating loss to the Dodgers in game 6 of the NLCS. If you asked Mets fans at the beginning of the season where the team would end up, many wouldn’t be able to fathom being just two wins away from the World Series. The Mets, off the back of signing a rookie manager and new President of Baseball Operations, started the season out 0-5. By June 1st, the Mets were 11 games under .500 and 16.5 games back of first place. Powered by Grimace, Latin-Pop sensation Jose Iglesias, Seymour Weiner, the Rally Pimp, Hawk Tuah, and the Playoff Pumpkin, the Mets rallied, carrying the best record in the 2nd half of the season going into the final regular season series in Atlanta. Tied with the Braves on the last day of the regular season, our MILF (Man I love Francisco) Francisco Lindor powered a 2-run home run in the top of the 9th to turn a 7-6 deficit into a thrilling 8-7 victory for the Mets, propelling them into the Wildcard round of the playoffs in game 161 of 162. There, the Mets faced off against the formidable Brewers, a team that had had their number in the regular season.
I was home for the Mets’ series against the Brewers, their first playoff appearance since the tragic 2022 season. After the way the Mets played just a week and a half earlier against the Brewers, I was freaking out. After watching all 162 games, it all came down to three games in Milwaukee. For the Mets, they won comfortably in game one 8-4 off the back of the dynamic DH duo of Jesse Winker and J.D. Martinez. Game 2 ended with two tragic Phil Maton meatballs going for homers, resulting in a blown save and a 5-3 loss. In Game 3Jose Quintana, the Mets starter had the game of his life. His counterpart Jose Butto did not. Butto, coming out of the Mets bullpen, gave up a crucial set of late back-to-back home runs, launching the Brewers to a 2-0 lead in the 7th inning. The Brewers carried this lead firmly into the 9th, trying to finish it off with arguably the best closer in the game in Devin Williams.
By this point, my hopes had been dashed. I was already dooming and getting ready for the devastating final out. My living room was silent, my Dad and brother sulking with me as the inevitable end of the Mets season loomed. But the 2024 Mets, one of the most resilient baseball teams I had ever watched, did the least Mets thing ever: they rallied. After a Lindor walk and a Nimmo line-drive single, the Mets were cooking. But I’ve seen this trope hundreds of times: the Mets rally just to choke it away. So, I was cautiously optimistic that this may be different, and it was. Pete Alonso, in a historic hitting drought and in the final year of his contract, was taking what many thought would be his last-ever Mets at-bat. Hopes were low as my family and I mentally prepared for the inevitable double play to end the game. On a 3-1 changeup, Pete Alonso did the improbable: a 3-run home run to right field, clearing the fence by a mere foot, sending the Mets to their first NLDS appearance since 2015. It’s hard to remember exactly what happened because of the pure excitement and adrenaline from that moment, but I remember screaming as loud as possible, hugging my Dad and brother in utter disbelief that the Mets didn’t Met it up. It was easily one of my favorite family-sporting moments in my 20 years of life.
It was on to Philadelphia, the Mets’ ultimate rivals. The Mets took games one and three with a chance to clinch at home for the first time.. Obviously, we had a Review meeting during the game, so as EIC I turned the game on the projector and watched. After going down early with no signs of life, it seemed the writing was on the wall: the Mets were going to lose game 4 at home and lose in Philadelphia in game 5. That’s typical Mets’ fan logic, and that was my logic going late into game 4. After rallying to load the bases in the 6th inning, Fransisco Lindor stepped up to the plate. The Mets’ MVP had a chance to solidify himself in Mets’ lore for the rest of his career. On a 2-1 99mph fastball, Lindor laced a high fly ball to left field, carrying over the right field fence for a Grand Slam, giving the Mets a 4-1 lead. After Edwin Diaz wiggled his way into another jam doomer in me thought the sky was falling. But in true 2024 fashion, Edwin pulled it out of his ass and saved the game, sending the Mets to the NLCS against the Dodgers, causing me to make a scene at the end of the Review meeting filled with pure excitement and amazement that the Mets had even made it this far. The NLCS is still fresh, so I don’t want to get into it too much. But it’s fair to say that the Mets could have had that series go their way, but it wasn’t to be. So now the nation and world can suffer through a Yankees-Dodgers World Series.
So why did I take the time to write this? The 2024 Mets season was like something I had never experienced before. This team genuinely felt special and showed that at crucial moments throughout the season. This was easily my favorite season, filled with fun and competitive baseball. I will miss the memes, I will miss Grimace, and I will miss this group of Mets as a whole. Unlike seasons past, I have full confidence behind Steve Cohen, David Stearns, Carlos Mendoza, and the entire Mets organization that they can replicate for years to come and FINALLY bring a championship to New York.
Thanks for reading my often incoherent rant as a process this past Mets season.
(Me rn)