Joy in Mud(Met)ville

Note: The following was written by my husband Gary Bakst, lifelong Met fan, which means 65 years, except the Mets are actually 3 years younger than that. But you get the idea. Anyway, I hope you enjoy his prose as much as I did.

I put Gameday on my laptop as I saw my afternoon patients yesterday.  I was nervous, anxious, worried.  Dan, my son, texted to ask if I was stressed and that is exactly what I was feeling.  The Mets gave up 2 runs in the 3rd inning and another in the 6th and were down by 3-0 going into the eighth inning.  It was looking like yet another of those miserable late season games in Atlanta.  We have been here before.  We have seen this movie.  And we never liked the ending. 

Then, out of nowhere, the Mets erupted for 6 runs in the top of the eighth inning capped by Brandon Nimmo’s two run home run way deep into the right field stands.  Finally, a better ending was coming into view.  All of those demons would be erased.  The Mets were just 6 outs from the postseason.  What could possibly go wrong?

And then came the bottom of the eighth.  Maton came in to pitch it and was ineffective and they brought in Edwin Diaz to try to get a 5 out save coming off a thirty something pitch save Sunday.  Diaz failed to cover first on a ground ball to Pete Alonso and one double later, the Mets were suddenly down by 7-6 heading into the ninth inning.

Of course.  Of course the Mets couldn’t just lose by 3-0.  They couldn’t just fail in an ordinary way in front of the brainless Braves’ fans.  They had to first get our hopes up with an historic eighth inning only to give it away in the bottom of the inning.  They had to take our hearts out.  They couldn’t just let the patient die mercifully.  They had to make it painful, long and heartbreaking. 

This could not be an ordinary loss.  This had to be a Mets fan special.  I was almost sure that blood was coming out of my skin, my pores and slowly spilling onto the floor of the exam room.  The ninth inning would surely be just one, final, painful chapter in a sad, tragic story.

And then.  And then, with one out, Starling Marte got a base hit and suddenly, our guy, our MVP, back from his back, strode to the plate.  Francisco Lindor, batting from the left side, hit a ginormous home run.  Perhaps the second biggest home run in Mets vs Braves history (Piazza, of course).  The ball was well struck and carried deep into the Atlanta late afternoon gloom.  It seemingly broke open a new dimension.  It carried hope and joy and goodness and love and was itself carried by will and determination, by desire and honor and the conviction that, in the end, goodness will triumph over evil.  It was propelled by a force both divine and human and when it landed angels called from the heavens, doves flew overhead and lions lay down with lambs.

And it sailed over the right centerfield fence and suddenly, out of nowhere, the Mets were up by 8-7 and only three outs separated them from the post season, from an opportunity to celebrate right there on the turf of their most arrogant nemesis.  And it left one giant question:  Who was left to get those last three outs?  It couldn’t be Diaz.  He had thrown a ton of pitches on Sunday and a bunch more in the 8th inning.  And yet, the sad reality is that they really don’t trust any other reliever. 

And then.  And then, emerging from the dugout with the look of a man on a mission, came Edwin Diaz.  He was back and he was going to find a way to finish the job.  And somehow, despite the fact that it looked like his right arm came onto the field well after the rest of him, he got it done.  

The Mets were in the playoffs.  A great miracle happened there.  It was not the ending Mets fans have been accustomed to, not the ending we have been trained to expect.  And it was just so sweet and so amazing.  I had to look at the screen on my laptop for a while to make sure that it was real.  Wait, they’re gonna call for some kind of do over, right?  Somehow, they’ll say it can’t be over until the Mets lose.  But it was real.  And it was good. 

The Mets are in Milwaukee today for a 5:30 PM (eastern time) wild card playoff game). 

#LGM

It all started back in Spring Training and we were there.