Post by Admin on Sept 27, 2015 9:41:32 GMT -4
— Between pitches in the ninth inning, David Wright kept turning and looking around Great American Ball Park, trying to soak up as much as he could. His team had not made the playoffs in nine years, and the last time, he was so young that he had taken it for granted. He wanted to remember the celebration vividly this time.
But when Jeurys Familia struck out Jay Bruce to seal the Mets’ 10-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday and clinch their first National League East title since 2006, the Mets paused. They did not know what to do. Wright could not jump around and lead them as he used to because of his bad back. Instead, he embraced Daniel Murphy as their teammates formed a mob on the infield.
Wright had capped the victory by crushing a three-run homer in the ninth inning, a bookend to the grand slam that Lucas Duda hit in the first inning.
The Mets could be excused for pausing; they do not often celebrate like this. Back in the clubhouse, they sprayed one another with bottles of sparkling wine, posed for selfies and took turns pouring beer down Wright’s back as rap music pumped through the room.
The Mets’ Lucas Duda, after hitting a grand slam in the first, was greeted by David Wright. In the ninth, Wright hit a three-run homer to help seal the win as the Mets captured the N.L. East title. Credit Aaron Doster/Associated Press
“We’ve been waiting a long time, haven’t we?” Manager Terry Collins, soaking wet, said as he clutched a half-empty bottle of Champagne. After being fired by the Astros and the Angels, Collins, 66, the oldest manager in baseball, had finally led a team to the postseason.
Standing in the corner of the room, Jeff Wilpon, the Mets’ chief operating officer, asked Collins to pose for a picture. For Wilpon and his father, Fred, one of the team’s owners, this was a vindication. Under the Wilpons’ watch, since their last playoff appearance, the Mets had endured two late-season collapses, six consecutive losing seasons, entanglement in the Bernard L. Madoff financial scandal, questions about their financial health and calls from fans for Fred Wilpon to sell the team.
But when the Mets saw the Nationals, a preseason World Series favorite, reeling, the Wilpons authorized General Manager Sandy Alderson to bolster the roster. Now, back at Citi Field, a pennant-shaped sign will adorn the facade down the left-field line to commemorate this team, the one that redeemed eight years of misery.
“This is Step 1,” Jeff Wilpon said of winning the division. “So let’s keep it going.”
Clinching the division had been so important, though, that a few days earlier, Matt Harvey had told Collins he wanted to push past his innings limit for Saturday’s start, no matter what.
The Mets’ David Wright led the way as the team met with fans after clinching the N.L. East title. Credit John Sommers Ii/Getty Images
Much of Harvey’s season, his first back from Tommy John surgery, had been overshadowed by debates over how the Mets were handling him, his innings limit and whether he would be shut down early. Mets fans had vilified him for appearing to side with his agent, Scott Boras, and putting his health ahead of the team’s goals, especially after he was pulled from his last start after only five innings and the Mets went on to lose to the Yankees.
Amped up, Harvey held the Reds to two runs and struck out six in six and two-thirds innings on 97 pitches, and he exceeded his soft innings limit by three and a third innings. He looked exhausted when Collins came to retrieve him, but he left the mound with the fans chanting his name.
“This is the best day of my baseball career, by far,” Harvey said during a break in the clubhouse party. “We’re here to stay. We’re here to do this more often. It’s what we’re about.”
At one point, the Mets headed back onto the field to celebrate with the hundreds of Mets fans remaining. Wilmer Flores ran back and forth holding a sign announcing the division crown. The Mets had rallied around him, after he had hit a game-ending home run against the Nationals in late July, two days after he had cried on the field thinking he had been traded.
“I’ll tell you what: This is why I didn’t want to leave,” Flores said.
The Mets now have seven games left and are neck and neck with the Dodgers for home-field advantage in the division series.
Amid the celebration, Wright, who missed about four months of the season with a back injury, hugged Alderson and complimented him on the team he had built. Two months ago, Alderson had called up his top prospect, Michael Conforto, and had acquired four veterans with playoff experience at the trading deadline — Yoenis Cespedes, Kelly Johnson, Juan Uribe and Tyler Clippard — to bolster the offense and strengthen the bullpen. Those moves gave the Mets enough firepower to sweep the Nationals twice down the stretch.
The bullpen coach, Ricky Bones, approached Alderson ready to spray him, but Alderson begged off. “Cespedes already got me!” Alderson said.
By then, the Mets were running out of Champagne and had started lighting cigars. Cespedes, a Cuban import who had become an instant star in New York, took a puff. Asked if it was a Cuban cigar, Cespedes inspected it for a moment and then shook his head. “That’s O.K.,” he said, looking at it again.
Compared with all the revelers, Wright seemed more subdued. He took a selfie with Michael Cuddyer, a longtime friend. He politely conducted interview after interview. Often, he stopped and looked around the room, at his younger teammates smoking their cigars.
“I’m trying to bottle this up,” he said, “bottle this emotion and save it for as long as I can.”
This YANKEES fan says congrats for this clinch game you all played not mad at ya.....Candy
