Tell the truth, you kept watching ‘til the end, right?
The score was 9-1 after two innings in San Francisco on Wednesday because the Mets’ pitching injuries have finally caught up with them, and normally that would annoy/anger/disgust most fans enough to turn off the TV and find something else to do on a beautiful late afternoon in New York.
Yet I’m betting very few, if any, of those fans walked away from this game, even as innings routinely ticked by toward a 9-3 loss to the Giants, because that’s what this Mets team has done, basically convincing all of New York that anything is possible this season.
In short, their late-inning comebacks are becoming almost as predictable as Brandon Nimmo sprinting to first base, even on walks.
Twice these Mets have pulled out improbable wins that way, against the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. A couple of other times they’ve put a scare into the opponent; and then there was Tuesday night’s game against the Giants, when the Mets played perhaps the most entertaining post-midnight baseball game since the infamous July 4th game in Atlanta in 1985 that went 19 innings and ended in a 16-13 win at about 4 a.m., due in part to two rain delays -- which somehow didn’t deter the Braves from setting off the scheduled fireworks and waking up frightened citizens in the vicinity of Fulton County Stadium.
Keith Hernandez not only played in that game, he hit for the cycle as part of a 4-for-10 night, and yet there he was as part of the telecast Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, so in awe of the Mets’ late-inning magic that he was moved to say:
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Now, Hernandez, as you know, is as balanced and impartial in his analysis as any team-affiliated broadcaster in baseball. Rare are the times that he -- or Ron Darling, for that matter -- goes overboard in enthusiasm for the home team.
So it tells you how much these 2022 Mets are endearing themselves not only to fans but a hardened observer like Hernandez as well, not only with their comebacks but their contact-hitting style at the plate, their hustling manner and their plain likeability.
In fact, Hernandez seems to love everything about this team. I was talking to him on the phone last week for a story to go along with his number retirement in July when he compared the current Mets to the 1980s teams that he led, in part because they’re such a good contact-hitting team but also because they can be seen sharing information, both pitchers and hitters.
“That’s one of the first things I did when I got to the Mets,” Hernandez said, “Was to get guys to talk to each other about their at-bats, whether it was at the ballpark or in the hotel bar after a game. It’s important because that’s how you learn, that’s how you become a team, and this team seems to communicate well with each other.
“They seem to be a little bit of a throwback in that regard. You see guys asking Nimmo, ‘what’s this guy got?’ or ‘does his fastball have much movement?’ after he leads off and I think it’s wonderful.
“And then you see the shots of the young pitchers, (Tylor) Megill and (David) Pederson, hanging around in the dugout, talking to (Max) Scherzer and (Chris) Bassitt. I was thrilled when I saw that, and you see it a lot. It all helps a team come together.”