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Silverman: 2015 Mets Are Reminiscent Of The Miracle '69 Team, And That Bodes Well

By Steve Silverman
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Mets fans who stayed up to watch all 14 inning are no doubt disappointed with the Game 1 result of the World Series.

It seemed like the game was in the bag with all-but-unhittable Jeurys Familia on the mound in the ninth inning. He had shut down the Dodgers and the Cubs in all his previous opportunities, and there was no reason he would give Alex Gordon any kind of pitch to drive, let alone a fat one in the middle of the plate that the Royals' left fielder could hit over the wall for the game-tying homer.

Holy, Bernie Carbo!

After four scoreless extra innings, the Royals finished things off in the 14th when Eric Hosmer's fly ball to right field drove home Alcides Escobar with the winning run.

There is no need for Mets fans to panic. They nearly one Game 1 on the road, and they have Jacob deGrom going in Game 2 against the very inconsistent and quite hittable Johnny Cueto.

The Royals are a formidable team, but the Mets are so hot right now that they have every chance to push this World Series to the limit and possibly end up with the win and ticker-tape parade down Broadway.

I have been struck by the similarity of the 2015 Mets to their 1969 predecessors, and the similarities continued in the first game of the World Series.

The Mets were formidable underdogs to the Baltimore Orioles in that series, and there was good reason for it. The Orioles had a monster team that year, as they won 108 games during the regular season and swept the Minnesota Twins in the first American League Championship Series. The Orioles had a three-headed monster in the middle of the lineup in Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson and Boog Powell, and a formidable pitching staff.

They were one of the great teams of the last 50 years, but they were beaten by the Mets.

The '69 Mets were a lot more than lucky. When they chased down the Chicago Cubs that summer, they ended up winning 100 games and did so because they had one of the best pitching staffs in memory and a bunch of clutch players who enjoyed playing with each other and made winning a habit.

Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry and Nolan Ryan were a dynamic group of starting pitchers, and those were the pitchers that manager Gil Hodges depended on. It was just a three-man rotation for the Mets in the 1969 postseason, with Seaver, Koosman and Gentry getting the starts while Ryan and his unhittable fastball came out of the bullpen.

Not only did the '69ers beat the Orioles, but their win over the Braves was formidable as well. Hank Aaron, Rico Carty and Orlando Cepeda were in the middle of the Braves' lineup, and the Mets' pitching did not shut them down.

The Braves scored 15 runs in that three-game  series, but the Mets scored 27. Tommie Agee, Cleon Jones, Ken Boswell, Art Shamsky and Ed Kranepool just raked the Atlanta staff and the Mets won by overpowering the opposition.

They didn't flinch against the Orioles, despite losing the first game. Older fans will recall -- and current fans have been told on Twitter -- that the Orioles' Don Buford led off the bottom of the first with a home run, just as Alcides Escobar did Tuesday night.

While Escobar's came about thanks to some generous scoring, he circled the bases when the ball glanced off Yoenis Cespedes and bounded into left field.

It's a coincidence, but it reminds us that the '69 team and the 2015 squad are blood relatives.

Both have remarkable starting pitching, and both have learned that clutch hitting is a necessary component for any good pitching team.

One loss has not derailed the Mets.

Their ace is on the mound in Game 2, and they return home for a weekend to remember.

This series could be over in five games, and don't be surprised if the Mets do to the Royals what their namesakes did to the Orioles.

It will not be a fluke, either.

These Mets have the same characteristics as their direct relatives, and it will be difficult to stop them.

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