Keidel: Win Or Lose, Mets, Their Fans Have No Reason To Hang Their Heads
By Jason Keidel
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You don't want to do this.
You don't want to eulogize the Mets. Not after this enchanted run, from their laughable June lineup to their July awakening to their glorious summer run to the charmed October roll.
Just the symbolism hurts. Everyone was afraid of the Mets' bullpen all year. So when it bit them Saturday night, you can say it stinks, but doesn't shock. But for the dam to break with Daniel Murphy, who's Herculean bat brought the Mets to the World Series, is the cruelest of Halloween pranks.
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Teams have made the Homeric journey from 3-1 down. But the Mets -- who were a fragile team at their best, needing the cosmos to align in almost every way to get here -- can't seem to match the mojo of the Royals, who have suffered their own brand of heartbreak over the last 30 years, including a loss in Game 7 of last year's Fall Classic with the tying run a torturous 90 feet away.
And there's the irony. The Mets conquered Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, the best 1-2 pitching punch in the sport. Then they beat Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta, the hottest pitcher since ERA became a stat in 1912. Yet they lose to Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto. I can't explain it, either.
In my last column, I said Thor would handle his end. What worried me was the neophyte in Game 4. Steven Matz has all the tools to become a pitching mainstay in New York, the place of his birth and youth. But he just wasn't ready last night. Too many injuries, not enough stamina.
Sure, the Mets have Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom, two young studs any team in Major League Baseball would pine and pay for. But the Royals already beat both. And they've wrenched open a wide hole in the formerly monolithic closer. Jeurys Familia is all too familiar to the Royals now.
Should the Royals win tonight, it won't be about the Mets' failures so much as Kansas City's triumphs. Sometimes it's just their time, and not yours. You tip your cap to the team that made the fewest mistakes, put the ball in play at the right time and came up with the right out at the wrong time for you.
You hope there's a Dark Knight sighting tonight and take it back to Kansas City, where the odds will be piled high against the Mets. At this moment that's all you have.
Whatever happens, don't hang your heads. Don't hear the hating. Flick the trolls off your shoulder. The Mets have comported themselves with pride and made you proud. Even those of us who aren't even Mets fans have been swept up by the pride and appeal of this run.
The future is bright, if not blinding, for the Mets, even if today looks dark for the Kings of Queens.
One more time, gang...
#LGM
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
