Finishing What 1985 Started

There was a hint of 1985 in the air on Tuesday.

The next to last day of the season in both 1985 and 2022 was when both of those Mets teams were eliminated from division contention. In ’85, it was during Fan Appreciation Day, where we all got scarves that we waived around in rampant appreciation of what the team had accomplished, once the Cardinals clinched the N.L. East with a 7-1 victory over Steve Trout and the Cubs. In 2022, when Nick Fortes popped out with the bases loaded in the 8th and Kenley Jansen finished off a division clinching victory over the Miami Marlins while SNY was life hacking the feed by pointing a camera in one of the suites during Eduardo Escobar’s at-bat, fans at Citi Field were left to sit in the rain and try to figure out where it all went wrong. They also rued the fact that one extra win in Atlanta this past weekend would have meant that it would have been the Mets to clinch the division tonight on the heels of Brandon Nimmo’s three RBI in the first game of a double header, and Nimmo going back to back to back to start the second game with Franciso Lindor and Jeff McNeil to start the Mets off with a 3-0 lead before Paolo Espino Glavine’d his way through a 7 run first inning in an 8-0 Mets victory. (A victory topped off by the coming out party of Francisco Alvarez, who got on the Major League Baseball ledger with a long home run for the 8th run, and followed with a double that almost went through the wall for a hit that Angel Hernandez’s crew would have had no idea how to score.)

The warmth surrounding the ’85 team put them into lore forever. People love the ’85 team much like they love the ’99 team for being the “great on paper” team that preceded World Series events. The ’22 regular season team will be looked upon as nothing more than a part of a lineage that included a team that spent a hundred days in first place before finishing up with a record of 77-85. But the ironic part is that the Wild Card which we bemoan (with good reason), is going to give the ’22 Mets a chance to do what the ’85 Mets were not afforded to do with the Wild Card still a good ten years away. We wonder about the ’85 team as we wonder about ’84 and ’87, all teams that would have been in the playoffs if the Wild Card had existed then. But that ’85 team is the one that seems so similar to what we have here today. We’ve grown to appreciate how good it was in ’85, and maybe someday we’ll grow to appreciate the ’22 team for winning 100 games (more than the beloved ’85 squad) even if they don’t go on to win it all. But they’ll at least get the chance that Larry Bowa, Tom Paciorek, George Foster, Kelvin Chapman, John Christensen, Clint Hurdle, Rusty Staub, Ron Gardenhire, Ronn Reynolds, Bruce Berenyi, Terry Blocker, Terry Leach, Calvin Schiraldi, Tom Gorman, Bill Latham, Joe Sambito, and Wes Gardner never got with the ’85 team. They’ll get the chance that Billy Beane is still searching for to this day.

It’s time to finish what 1985 started. So put the Mary Jane Girls and Tears for Fears in your old Walkmen and blast it. See you Friday, San Diego.

Today’s Hate List

This is going to be a free flowing riff, more so than hate.

• Riley Adams was responsible for the two Nationals runs in 18 innings with a home run. Did an evil mastermind create Riley from the DNA of Austin Riley and Matt Adams specifically to torture the Mets?
• Speaking of Adams’ home run, which was off Cookie Carrasco in the first game, I think the 4th starter debate is settled. It’s Taijuan Walker, who was solid in the second game.
• I go with Scherzer on Friday. Give deGrom the extra rest. Scherzer needs to stay on schedule so his arm doesn’t get fatigued again. deGrom will benefit more from extra rest.
• I would have started deGrom on Wednesday if they still had a chance. Or I would have started Trevor Williams, peeked at the Braves/Marlins, and if it was a favorable outcome on both sides, have deGrom close the game.
• If Scherzer wins Game 1, I go with Bassitt in Game 2.
• I want to see Jeff McNeil bunt for a hit on Wednesday and sit the rest of the game to win the batting title. Twitter’s discourse is already on fire, why not just have the social media site explode once and for all? Give me chaos to end the season.
• Carry Alvarez as the righty DH. I’ve seen enough. Fortune favors the brave. (It’s been favoring the Braves for too long, so screw it.)
• You couldn’t get one stupid hit, Nick Fortes?????
• Speaking of Paolo Espino, I’m renewing my desire to dress as Tom Glavine for Halloween and have seven people dressed as Marlins just circle me all night. I’ll call it: 2007.
• Loved that Seth Lugo said that he thought the Mets were the better team than Atlanta and wanted another shot at them. Look, Jimmy Rollins (“team to beat”) and Spencer Strider (“the Mets are lucky”) said things that were ridiculous only to have their teams undeservedly prove them right. Why can’t Lugo say whatever ridiculous thing that comes to his mind? Rollins and Strider proved that you don’t need to be reasonable to be right.