Mets win, Mets win, Mets win!!!

Wooo whooo hoooo!

Mets in three — an amazing run for the boys from Flushing, a team I’ve been following since I got my first Tom Seaver card in 1968 (pictured) and maybe earlier. And, just for good measure, the Evil Empire was dispatched by a Motor City team that everyone wrote off (including me).

To understand this team at this point, you need to acknowledge the amazing job done by Omar Minaya — not only did he spend money, but he found a great group of role players (Endy Chavez, Jose Valentin, Julio Franco) and built a killer bullpen. The team weathered the loss of two starting pitchers (Pedro and El Duque), the league’s top setup man (Duaner Sanchez), injuries that hobbled Cliff Floyd and backup catcher Ramon Castro and still outran the league.

And it managed to awaken itself from a September slumber in which it played its worst ball of the year.

And now onto the League Championship series.

Three down and eight to go!

(Game photos from CBS Sportsline)

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet