Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org.
The New York Mets made an improbable run to the 2015 World Series and seemed to be on a mission to finish their first World Series Championship on top in 29 years. Unfortunately, the Kansas City Royals, participating in their second straight World Series, took advantage of a montage of Mets fielding errors and won their second title since 1985, the year before the Mets won their second title in 1986.
At the end of July, the Mets were falling apart and the trade deadline was quickly approaching. The Mets had a deal lined up that would grant Carlos Gomez his return to the Mets, but the team pulled out of the deal because they were too worried about Gomez’s history of injury.
Before the deal was called off, however, news quickly spread of the deal being confirmed during one of New York’s games.
Wilmer Flores, one of the players that the Mets were giving up, was playing on the field and the information found its way to him. One of the most powerful images of the season was when SNY caught the moment when Flores was wiping away tears between pitches. Flores had never played for another team in his career and came up through the Mets’ farm system.
Citi Field, where the Mets play.
Photo courtesy of Casey J. Ranel (Wikimedia Commons)
Later that weekend, the Mets completed a trade that granted them prolific power-hitter Yoenis Cespedes. New York also managed to sweep the then-first-place Washington Nationals to cut the deficit in the National League East.
In a span of about one week, the Mets had completely turned around their season and finished with a record of 90-72. In turn, the Mets captured their sixth NL East title, the first since 2006.
In the National League Divisional Series, the Mets took on the Los Angeles Dodgers and, despite overpowering them with their starting pitching staff for most of the series, it went to five games.
Jacob degrom shut down the Dodgers and Jeurys Familia did what he had to do to close out the series as the Mets advanced to the National League Championship Series. There, they would hope to exorcise the demons of 2006, where they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
In the National League Championship Series, the Mets went up against the team that has not won a World Series since 1908, the Chicago Cubs.
During the regular season, the Mets went 0-7 against Chicago and tensions were running a bit high going into the series. Thanks to near-perfect pitching performances and a welcomed power presence from Daniel Murphy, the Mets swept the Cubs and returned to the World Series for the first time since 2000, when they lost to the New York Yankees.
The Mets earned their fifth National League Pennant with their sweep over the Chicago Cubs.
In the end, the Mets’ defense cost them in the final round of the playoffs and the Royals were the kind of team that would make them pay dearly for their mistakes. This year, the Mets became the first team in MLB history to have a lead in every single game of the World Series and ultimately lose the series.
While Mets fans had every right to be disappointed with the outcome, especially in the manner in which the team lost, the Mets pulled off an incredible run. The Mets were supposed to be at least a year away from making the playoffs, let alone the World Series. The Mets may lose Cespedes and/or Murphy before next season, but the team will look to build around its pitching staff and return to the World Series as soon as possible.
