NEW YORK, NY — Each and every game out of the 162-game season holds significance when looking at the overall standings during the final stretch of September baseball and lead-up to MLB’s postseason.
The term “tiebreaker” will certainly upset New York baseball fans this winter as both the Mets and the Yankees wound up on the short end this past season.
The Mets and the Cincinnati Reds ended the 2025 campaign with 83-79 records. The Reds, however, earned the third and final National League Wild Card berth by virtue of the fact they won the season series between games played between the two teams, 4-2.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Of course, no one should feel sorry for the Mets. Manager Carlos Mendoza said it best when he told reporters, “We put ourselves in this position,” following their season-ending loss in Miami to the Marlins. The only consolation for Mets fans is the Reds were quickly eliminated from the playoffs by the Dodgers in Los Angeles in two straight games.
The Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays finished with identical 94-68 records this past season. Unfortunately, for the Bronx Bombers, they only won five of the thirteen games played with Canada’s baseball in 2025. While the Yankees, unlike their colleagues from Queens, qualified for baseball’s postseason, they had a steep climb.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Whereas the Blue Jays were able to draw a first-round bye, the Yankees were forced to play their ancient rivals, the Boston Red Sox, in a best-of-three AL Wild Card series. The Yankees did not make it easy for themselves as they dropped the series opener before prevailing in the next two games.
Playing the Red Sox is always grueling and emotionally draining for the Yankees and their fans. There was little time to celebrate that Thursday night as the Yankees had to immediately catch a charter flight to Toronto for a Saturday 4PM game to kick off the American League Divisional Series.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
The Yankees were as flat as an open bottle of ginger ale left on a counter for a month. The Blue Jays outscored the Yankees 23-8 in their two games at the Rogers Centre and the games were even less competitive than that fifteen-run differential would indicate.
Even the game the Yankees won in the series, Game 3 in the Bronx, they were down in the third inning, 6-1, before rallying to top the Jays, 9-6. Under normal conditions, a win like that would create momentum for a long October run. Unfortunately, the Yankees were out of gas for Game 4 as they wasted a solid performance from rookie pitcher Cam Schlittler.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Bronx Bombers second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. went 0 for 4, and even worse, committed an error in the eighth inning of Game 4 which would lead to two Jays’ runs to salt the game away for Toronto. In fairness, the ball he failed to field was a bullet off the bat of ex-Met Andrés Giménez.
While Chisholm had a forgettable series, he is not the main culprit why the Yankees will not be playing in the 2025 World Series.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Errors in high-stakes games can overshadow a career. Bill Buckner was one of the best hitters of his time, but he will always be remembered by most for allowing a slow ground ball hit by Mets center fielder Mookie Wilson to roll between his legs to give the Mets an unlikely win in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
Wild Ending in Phillies-Dodgers NLDS
Phillies relief pitcher Orion Kerkering made one of the highest profile miscues in an October baseball game when he panicked after not fielding a “comebacker to the mound” off the bat of Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages. Instead of throwing to first base and getting an easy out, Kerkering made a wild throw towards home plate which his catcher J.T. Realmuto could not corral. The Dodgers won Game 4 and that National League Division Series.
I spoke with Kerkering earlier this year about his unusual first name. I asked him if his parents named him after the defunct movie studio which made “Dances with Wolves.” He laughed and told me his given first name is Richard, but everyone on his dad’s side has an unusual nickname. Philadelphians are notoriously tough on athletes who let them down.
I am hoping they will show some grace to Kerkering assuming he is back with the Phillies in 2026.
15 inning ALDS Classic between Detroit and Seattle
While many were calling Friday night’s deciding Game 5 between the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners “a classic” because it went fifteen innings, WFAN’s Chris McMonigle had a more sobering take on his Saturday morning radio show.
“The Mariners had runners on first and second with nobody out for three straight innings and could not score,” he said matter-of-factly. He rightfully lambasted their ineptitude at moving runners along, and he blamed analytics gurus for emphasizing home runs at the expense of intelligent baseball. The Mariners were particularly inept at bunting which used to be a skill most major leaguers possessed when I was growing up.
I remember asking then Mets manager Terry Collins about the team’s constant inability to score runners on third base with less than two outs with productive outs such as a sacrifice fly ball. “Lloyd, if you ask any manager what their biggest complaint is about their team’s hitters, they will tell you it is situational hitting.”
Reed Garrett to miss entire 2026 season due to Tommy John surgery
Reed Garrett will miss the entire 2026 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last week. Garrett has been a reliable bullpen arm for Mets manager Carlos Mendoza for the past two years, and he will be missed.
Image Credit: Al Pereira/Latino Sports
Garrett’s colleagues, Dedniel Nunez and Danny Young, will also be out of action in 2026 because of that same medical procedure. In positive news, Drew Smith is expected to return to the Mets bullpen from the Tommy John surgery he had in 2026.
Danny Garcia set to return at the Barclays Center on Saturday, October 18th
Woodhaven native Daniel “El Gallo” Gonzalez will be taking on the pride of Philadelphia, Danny “Swift” Garcia, in a ten-round super welterweight bout at Barclays Center. Garcia, who has had fights at Barclays Center since the venue opened in 2012. Garcia is calling this his “Farewell To Brooklyn” bout. He has not definitively declared he is retiring, however.
Image Credit: Barclays Center
Rookie QB Jaxson Dart giving Giants fans hope for future
It is safe to say rookie Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is giving Big Blue fans ample reason for hope, while veteran Jets QB Justin Fields is giving Gang Green fans many reasons to see a mental health therapist for depression. In Sunday’s 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos in London, Fields threw for negative ten yards. I did not think that was possible in the NFL.
Two years ago, CBS “NFL Today” personality Matt Ryan, a longtime quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, quipped about then-Jets QB Zach Wilson. “He holds onto the football longer than it takes to read the menu at Cheesecake Factory.” Justin Fields holds onto the football longer than it takes to read “War and Peace.”
Advertising Week New York takes place at Penn District in NYC
Image Credit: Advertising Week New York
Advertising Week New York, the annual four-day confab founded by Bayside native Matthew Scheckner, which brings media, pop culture, and of course, advertising under one roof, took place last week. Sports were front and center as Knicks guard Jordan Clarkson spoke about endorsement opportunities, while former Rangers center and current MSG NHL analyst Brian Boyle, who is also a cancer survivor, discussed the importance of everyone getting screened. Comedian and media mogul Byron Allen spoke about how his company, the Allen Media Group, is the distributor of HBCU (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) football and basketball games.
On the technical side of AWNY, Xumo, a joint venture between Comcast and Charter Communication (the parent company of Spectrum), displayed its latest streaming box. Xumo is a competitor to Roku and Amazon Fire. The Xumo device allows viewers to find their favorite channels, shows, or movies, through voice command.
Like Roku, Xumo offers free ad-supported television channels including one of its own. This year, the Xumo channel will televise the NASCAR Awards ceremony.
You can read more of Lloyd Carroll’s columns posted weekly on The Queens Chronicle.
