Carroll’s Column: Mets’ Resilient Season Comes To End In LA

NEW YORK — For every memorable, and resilient postseason run comes a time where the end can appear just like that. For the New York Mets, their end to an incredible 2024 season occurred Sunday night in Game 6 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium. 

The Mets’ playoff run was fun while it lasted, but in the end, OMG, the playoff pumpkin, vibes, and Grimace (McDonald’s should be a Mets corporate sponsor for the next hundred years for the free publicity they received) were not enough to beat a vastly superior Los Angeles Dodgers team.       

There is no shame in losing to the Dodgers as they were the top seed in the National League playoffs while the Mets were their lowest. In fact, it was an impressive feat the Mets were able to extend their series with LA to six games, especially given the inordinate number of walks their pitchers issued.      

The Dodgers’ lineup was stacked with three probable future Hall of Fame inductees: Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and of course, Shohei Ohtani. As is often the case in postseason baseball, it was a journeyman infielder named Tommy Edman who proved to be the biggest thorn for the Mets.       

The Mets certainly exceeded my expectations. In my March Mets preview I wrote fans should be happy if they finish with better than a .500 record. That goal appeared to be aspirational when they were eleven games under that breakeven mark in late May. Playing practically the entire season without ace pitcher Kodai Senga, a bullpen which was shaky at best, and a lineup which was far from Murderer’s Row, the Mets under first-year manager Carlos Mendoza, had the best record in baseball from June until the end of September.      

Now for the Debbie Downer portion of the column.      

While the Mets beating both the Brewers and the Phillies are significant achievements, the cold reality is that only got them halfway up to the postseason pinnacle. General Mills does not put bronze medalists on its Wheaties boxes.   

While Fox Sports executives are thrilled to be having the first World Series between the Dodgers and the Yankees in 43 years which should generate excellent Nielsen ratings, it is a stark reminder to the Mets that they are still the second professional baseball team in town. That will really hit home with a thud if the Yankees are enjoying a parade down the Canyon of Heroes in early November.      

Yes, the 1999 Mets lost Game 6 of the National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves, and then made it to the World Series in 2000 in which they lost to the Yankees in five games. However, getting to the mountain top in sports is rarely a linear process, and it is certainly not an easy one. One must only look at the Yankees, who have enjoyed an incredible streak of 32 consecutive winning seasons but are returning to the World Series for the first time in fifteen years. The Mets could win 90-plus games next year and not get as far in the postseason as they did this past season.      

Many Mets alumni at Citi Field during NLCS

Darryl Strawberry and Dwight “Doc” Gooden held a joint press conference before Game 3. Strawberry spoke from the heart as he expressed his affection for Mets fans and New York City in general. He admitted he should not have left for his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent after the 1990 season but cited his frosty relationship with then-Mets general manager Frank Cashen as the reason for his departure.      

When a reporter asked if he considered his 1986 Mets team to be a juggernaut, Strawberry quipped, “I am not sure if we were a juggernaut; we were just crazy!” Another journalist asked him if the 2024 National League Championship Series between the Dodgers and the Mets rekindled memories of the 1988 NLCS in which the two teams met. “Of course. 1988 sucked!” Strawberry chuckled. He insisted the Mets were the better team even THOUGH the Dodgers won that playoff round and eventually won the World Series.  

I asked Dwight Gooden, who grew up in Tampa, if he still has family there, and if Hurricane Milton impacted them. “I have kids and grandchildren who live there. Fortunately, their homes did not sustain any damage.”          

Catching up with former Met Oliver Perez during the NLCS

If it were not for his neatly trimmed gray coiffure, former Mets southpaw Oliver Perez looks like he could still pitch in the majors. Perez, who is now working for his old union, the Major League Baseball Players Association, told me he played twenty years in the big leagues.

Óliver Pérez and Carlos Beltrán pose for a photo at Citi Field before NLCS Game 3 pic.twitter.com/8VKXHLiA35

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) October 16, 2024

Since playing ten years in the majors gets a player a full pension, I told him he should get a double pension for that kind of longevity. “I wish that were the case!” he laughed.      

The Temptations perform My Girl prior to NLCS Game 5 – (WATCH HERE)

It was a nice touch by the Mets to have the current incarnation of the legendary Motown group, the Temptations, which still features original member Otis Williams, perform shortstop Francisco Lindor’s walk-up song, “My Girl,” just before the start of Game 5.

Given the Mets were trying to stave off elimination, they should have sung “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” as well. 

Injury Update on Brett Baty, Looking Forward to 2025

2024 was not a good year for Mets infielder Brett Baty who struggled for the second straight year and wound up spending most of the season playing for the Syracuse Mets. To make matters worse, his season ended prematurely when he broke two fingers when he was hit by a fastball.  

Baty told me his fingers have healed and he is looking forward to a better 2025 season. One perk about playing for the Syracuse Mets was he was able to attend the annual New York State Fair there and was impressed with it.     

Award Season for Baseball Digest

Baseball Digest named Shohei Ohtani as its Player of the Year; Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal as its Pitcher of the Year; and Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase as its Relief Pitcher of the Year.      

Intro to Jets-Steelers on Sunday Night Football featuring Michael Keaton 

NBC Sports poked a little fun at the Jets expense by having Academy Award-winning actor and Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton film an intro to the Jets-Steelers “Sunday Night Football” game. Keaton wryly mentioned the Steelers have had three head coaches in 35 years while the Jets have had two head coaches in two weeks. 

MetLife Stadium and Fireman Ed 

College Point resident and famous Jets cheerleader “Fireman” Ed Anzalone is upset the team is not showing him leading chants on the MetLife jumbo scoreboards. He blames the MetLife Stadium production team for the perceived slight.

30th Annual Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban Health Sportsball fundraiser with Ottis Anderson

Former Giants running back Ottis Anderson was the auctioneer at the 30th annual Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban Health Sportsball fundraiser which was held last week. Anderson showed a quick wit. When he was trying to auction off his autographed footballs, he joked, “I am on the Football Hall of Fame ballot. If I am selected, the cost of these footballs is going way up!”    

The AAIUH was founded by the late tennis star Arthur Ashe as a way of getting better health outcomes for those living in economically disadvantaged areas. Its mission has expanded into funding scholarships for students living in those areas to study the health sciences at the undergraduate and graduate levels. 

Donald Trump holds rally outside of Pittsburgh

Republican presidential candidate and Jamaica Estates native Donald Trump held a rally outside of Pittsburgh on Saturday in the town of Latrobe which happens to be the birthplace of the late legendary golfer Arnold Palmer. Trump made headlines by discussing an attribute few knew about the most famous golfer in history. 

Arnold Palmer and His Love for Golf

I had the pleasure of meeting Arnold Palmer at a celebrity pro-am golf tournament in New Jersey. I asked him about the rumor that in the 1960s the Pennsylvania Republican Party asked him to run for governor of the Keystone State. This was well before such celebrity governors as Arnold Schwarzengger and Jesse Ventura. “They did ask me to run, but I declined because I wanted to keep playing on the PGA Tour.”    

Mick Foley, A Special Guest at Comic Con

Retired wrestling star and Long Island native Mick Foley signed autographs and posed for photos for all four days of last week’s New York Comic Con. Topps, which is synonymous with baseball cards, had a large exhibit at Comic Con to promote its line of entertainment trading cards.      

Cyndi Lauper set to perform at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in AC on December 7th

Grammy Award-winning singer and Ozone Park native Cyndi Lauper will be performing at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City on Saturday, December 7.

You can read more of Lloyd Carroll’s columns posted weekly on The Queens Chronicle.