'An amazing roller coaster': Mets' magical, inspiring ride ends in NLCS

LOS ANGELES -- A little less than five months ago, the Mets gathered in their clubhouse, locked the doors and resolved to make something of their season.

They preached accountability during that players-only meeting, of holding each other to a higher standard. And for the next five months, they did. They became something greater than just another team that fizzled out.

They became the team of Grimace and “OMG,” each new amusement colorizing the summer. But these Mets also became known for so much more than gimmicks. These Mets were damn good baseball players, too, making it all the way to the National League Championship Series before falling to the Dodgers in Game 6 on Sunday, 10-5, to lose the series four games to two.

“Everyone’s bummed out, obviously,” designated hitter J.D. Martinez said. “But, [shoot] man, look where we came from. Look at the journey we’ve been on. That’s not something to hang our heads about.”

Sean Manaea, one of the players who carried the Mets into October, simply could not contain the Dodgers’ bats in Game 6. Eventual NLCS MVP Tommy Edman hit a two-run double and a two-run homer off Manaea, Will Smith tagged Phil Maton for another two-run shot, and the Mets found themselves trailing by five runs before the end of the third inning. They left a dozen men on base over the first seven.

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Long after dark fell at Dodger Stadium, the Mets continued to threaten, but they never really recovered from that start. Eventually, they watched the Dodgers celebrate on the field.

Then they filtered back into their clubhouse, hugged each other, shook hands and allowed themselves to grieve. In one corner of the room, a group of relievers pulled their chairs together, drank beers and reminisced.

“I’m not ready for it to be over, I guess,” said one of them, Adam Ottavino, his eyes red. “It just hurts.”

“There’s no consolation in it, because it still feels [terrible] regardless,” echoed another, Ryne Stanek. “But there’s nobody that should lose sleep, because the only thing you can control is what you give. And I have no doubt that there’s nobody who could have given more.”

It was a bitter ending, as most endings are, contradicting the notion that these Mets were perhaps a team of destiny. For five months, no force seemed capable of stopping them -- not their longstanding rivals in the Braves, whom the Mets vanquished in Game 161 to clinch a playoff berth; nor the spunky Brewers, who had the Mets cornered until Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning of Wild Card Series Game 3; nor the Phillies, who for much of the season seemed like the NL’s best team.

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Instead, the Mets fell to the Dodgers, a talented club whose aptitude became at least partially obscured by a raft of injuries. Mets owner Steve Cohen has spoken publicly of wanting to emulate Los Angeles, a club that routinely builds enough depth to endure even the unluckiest of circumstances. So it was this year, as the Dodgers, despite their issues, finished with Major League Baseball’s best record and advanced to the World Series against the Yankees.

The Mets are confident they’ll be that sort of franchise sooner rather than later. They’re enamored with the infrastructure they have in place, from Cohen to president of baseball operations David Stearns to manager Carlos Mendoza. They have reason to be. In what was once billed as a transitional year, the Mets took an ostensibly non-contending team to within a couple wins of the World Series.

From June through October, they created magic. In the press box just before the final out, longtime broadcaster Howie Rose -- a Mets fan from the franchise’s earliest years -- said that the 2024 team “made this 70-year-old feel 15 all over again.”

“It was an amazing roller coaster,” shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “We accomplished a lot as a team, as individuals. We became family. We overcame a lot of things, and we stuck together. I truly believe that there’s something good happening here.”

There is a lyric in “OMG,” Jose Iglesias’ hit single that became an anthem for the team, that roughly translates to, “Until I achieve it, I will continue.” The Mets will continue next year, albeit with a different mix of players. Many will be gone, including potentially Iglesias, who can become a free agent after this season.

Alonso could be elsewhere, too, as well as three-quarters of the Mets’ playoff rotation and a chunk of their bullpen. Cohen’s Mets have the finances to re-sign or replace as many of those players as necessary, but no matter what happens, the roster will look different. Maybe even drastically so.

Within that context, the Mets understand that multiple things can be true. The present can be both bitter and healthy. The future can be both uncertain and bright.

“On this team, the window has closed, and that’s a frustrating thing,” was how outfielder Brandon Nimmo put it. “It’s a sad thing. It’s very hard to swallow, because I love this team so much. But as far as for this organization, I think it’s a good step forward. It sets a new standard, and one that I think the Cohens, right from the top, want to continue to build on until we finally get to the World Series and make that a standard.”