'The swing of a lifetime' ... again! Lindor slams Mets into NLCS

NEW YORK -- Inevitability struck at 7:36 p.m.

For five innings Wednesday at Citi Field, the Mets had applied relentless pressure on the Phillies. They took their walks. They rapped out hits. They did so many of the things that had made them the National League’s foremost juggernaut throughout the second half of the season, and yet their side of the scoreboard still read zero.

Finally, in the sixth, Francisco Lindor approached the plate with the bases loaded. If ever there was a player who embodies the turnaround of this organization, the shift from a perpetually bumbling team to a dangerous one, it is Lindor. In less than five months, Lindor has led a transformation so profound that at this point, as president of baseball operations David Stearns put it, “everyone in the ballpark seemingly knew what was going to happen” when he came to the plate.

“And then to do it,” Stearns continued, “is just absurd.”

Lindor turned on a 99.4 mph Carlos Estévez fastball, powering it over the right-center-field fence for his second career playoff grand slam and the second slam in Mets postseason history.

A little more than an hour later, he barreled his way through the home clubhouse, champagne bottle in hand, eager to spray anyone in his path. Alcohol had so drenched him that it dripped off his baseball cap in a steady stream, soaking the locks of hair that splayed out beneath it. This was the first champagne celebration for the Mets in Citi Field history, the product of a 4-1 win in NL Division Series Game 4 that sent them to the NL Championship Series against the Padres or Dodgers. Lindor’s slam had made it happen.

“Just in awe,” teammate Pete Alonso said. “That was the swing of a lifetime.”

“I keep saying you could write a book,” added manager Carlos Mendoza. “You could make a movie.”

It was perhaps the most impactful swing in Citi Field history, one that will live in franchise lore. It was also another high point for Lindor, another level up in a season full of them.

When the Mets acquired him in January 2021, they were a transitioning franchise. The hope was that Lindor, a bona fide superstar in Cleveland who had reached the World Series at age 22, could imbue some of his apparent pixie dust on the Mets. He could not, at least not initially. Despite large payrolls that his own $341 million contract helped bloat, the Mets continued to fall short. Lindor, a very good player throughout that run, never stamped his signature on the type of moment folks would remember.

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It wasn’t until this May that something changed. It began when Mendoza shifted Lindor to the leadoff spot, where he immediately began thriving. Night after night, hit after hit, Lindor established himself as an NL MVP candidate. Late that month, after the Dodgers swept the Mets at Citi Field, he flexed another muscle in calling a players-only meeting. To this day, various Mets credit that clubhouse gathering, and Lindor’s role in it, for the turnaround that followed.

As the wins stacked up, Lindor never stepped out of the frame. On Sept. 11, he hit a leadoff home run in the ninth inning to break up a Bowden Francis no-hitter in Toronto. The Mets won that afternoon and just kept winning, riding Lindor’s production down the stretch. Despite a significant lower-back injury that cost him two weeks in September, Lindor still secured the Mets a playoff berth with a ninth-inning homer in Game 161 in Atlanta. He remained impactful in a Wild Card Series win over the Brewers.

That brought him to Wednesday. As he strode to the box for his first at-bat, Lindor walked slowly, paused and took a practice swing, giving fans time to sing the chorus of his popular walk-up song, “My Girl.” He had spoken often in the past of that sort of moment, of the type of thing that happens when 44,103 people are all in something together.

When he hit his grand slam five innings later, joining Edgardo Alfonzo and (sort of) Robin Ventura as the only Mets to accomplish that in the postseason, the crowd needed no prompting.

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“As soon as he made contact, this place exploded,” Stearns said. “Just incredible.”

“It’s an ‘Oh My God’ moment,” added second baseman Jose Iglesias. “It’s a privilege to be in this situation, seeing the smiles. We faced a great team. We never gave up, we played hard and here we are celebrating.”

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They celebrated in the clubhouse and some more on the field, where thousands of fans stuck around to serenade their idols. When “My Girl” blared again from the stadium loudspeakers, they sang in as much unison as a maudlin crowd could muster. They chanted Lindor’s name, and of course “M-V-P!”

Back inside, Lindor was more tranquil. Much like in Atlanta, he had hardly emoted when he hit his grand slam against the Phillies. He still has grander plans for this machine he’s helped create. He still seeks additional reason to celebrate.

“I want to win it all, and ours will be a team that will forever be remembered,” Lindor said. “This will be a team that comes every 10 years and eats for free everywhere they go. And I want to do that. I want to do that. But the job is not done.”