PHILADELPHIA — The Mets set themselves up for the main event by settling old scores with a chatty old villain named Reese Hoskins.
Remember Hoskins? He was a charter member of the Phillies comeback several years ago before going down with a knee injury. As a Philly player, he hit 15 home runs against the Mets, including one that took him 34 seconds to get around the bases and was nearly hit by a pitch by Jacob Rehm, who had thrown the ball earlier. I savored every moment.
He had two more hits against the team as a Brewer this year. That included a grand slam from Sean Manaea last Friday that threatened to shut down the Pixie Dust Express before it even took off. And, of course, you'll remember that he lashed out at Jeff McNeil in the season opener on March 29th, and McNeil angrily confronted him, citing a series of past grievances.
Hoskins responded by teasingly wiping his eyes as he returned to the dugout.
Hoskins is now wearing Brewers blue instead of Phillies red, but you can tell he still has a lot of Philly color left in him. He was almost happy that he was hit by Luis Severino and loaded the bases in Game 1, but similar voices and cries could be heard from all over Metsdam.
“That one who's screaming…”
But Hoskins appeared at bat nine more times in the series, going 0-for-9 with three strikeouts, and gave what amounted to a concession speech on behalf of his teammates in Milwaukee's stricken clubhouse late Thursday morning. I had to.
“I'm so disappointed right now,” Hoskins whispered.
yes. He was an appetizer. Now it's time for the main event. Here comes the Phillies. Mets vs. Phillies is one of the great rivalries in sports that has never had a true flashpoint. It's like a great love affair that never ends, but quite the opposite. The two teams had never met in the postseason until Game 1 of the NLDS, which will be played Saturday at Citizens Bank Park at 4:08 p.m.
Despite being in the same division since 1969, the two teams only clash sporadically during the regular season. But there's been a lot of bad feeling, and more to the point, every time the Phillies and Mets have chased, on 50/50 balls, the Phillies have generally endured it.
And there's little shame about it.
So this would be a monumental task for the Mets. The Mets have all the good vibes and positive mojo right now, leading as hard as they can for four months, and recently got a season's worth of ridiculous clutch plays in less than a week.
They will need all of this when facing the Phillies. And for the Phillies, it has to be like looking in the mirror. For the past two years, the Phillies have been doused in pixie dust and stormed out of the play-in round. Two years ago, they were the kind of team that made it to the World Series and made it from the First Four to the Final Four in Dayton, and last year they came a game away from repeating that.
Sure, they did it with great players, but the Magic that cornered them early both years seemed to continue to grow. They did so much work early on the road that by the time they finally got back to CBP, it had become a cauldron of disaster for higher-seeded teams. This is the kind of thing you can expect at Citi Field for Game 3 of this series on Tuesday night.
But even the Phillies have never had a week like this, or a week of incredible alchemy like the Mets experienced. The Mets have essentially played the Phillies this year with a record of 6 wins and 7 losses, and they know they are capable of competing. But if they can maintain their magic…
“I know it’s already October,” Brandon Nimmo said late Thursday night. “We know anything can happen. We continue to prove it.”
But if this is as satisfying a mission as Mets fans hope, it won't be just because they kept the Magic Bus energized. (Sing: “I want it…I want it…I want it…)” Because if fairy dust were truly all-powerful, they – and of course the Mets – would be able to solve all the family business.
For the collapse of 2007. Because of the Encore collapse in '08. Cole Hamels called them “chokers” in 2008, then took another shot at the Mets at his retirement ceremony in June. And we wanted to give it to you, unless you're a Met. ”
(Of course, that doesn't make any sense at all, but when you have that kind of hatred in your heart, your tongue can get a little tangled.)
For Jimmy Rollins, it all started when he declared the Phillies “a team to beat” in 2007, despite finishing a mile and a half behind the Mets in 2006. This is the person who has never stopped arguing about “Have you ever lived in Japan?'' “head” (Of course it was true).
And yes, for Chase Utley, perhaps the most hated Mets opponent of all time, Hoskins, who hit .873 (actually .281) and 77 home runs (versus just 39) against the Mets. is the spiritual ancestor of , managed to get the last laugh as the Dodgers by breaking up 1,000 double plays, raising their spikes (that's a real stat), and famous throws by Terry Collins and Noah Syndergaard. [butts] The jackpot was hit when they tried (and of course failed) to drive a retaliatory fastball into Utley's ear.
yes. Magic is good. But sending the Phillies home would be a whole different kind of magic. Fill the magic bus with gas. Race to the turnpike. Pronto.
