What Bill Parcells said 35 years ago still applies today. There are no medals even if you try professional sports. There are no consolation prizes.
George Steinbrenner was fond of saying, “Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser.”
yes. It's all fair. That's all fine. And by now, unless you have the most rose-colored glasses, you've probably already run through baseball's version of the five stages of grief, all the way from denial to acceptance.
The Dodgers are that good and have played their best for most of this National League Championship Series. The Mets aren't that good and need to be at their best and sharpest to keep the Dodgers in sight, and they're not even close to that. Crazy things happen in sports. This can be proven.
So this has to be the hope now. As the sun shines down late Friday afternoon, the Mets will give us the last twitch of summer. We hope they can avoid the inevitable and continue this amazing journey for two more days. After the devastating loss the Dodgers suffered in this game, it would take something close to a miracle to win three in a row and go 10-2.
3-1 with 3 consecutive losses? Please make a miracle happen.
But one in a row?
The Mets can win consecutive games. It's baseball. The White Sox have defeated the Guardians five times this year. They beat the Yankees once. They only won 35 other games all year, but managed to take six games off the two best teams in the league. Of course, the Mets can beat the Dodgers on Friday afternoon, no matter how wide the rift between them has seemed over the past two nights.
And that would be correct. That would be appropriate. It's worth it for the fans who packed Citi Field for the third straight game and the fifth time in eight days. Same goes for the Mets, who have reminded everyone in October of what an acoustic delight their home field can be, and should do everything they can to make this a timeless event rather than an all-too-frequent outlier. .
“We've had our backs against the wall before, and now we've got our backs against the wall again. We're going to do our best to add more magic to the story and create more magic.” said Brandon Nimmo, a microcosm of one person. The Mets are struggling at the moment, barely able to run, but run hard enough to break up a double play, which was the Mets' last score. “It won't be easy, but it's a fitting end to the story because nothing we've ever done before has happened.”
They both deserve one more day in the sun and sing “My Girl” a few times every time Francisco Lindor steps up to bat. some more chants). . They need a few more big swings from young third baseman Mark Vientos, but he's picking October as the best time to reach the star.
And sure, they owe Pete Alonso a few more at-bats (well, maybe a Rocket or two). A few months.
Most of the time, it will feel wrong to end this magic carpet journey by cleaning your home. I understand that. The Dodgers didn't win those 98 games by lottery. It was no coincidence that they were able to bounce back from the brink of losing against the Padres. That's nice. they are very good Shohei Ohtani, the most energetic offensive player in sports, will be leading the way, with Mookie Betts batting second (1-3 walks behind him).
They have a living assembly line of weapons in the bullpen. They line up grinder after grinder behind their star, refusing to swing at any ball that's even a millimeter outside the strike zone. Having experienced so many disappointments in October, his core has been forged and forged, and he appears to have become even stronger for it.
There's a reason Steve Cohen is working so hard to build his own version of the Dodger Way and slap the “Mets” logo on it. The Dodgers are what the Mets want to be. And this year, the Mets took some big steps in that direction. But this series is no fluke, and the seemingly inevitable fourth loss won't be a disaster.
But the Mets can make the Dodgers work. They can have another day in the sun at Citi Field and give everyone another happy recap. At least he could fly 3,000 miles to get some champagne from the Dodgers and get a chance at old Dodger Stadium.
We always thought this Mets would be tough if they snuck into the playoffs. The Brewers found that out the hard way. So were the Phillies. It stands to reason that if the Dodgers are going to take a victory lap, they should do it during Pacific time. After all, it's always sunny outside.
Not here. On Friday, the Mets will have their last day in the sun. They will also be able to make the most of it.
