Beat the Mets.
Beat the Mets.
Step right up
And beat the Mets.
I'm pretty sure that's how the song goes, at least after 2007's nearly impossible, but most welcome, collapse. In late September of '07, the Mets stood a 99.8% chance of making the playoffs according to Baseball Prospectus. They didn´t. Hooray .2%!
When I was a kid, I hated the Mets, and as an adult I hate the Mets. It's pretty much required when you're a Philadelphia sports fan. Nonetheless, I am forced to admit that they fielded some great teams in the 80s, and the fact that half of the Mets of that era are currently serving or have recently served hard time shouldn´t take away too much from that.
However, that's really not relevant to this review. If you're a Mets' fan, this six-game collection will likely be of interest to you, though some of the games have appeared in previous collections.
There is only one older game included on the set, Game 4 of the 1969 World Series when the Miracle Mets, just seven years into their expansion existence, somehow won the World Series. It's still hard to figure out how they did it. Was it the immortal infield of Jerry Grote, Ed Kranepool, Ken Boswell, Wayne Garret, and Bud Harrelson? Or the equally immortal outfield of Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, Art Shamsky, and the mighty Ron Swoboda? OK, so it probably had something to do with the young pitching staff featuring a 24 year old ace named Tom Seaver, a still young Jerry Koosman and a couple of kids in the pen: Tug McGraw and a wild, flame-throwing 22 year old named… you tell me (TRIVIA QUESTION #1.) Game 4 is a great pitcher´s duel between Seaver and Mike Cuellar which is a reminder of old times as Tom Seaver went all 10 innings for the victory.
The set also features two games from the Mets' 1986 post-season: Game 3 of the NLCS which is capped off by a 9th-inning home run from Lenny "Nails" Dykstra, one of the greatest post-season performers of all-time; and Game 6 of the 1986 World Series which we all know and love except in the Bill Buckner household.
I had completely forgotten about Game 5 of the NLCS which went 15 innings, and ended with a come-from-behind rally in the 15th. Unlike the 1969, this team was a real murderer's row anchored by two sure-fire future Hall-of-Famers in Ricky Henderson and the recently retired Mike Piazza as well as great-in-their prime guys like Robin Ventura, John Olerud, and Edgardo Alfonzo. Their shortstop, however, was somewhat less than great-in-his-prime. Can you name him? (TRIVIA QUESTION #2)
Beat the Mets.
Beat the Mets.
Step right up
And beat the Mets.
I'm pretty sure that's how the song goes, at least after 2007's nearly impossible, but most welcome, collapse. In late September of '07, the Mets stood a 99.8% chance of making the playoffs according to Baseball Prospectus. They didn´t. Hooray .2%!
When I was a kid, I hated the Mets, and as an adult I hate the Mets. It's pretty much required when you're a Philadelphia sports fan. Nonetheless, I am forced to admit that they fielded some great teams in the 80s, and the fact that half of the Mets of that era are currently serving or have recently served hard time shouldn´t take away too much from that.
However, that's really not relevant to this review. If you're a Mets' fan, this six-game collection will likely be of interest to you, though some of the games have appeared in previous collections.
There is only one older game included on the set, Game 4 of the 1969 World Series when the Miracle Mets, just seven years into their expansion existence, somehow won the World Series. It's still hard to figure out how they did it. Was it the immortal infield of Jerry Grote, Ed Kranepool, Ken Boswell, Wayne Garret, and Bud Harrelson? Or the equally immortal outfield of Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, Art Shamsky, and the mighty Ron Swoboda? OK, so it probably had something to do with the young pitching staff featuring a 24 year old ace named Tom Seaver, a still young Jerry Koosman and a couple of kids in the pen: Tug McGraw and a wild, flame-throwing 22 year old named… you tell me (TRIVIA QUESTION #1.) Game 4 is a great pitcher´s duel between Seaver and Mike Cuellar which is a reminder of old times as Tom Seaver went all 10 innings for the victory.
The set also features two games from the Mets' 1986 post-season: Game 3 of the NLCS which is capped off by a 9th-inning home run from Lenny "Nails" Dykstra, one of the greatest post-season performers of all-time; and Game 6 of the 1986 World Series which we all know and love except in the Bill Buckner household.
I had completely forgotten about Game 5 of the NLCS which went 15 innings, and ended with a come-from-behind rally in the 15th. Unlike the 1969, this team was a real murderer's row anchored by two sure-fire future Hall-of-Famers in Ricky Henderson and the recently retired Mike Piazza as well as great-in-their prime guys like Robin Ventura, John Olerud, and Edgardo Alfonzo. Their shortstop, however, was somewhat less than great-in-his-prime. Can you name him? (TRIVIA QUESTION #2)
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