They should have been thinking about the long flight back to Kansas City for Game 6. They should have been thinking they’d just run into Matt Harvey on the wrong night in November. They should have been thinking that some missions are more impossible than others, and this was one of them.
But those are the kinds of thoughts other teams think. Not this team. Not the team that just won the 2015 World Series on a shocking Sunday night at Citi Field, the Kansas City Royals.
If there ever was a team that could find itself two runs down to the Dark Knight in the ninth inning of a World Series game and think, “Cool, we’ve got these guys right where we want them,” this was that team — the kings of improbability. They’d spent an entire postseason acting as if down were up. So why stop now?
Oh please. The Royals outplayed the Mets throughout the entire series. And I say that as a huge Mets fan. Mets defense repeatedly made major errors in last night’s game including blowing a crucial double play in the 9th that would have won them the game. (Cruel online comment today: “I can’t make a double play. Duda Duda.” )
In the sixth inning the Mets had bases loaded and no outs when Cespedes came to bat. We were sitting at home jumping up and down yelling and screaming. He proceeded to foul off a ball right into his leg. He couldn’t get off the ground for minutes and when he did he could barely stand. And Collins let him continue batting! How was he going to run the bases except in a wheelchair? And he was basically standing on one leg while trying to bat so he had no chance of a decent hit anyway.
Then the whole Harvey thing in the 9th inning. OK, he deserved to try to pitch out the game, but then let him do it immediately not after he gets himself all worked up. (Although I saw a comment today that said “a Little League manager would not have let him pitch.”) And then, as soon as he walked the first Royal batter, he should have been relieved.
The Mets had a hundred ways to win that game and they didn’t. Not to take away from the Royals. They were flawless. But it was hardly unexpected that they won, the way the Mets were playing. My kids went to bed after the 7th because the Mets were ahead and they didn’t want to see what new creative way they would come up with to lose. Wise choice. Thank God I was asleep before the total disaster that was the 14th inning.
Correction — they lost in 12 innings last night. It was in Game One they took 14 innings to lose! 🙂
I’m also a big Mets fan and I have to agree. The Royals consistently outplayed our guys and even if we had pulled it out last night I think the likelihood of the Mets winning the series were close to lottery ticket odds. The better team won. That’s the bottom line.