Once again, good pitching beats good hitting in a post-season series. We have certainly seen it before. The Cubs hit .163 for the series and never led in any game. Total domination. Even though many Met fans were calling into NY talk sports radio shows concerned about blowing a 3-0 lead, this was a beatdown from start to finish. There were few dramatic points in any of the games.
The Mets were dead in the water in early July with no offense and no buzz. And now? They rule the City and the Yankees now realize that they are the 2nd team in NY – likely for years to come. Of course, the Mets will be hard-pressed to keep this team together salary-wise as soon as next season. Cespedes is a goner for some long-term, ridiculous contract and even Daniel Murphy will now get more than he is worth in a long-term deal. Timing is everything and let’s face it: not everyone excels in the walk years of their contracts (see Stephen Drew who did parley his .160 season with the Yankees into another 1-year deal. But not every GM is Brian Cashman). The betting is that they will lock up a couple of the young stud pitchers ahead of free agency and perhaps trade Matt Harvey for a bat during the off-season. But with a rotation that throws 95 mph+ every night of the week, that is exciting.
SU would not normally root for the Mets but this team is likeable and fun to watch. I will likely revert to form next season but having a World Series in NY is always exciting and it helps to bridge the days until the NBA season starts. Once the Knicks are mathematically eliminated by Thanksgiving, we turn to the next spring training. Or you can focus on the Giants who may also be eliminated by Thanksgiving.
You wonder if Toronto can keep winning these elimination games. A game 7 would be exciting. SU does not like the Blue Jays – their act is tiresome and the unusual power surge does make you wonder. Kansas City is a team of gamers and while they lack a stud pitcher, they are very solid. Either way, should be a good World Series. The Mets must guard against the 5-days layoff now til the Series starts. Best to keep Daniel Murphy toasty.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Watching the Mets score runs, it’s very hard to believe this is the same we watched for the first half+ of the season. I guess that on the offensive side, it isn’t. The pitching has been and remains great.
It’s exciting and fashionable to look at the Mets and think that they’ve got things wrapped up for the future with 4 great starters. What they have now is fantastic but not necessarily unprecedented. What’s uncertain is the future. Other than the Braves of the 90s, i can’t really think of another team that kept a core group of top notch starters together for more than a season or two. Trades, free agency, injury or just a drop in performance are all likely. Baseball history is littered with phenoms who pitch fantastically for a couples seasons. A handful of those manage to parlay that into a fantastic career. Managing to have multiple pitchers do it together on the same team really doesn’t happen. Again, other than Maddox/Glavine/Smoltz I can’t think of one.
Maybe it’s the way the Mets are playing but the Dodgers and Cubs did not look like good teams. Not at all. Message to MLB: Stop with the expansion plans. When a playoff team has outfielders diving all over the place, the next new team will be the Bad News Bears. Want to expand to Mexico? Move one of the many teams that can’t fill a stadium but don’t dilute the talent pool further by adding teams.
Now, sports radio can argue over who pitches game one for the Mets. There really are no wrong answers here. It probably comes down to feel for the team and Terry Collins has better insight here than any radio host or caller.
After Mariano’s retirement Yankee fans have been searching for the heir apparent. All they had to do was look across the river.
Familia has faced 33 batters this postseason and allowed 4 runners to reach base. In comparison, Rivera allowed 4 of his first 20 to reach base.
One of the most impressive aspects of Mariano’s game was his ability to dominate for more than one inning. A quick review of his postseason stats (baseballreference.com) reveals that Mariano went more than 1 inning in 2/3rds of his post season appearances. Granted, to be begin his postseason career he was not the closer. While Familia has only gone more than an inning in a third his outings this postseason, he has shown the ability to be effective in these spots throughout the season. Mets fan remember that to start the season he was going to be our 7th AND 8th inning man until Parnell was healthy (How much can change over the course of a year!)
What made Mariano so impressive is both his consistency and longevity. While it will take sustained success by both Familia and the Mets to achieve legendary status, Jeurys is off to a strong start.
Harry, good points on Familia. It’s been a long time since the Mets had someone that solid at the back end of the bullpen. So far, Terry Collins has been masterful in how he has used him. That’s been really important as Tyler Clippard is too scary to bring in to a close game these days. Mariano’s greatness was his consistency. So few relievers are good year to year and he did it for close to 20. Time will tell on your guy but he has the power and the variety – that’s for sure.