The New York Mets are just a few wins away from the franchise’s sixth National League pennant.
Let that sink in for a minute: The same Mets who, on May 29, were closing out a dreadful month of baseball. Who watched as reliever Jorge López, ejected from an eventual 10-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, untucked his jersey, tossed his glove over the protective netting and into the stands, and was designated for assignment just days later.
The same Mets who hit rock bottom in early June, back-to-back losses to the Arizona Diamondbacks, to fall to 24-35 for one of the worst records in the NL.
The odds – both in terms of chances and from NY sportsbooks – were stacked against the Mets. Then, something happened. Something clicked. And now, here stands New York, on the threshold of accomplishing the unfathomable just four months ago.
Less than Amazin’s: Mets winless to start
Oddsmakers didn’t exactly have much faith in the Mets to win the World Series heading into the 2024 season. In fact, Mets betting odds of +5000 were only better than 12 other teams in the league, according to BetMGM Sportsbook NY.
Unfortunately, New York didn’t do much to prove those oddsmakers wrong. Quite the opposite.
Instead, the Mets lost each of their first five games, by a combined score of 25-11, all at home at Citi Field.
While a 162-game season is indeed long, only three teams in history had bounced back to reach the postseason. The outlook was already bleak for New York.
It didn’t help matters in May when New York won just nine times in 28 games, setting up the consecutive losses to Arizona to drop to 24-35.
There was little hope. If any. Many were already talking about how star slugger Pete Alonso would bolt from Queens. Then, José Iglesias made his debut. Two weeks later, the Grimace Effect began.
Grimace Effect takes hold as Mets go on tear
On May 31, the Mets called up Iglesias. His walk-up music was a track of his own that he released earlier this year under the stage name Candelita. Perhaps you know it or have seen the signs around Citi Field and in the Mets dugout: “OMG”.
New York went 12-5 over the next 17 games.
But the turning point, for whatever reason, came on June 12, the 53rd birthday of Grimace, the affable purple monster from McDonald’s.
Mets officials invited Grimace to throw out the first pitch on that day with New York set to host the Miami Marlins for the second of a three-game series. The high-arcing, eephus-like pitch fell well outside of the target, but the then-28-37 Mets were dialed in from the start.
Harrison Bader clubbed a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, and the Mets added three in the second to jump in front 5-2. New York then scored five unanswered runs between the fifth and eighth innings to run away with a 10-4 win.
That sparked a five-game winning streak for the Mets, including the franchise’s first series sweep of the San Diego Padres since 2006.
What happened next will go down in Mets lore, as the Amazin’s went 61-36 to close out the regular season – the best record in baseball during that stretch.
A thrilling finish to a dramatic MLB season
New York, though, was still not in the postseason until the final day of the regular season – an extra day, actually, as the Mets had to make up two games against the Atlanta Braves after they were postponed due to Hurricane Helene.
The Mets needed to win at least one game in that doubleheader to earn a spot in the playoffs. Fortunately for New York, the magic was not gone.
Heading into the first game, the organization had lost 77 straight games when trailing by three runs in the eighth inning or later. Down 3-0 in the top of the eighth, the Mets led off with five straight hits, quickly tying the score before the first out was recorded. That out was a sacrifice fly that gave New York a 4-3 edge. New York wasn’t done.
The next batter, Brandon Nimmo, blasted a 405-foot home run to cap a six-run frame and putting the Mets up 6-3. Atlanta, though, would not surrender, putting up four runs in the home half of the eighth to retake the lead. It’s fitting, really. Why would this roller-coaster season for the Mets not feature drama on the final day of the season?
Again: Mets magic struck in the top of the ninth, with Francisco Lindor slugging a two-run homer to center that put New York ahead for good. Edwin Díaz slammed the door on Atlantic in the ninth, and the Mets were officially in the postseason.
NY betting odds stacked against Mets, but miracles can happen
New York faces an uphill battle in the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers, down 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
But the Mets have bounced back from worse.
Consider that New York became just the fourth team to reach the playoffs after starting the regular season 0-5, joining the 1974 Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1995 Cincinnati Reds, and the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays. (Of note, both the Pirates and Reds ended up losing in the NLCS.)
At 21-29 through 50 games, the Mets also had the fourth-worst record of a team that went on to win in the Wild Card round. (Again, of note, the Washington Nationals were 19-31 through 50 games and eventually won the World Series.) And with a 40-41 record at the official midpoint, the Mets had the seventh-worst record for a team that won in the Wild Card. Yet somehow, despite all of this, New York hit the over on the preseason MLB betting total of 81.5 wins with 12 games remaining in the regular season.
Should they win their first championship since 1986, the Mets’ preseason odds of +5000 would be tied with the 2023 Texas Rangers as the longest for a team to win since the then-Florida Marlins (+7500) in 2003.
The Mets owned the fourth-worst odds to win the World Series of the 12 teams in the postseason. Yet here they stand, on the precipice of the team’s first World Series appearance in nine years.
How much magic is left?
