⚾️ Why We Love Baseball: NY Star(s) Redemption

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When I think of the current New York Mets, my mind goes to two places: Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. In May, it felt like the whole city of Queens had counted these guys out, but now they’re proving they're more than worth their weight in contracts.

It was June 1st, 2024, the New York Mets sat at 24-33, 15.5 games back in the NL East and the 3rd worst record in the entire National League.

The city of Queens was ready to throw away the season by early June, and with it, their two star players. Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor hadn’t just been bad up to that point, they had been abysmal. Lindor batted .210 in the month of April in 26 games played. Alonso, in the same amount of games, batted .220 that month. The two guys the city of Queens could hold their hat on, were nowhere to be found.

Early June came and the Mets found themselves in London for a two-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. June 9th, game two of the London series, and down one going into the top of the 9th, the Mets scored 3 runs to go up two. A massive game-ending double play in the bottom of the ninth gave the Mets the win and the split of the series. I’m not sure what was in the tea in London, but it changed the Mets season.

The funny thing about baseball, though, is if you keep pushing, good things come your way. And they came in bunches. The Mets went on a historic run, going 65-40 since the start of June and finishing the season in a tie for the final Wild Card spot.

Lindor, more than any other Met, was doubted heavily early in the season. Mets nation wanted him gone, he was being touted as one of the worst contracts in organization history, and that the Lindor experiment was over. How did he respond? He batted around .300 from June to August, and if it weren’t for some guy named Shohei, he would be the front-runner for the NL MVP. The most impressive piece to all of this? Lindor doesn’t seem surprised at all that he’s coming up in the clutch.

He worked a walk in the first game of the Braves doubleheader to start the rally in the late innings, and he launched a go-ahead homer later in that game to give the Mets a one-run lead. It was all they needed. Last night, down 1-0 to the Phillies, Lindor crushed a grand slam to go up 4-1. It was all they needed.

When it comes to Alonso, his redemption came a little later in the year than Lindor. Alonso had a really up-and-down season, he’d have one good month, then a poor month to follow. Alonso’s moment came in the first round of the postseason against the Brewers. Down 2-0, ninth inning, season on the line, Alonso stepped up with runners on first and third with one out. All the doubt, all the hate, all the questions if Polar Pete could still do it, were met with one swing of the bat. Baseball has a funny way of paying off the people who fight for it. 3-2, Mets.

Baseball is a beautiful game. Lindor and Alonso earned their moments through all the adversity and the questions. Now, they lead a surging Mets franchise into the NLCS. For all of us fans with teams out of the postseason, these guys are hard not to root for.

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