NCLS Game 6 Oct 20 2024 8 PM Mets at Dodgers "The Power of Love"

[batmagadanleadoff]

This might be the first time ever that the Mets were truly outmatched by a better opponent in a postseason series, and didn’t really have a chance to win.

Didn't really have a chance to win? Oh gimme a break. It was a six game series, ferchrissakes. Stop it with the dramatics and the fainting towels and the profound biblical-level meanings that you imagine you get from all of this. A lucky break here or there that goes the other way and the teams are preparing for a game seven tomorrow. If the Mets could've won three of the games, they'd be just as much in it as the Dodgers. But instead of winning three games, they won two. Jesse Winker had a chance to hit a grand slam, ferchrissakes. That's just one pitch. The difference between these two teams is nothing. And if there really was a meaningful gap in talent between the two teams, they'd have to play each other more times than possible for those differences to clearly manifest themselves.

[batmagadanleadoff]

This might be the first time ever that the Mets were truly outmatched by a better opponent in a postseason series, and didn’t really have a chance to win.

Didn't really have a chance to win? Oh gimme a break. It was a six game series, ferchrissakes. Stop it with the dramatics and the fainting towels and the profound biblical-level meanings that you imagine you get from all of this. A lucky break here or there that goes the other way and the teams are preparing for a game seven tomorrow. If the Mets could've won three of the games, they'd be just as much in it as the Dodgers. But instead of winning three games, they won two. Jesse Winker had a chance to hit a grand slam, ferchrissakes. That's just one pitch. The difference between these two teams is nothing. And if there really was a meaningful gap in talent between the two teams, they'd have to play each other more times than possible for those differences to clearly manifest themselves.

The Dodgers are supposed to be the best team on paper every single season going back more than a decade now. So then how come they've only won one WS in that time?

[batmagadanleadoff]

This might be the first time ever that the Mets were truly outmatched by a better opponent in a postseason series, and didn’t really have a chance to win.

Didn't really have a chance to win? Oh gimme a break. It was a six game series, ferchrissakes. Stop it with the dramatics and the fainting towels and the profound biblical-level meanings that you imagine you get from all of this. A lucky break here or there that goes the other way and the teams are preparing for a game seven tomorrow. If the Mets could've won three of the games, they'd be just as much in it as the Dodgers. But instead of winning three games, they won two. Jesse Winker had a chance to hit a grand slam, ferchrissakes. That's just one pitch. The difference between these two teams is nothing. And if there really was a meaningful gap in talent between the two teams, they'd have to play each other more times than possible for those differences to clearly manifest themselves.

The Dodgers are supposed to be the best team on paper every single season going back more than a decade now. So then how come they've only won one WS in that time?

Like everybody fucking expected Edman and Muncy to bat like the reincarnations of two Ty Cobbs this series and for Andy Pages to out-homer Pete Alonso and Francisco Alvarez, combined. /rollseyes Play this same series all over again and the next time, maybe Starling Marte is the guy who bats .750 with four HR's. It's just as likely.

[ashie62]

Great season, thanks everybody

[Lefty Specialist]

Thinking about it on the morning after, it was a great season. I won't quibble about the end.

Yeah, sure, if a couple of breaks went a different way, they might be playing tonight. Or if the breaks went the other way, Francisco Lindor's grand slam could have been a long fly ball to the warning track. That's baseball, Suzyn.

I predicted at the start of the year this team would lose 92 games. I was unimpressed with the starters especially after Senga went down. I saw the bullpen as a dumpster fire. The hitting wasn't so great. And for the first 59 games, they were proving me right at 24-35. I was resigned to another empty summer of meaningless games.

But they caught fire; whether it was Grimace, OMG, throwing a glove into the stands, a team meeting, bringing up Vientos, Manaea changing his pitching style, Peterson getting healthy, finding the right spot on the couch, whatever, it worked. Sure surprised the shit out of me.

AND IT WAS FUN! They won 101 games in 2022 and it wasn't nearly as much fun. Buck Showalter kind of outlawed fun, I think.

Most seasons we look back in anger at all the games they could have won but didn't because of a bad bullpen or a stupid baserunning play or a costly error. We don't have to do that this year!!!! They wound up exactly where they needed to be! They beat the Brewers, They beat the goddamn Phillies, and they gave the Dodgers a run for their money in the NL-friggin-CS. There isn't a person on this board that wouldn't have signed up for that in late March.

And the best part? Now Kamala can win.

[metirish]

Yeah, overall it was more than I expected, a fun season since the summer for sure #LGM


Oh and let's go Dodgers

[metsmarathon]

nah... we had our chances, multiple times. too many damned times, to chip away and tie these games. we just didn't capitalize.

for fucks sake, how many times did we have the bases loaded last night? felt like ten, damnit.

we were right in this series, the whole time.

[MFS62]

A let down.
I thought they had something special going.
The series exposed the team weaknesses that, with a LOT of money coming off the books, I'm sure they'll address in the off season.

As we used to say in Brooklyn, "Wait 'till next year".
Later

[G-Fafif]

One of these autumns, I’d like to wake up after a Met postseason is done with no trace of a grimace.

[Lefty Specialist]

Yes, the bullpen and the starting pitching was exposed, as was the lack of hitting with runners on. These were all things we kind of knew, yet they went 7-6 against the top 3 teams in the league in the postseason. They needed a Tommy Edman, someone who played way over his head, and they didn't have one in this series.

I'm sure David Stearns is hard at work in Steve Cohen's dormant volcano lair as we speak, planning things for next season. If we can see the flaws, he certainly can.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Yeah, sure, if a couple of breaks went a different way, they might be playing tonight. Or if the breaks went the other way, Francisco Lindor's grand slam could have been a long fly ball to the warning track. That's baseball, Suzyn.

That's fine. And if you wanna give props to the Dodgers, that's fine, too. Wanna say that the Dodgers had a better series than the Mets? I'm right there with you. But for someone (not you) to say that the Mets didn't have a chance? That's just idiotic. As if this was all preordained and an inevitable destiny because it was ... wait for it ... the playoffs. Oooooh! The playoffs. For most of the season, two thirds of it, the Mets were the best team in the majors. That wasn't luck. That team could play with anybody and beat anybody.


We could play a game of Monopoly (the board game) for fun. Or we could play a game of Monopoly where the loser has to jump off of the observation deck at the Empire State Building. One version of that game would be far more intense than the other, no doubt. But the game would be the same no matter which version we play. You'd have the same odds of rolling a seven no matter which version we play, the same odds of landing on Ventnor Avenue no matter which version we play and the cost of putting up a hotel on Park Place would be the same no matter which version we play. It's the same game whether we're playing for fun or for all of the marbles in the world. You don't suddenly get better at rolling the dice just because the stakes are higher.

If we could replay this series 20 times over, we'd have 20 different outcomes and 20 different "narratives". And I'd bet my life a zillion times over that the Dodgers don't win all 20 of those replayed series. Not even close.

Enough with the fucking but it's the playoffs. Oooooh! The playoffs. It's the same fucking game they play in May. And if the Rockies could take two of three from the Dodgers in May, then surely the Mets could win a short series from the Dodgers in October.

[metirish]

Oh I wanted to bring up something that Ken fucking Rosenthal said yesterday, he claimed that the Dodgers conceded two games to the Mets , what utter horseshit , I fucking hate that whole crew , also, seeing that clown in the Dodgers dugout several times during this series is not on

[batmagadanleadoff]

They needed a Tommy Edman, someone who played way over his head, and they didn't have one in this series.

That's just plain ol' luck. Every team has a Tommy Edman. Any major leaguer other than Rey Ordonez or Doug Flynn could get red-hot for a six game stretch and hit out of his mind like that. It could've just the same, been Jose Iglesias (who was doing just that during the season), or Tyrone Taylor. Or any Met. It was just randomness. Do you think it was pre-ordained that Donn Clendenon would hit three HR's in four WS games? And that he would continue to hit three HR's for every four WS games that he'd get to play if he was lucky enough to play more WS games?

Of course not. He just happened to get hot, and lucky, during those games.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

We got Daniel Murphyed by Tommy Edman.

At least we ended the series for the Phillies and Brewers and made it further than the Braves.

[Edgy MD]

We got Daniel Murphyed by Tommy Edman.

And at least a little bit Brian Doyled by Chris Taylor.

[Centerfield]

They needed a Tommy Edman, someone who played way over his head, and they didn't have one in this series.

That's just plain ol' luck. Every team has a Tommy Edman. Any major leaguer other than Rey Ordonez or Doug Flynn could get red-hot for a six game stretch and hit out of his mind like that. It could've just the same, been Jose Iglesias (who was doing just that during the season), or Tyrone Taylor. Or any Met. It was just randomness. Do you think it was pre-ordained that Donn Clendenon would hit three HR's in four WS games? And that he would continue to hit three HR's for every four WS games that he'd get to play if he was lucky enough to play more WS games?

Of course not. He just happened to get hot, and lucky, during those games.

It's something we fans can never get comfortable with. Just dumb luck having such an impact. Look at the injuries. The Mets were super lucky this year to stay relatively healthy. One bad injury in August to say Nimmo or Vientos, and the Mets miss the post-season.

On the other hand, if Luke Raley had stayed healthy, maybe we win it all.

[batmagadanleadoff]

On the other hand, if Luke Raley had stayed healthy, maybe we win it all.

Or Dedniel Nunez, the Mets best set-up man. Or if Brandon Nimmo, who had an awful NLCS, (.167/.259/.167) wasn't so obviously compromised. Or Jeff McNeil, who was turning it around after the All-Star break, until he fractured his wrist. He played in 40% of the Dodgers games after not playing for a month and a half. And did Francisco Lindor ever get back to full strength after his September back injury? Who the hell knows? Not to mention having their "best pitcher" Kodai Senga for essentially, just one game all season long. But ooooooooooooh, it's the playoffs. It's special baseball. Baseball at its best. (rollseyes) Even though the pitchers are so running on empty by October that if the current state of the game drives you nuts with the pitch counts and starters barely throwing six innings worth, in today's playoffs, you're lucky to get four innings from your starters.

Wanna know who the reigning WS champs are? The Texas Rangers. They beat the Diamondbacks in last year's series. Neither of those two teams were even expected to make the playoffs last year even though one out of every two and a half teams now makes the playoffs. Have fun and enjoy the show. Just don't tell me that the WS champs are baseball's best team. (Oooooooooooooooh! It's the playoffs! The playoffs! I'm with the Vipers!)

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

They needed a Tommy Edman, someone who played way over his head, and they didn't have one in this series.

That's just plain ol' luck. Every team has a Tommy Edman. Any major leaguer other than Rey Ordonez or Doug Flynn could get red-hot for a six game stretch and hit out of his mind like that. It could've just the same, been Jose Iglesias (who was doing just that during the season), or Tyrone Taylor. Or any Met. It was just randomness. Do you think it was pre-ordained that Donn Clendenon would hit three HR's in four WS games? And that he would continue to hit three HR's for every four WS games that he'd get to play if he was lucky enough to play more WS games?

Of course not. He just happened to get hot, and lucky, during those games.

It's something we fans can never get comfortable with. Just dumb luck having such an impact. Look at the injuries. The Mets were super lucky this year to stay relatively healthy. One bad injury in August to say Nimmo or Vientos, and the Mets miss the post-season.

On the other hand, if Luke Raley had stayed healthy, maybe we win it all.

The bullpen was hit hard for sure. Brooks Raley, Sean Reid-Foley, Nunez, Drew Smith. Shintaro Fujinami got hurt before he even came up!

[Edgy MD]

Luke Raley?

[Fman99]

Luke Raley?

Ugh, I hate all these country music guys I can't tell em apart either

[The Hot Corner]

I believe Luke Raley is the other half of the Mets Dukes of Hazzard lefthanded bullpen arms alongside Brooks Raley.

[Edgy MD]

Luke Raley (no known relation to Brooks) is a lefthanded-hitting outfielder for the Mariners — secretly Centerfield's favorite team.