QUEENS, NY — For the second time in two weeks, Francisco Lindor connected on one of the biggest home runs in Mets franchise history, cracking a sixth-inning grand slam in Game 4 of the NLDS that ultimately eliminated the NL East-rival Philadelphia Phillies and lifted New York to its first NLCS berth in nine years.
Yet, for the second time in two weeks, one was left to think that the superstar shortstop’s round-tripper was nothing more than a big fly during getaway-day matinee in the middle of June: No demonstratives, no histrionics, no wild gesticulations. Just a small high-five for first-base coach Antoan Richardson and another for third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh before meeting his teammates at home plate and in the dugout, where they awaited him with a more fitting, ecstatic celebration.
It was the same sort of reaction he had on Sept. 30, the last day of the regular season, when his two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning clinched the Mets’ second postseason berth in three years.
“It feels amazing to be able to continue to move forward in this uphill fight but still, we’re not where we want to be,” a champagne-drenched Lindor said after the Mets’ dramatic Game 4 NLDS win. “We have to continue to play the game the right way day in and day out. We’ll enjoy this one, we’ll celebrate with our families and our fan base, but you just have to stay the course. Continue to stay the course.
“This road has been curvy, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Lindor has made it this far, after all, which can’t be said about the Mets’ organization recently.
He won an American League pennant with the Cleveland Guardians in 2016 — one year after the Mets’ last NLDS series win, which ended with a World Series appearance, too. But he was a key figure in one of the most dramatic Fall Classics of all time as his side fell to the Chicago Cubs in seven games to break a 108-year championship drought.
Since then, Lindor got back to the postseason three more times with Cleveland before his move to the Mets and the subsequent $341 million contract extension in 2021 — a contract that will always hover over his head and ultimately be appraised depending on the team’s success.
Yet all he had to show for it in his first three years in New York was a Wild Card Series exit. That all has changed over the last 10 days.
Not only are the Mets in the NLCS for just the fifth time in the last 25 years, but Wednesday night was the first time since 2000 that the franchise clinched a postseason series in Queens — the first time that has ever happened at Citi Field.
A nice footnote, at best, for Lindor, who’s eyes remain transfixed on something much larger.
“I want to win it all,” Lindor said. “Then this will be a team that will forever be remembered. It’ll be a team that comes back every 10 years and they eat for free everywhere they go. I want to do that. I want to continue to climb, I want to continue to play the game the right way, respect our opponents, and go out there and give everything we have.”
His manager, Carlos Mendoza, is not too far away from Lindor’s business-like mindset, as well. While standing near the pitcher’s mound at Citi Field surrounded by his celebrating team and their families, the skipper likened their current location to playing in July.
“That’s where we are,” Mendoza said. We take it one day at a time, one series at a time. We don’t want to get too far ahead. We have to enjoy the moment and go from there… We haven’t done anything. Our goal is to win the last game. Here we are celebrating another step, but we got another big series coming up.”
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