QUEENS, NY — It was May 29 and the Mets had just been swept at home in Citi Field by the Los Angeles Dodgers following a 10-3 loss to drop them to 22-33 on the season.
Desperate for answers, a team meeting was held where nearly every player spoke, accountability was stressed, and a starting point was ultimately cemented to get the team moving in the same direction.
“I remember that meeting like it was yesterday. It was really good,” Mets pitcher and the scheduled starter for Game 4 of the NLCS on Thursday, Jose Quintana, said. “At that point, we sucked. We were doing really bad. But we talked [candidly] and said everything we thought we had to say to get better.
“We said a lot that we needed to prove it. We needed to go out there and do better. Get in front of the mirror, think about what had to be done to get better, and work hard to do that. That meeting turned the season for us in a really good way.”
The Mets found their mojo shortly after, going 67-40 down the stretch to eke into the final National League Wild Card spot on the final day of the season, outlast the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Series in three games, and shock the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS in four games.
Entering Wednesday night’s Game 3 of the NLCS at Citi Field, the Mets welcomed the Dodgers back to town yet again — but things have changed drastically since then.
“We’re in a way different spot,” slugger Pete Alonso said. “We’re a different team than where we were at. For us, we’re right where we’re supposed to be. We’re all really excited, and this is going to be a great opportunity for us.”
Not only have they played some of the best baseball in the majors over the last four months, but they are also one of the most tight-knit groups in the game, too.
Veteran starting-pitching misfits have become inseparable while developing into one of the best rotations in the National League. A journeyman utility infielder on a minor-league deal who also moonlights as a Latin pop star came up with the team’s anthem, “OMG,” and also batted .337 this season.
There was Grimace and Seymour Wiener and Pete Alonso’s “Playoff Pumpkin.”
As a younger generation says (if it still resides in the popular vernacular), the vibes could not be higher.
“That meeting was the best thing we could have done,” Quintana said. “Everybody talked from the heart and gave everybody support. You try to support each other and go out there to do your best.”
