As the Dodgers embark on a quick turnaround for the NLCS, here are nine things to know about the Mets — and the concerns their upstart opponents might pose.
In the postgame clubhouse following Game 5 of the National League Division Series, the expletives flowed as freely as showers of beer and champagne.
Actually, it started even before then.
What’s different about this year’s Dodgers team, Game 5 hero Kiké Hernández was asked during a postgame Fox television interview out on the field.
“The fact that we don’t give a f—,” Hernández grinned.
It was a message similar to one Hernández shared with the team as the Dodgers stormed back from a two-games-to-one deficit in the NLDS to defeat the San Diego Padres, one players proudly recounted — expletive included.
Next up on the Dodgers’ October conquest: The New York Mets, who will travel to Dodger Stadium for the start of a best-of-seven NL Championship Series on Sunday. First pitch is at 5:15 p.m.
“That Mets team is playing really good baseball,” manager Dave Roberts said, keeping his language G-rated. “But we’ll be ready.”
If the Dodgers’ place in the NLCS is a surprise, then the Mets’ has been nothing short of a miracle. What was supposed to be a reset season with a bloated payroll has instead borne an unexpected championship chase, with the team sneaking into the playoffs as a five-seed before dispatching the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers and NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies.
As the Dodgers embark on a quick turnaround from Game 5 to another Game 1, here are nine things to know about their NLCS opponent — and the concerns the upstart Mets might pose in the best-of-seven series.
Despite having the highest payroll in baseball this year (over $340 million according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts), the Mets’ pure roster talent pales in comparison to some other big-market clubs — the Dodgers, included.
But on vibes, no squad has matched the positive energy generated in Queens this season; from infielder Jose Iglesias’ “OMG,” pop song, the unofficial anthem of the team; to the superstitious connection that Grimace, the purple pear-shaped McDonalds mascot character, forged among the fan base after throwing out a ceremonial first pitch at the start of a Mets’ regular-season winning streak.
On the field, the Mets’ journey here was its own fairy tale. They went from an early-season laughing stock, 11 games under .500 in early June, to a midseason surge that left them 49-46 at All-Star break. They vaulted into playoff content with a nine-game winning streak in late August and early September. Then they punched their October ticket in a memorable doubleheader on the Monday after the end of the regular season, erasing deficits in the eighth and ninth innings against the Atlanta Braves — the latter on a go-ahead Francisco Lindor home run — to earn what once looked like an unlikely playoff bid.
The dramatics continued through the first two rounds. In a decisive Game 3 of the wild-card series in Miwaukee, Pete Alonso hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning for a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. In an NLDS upset of the second-seeded Phillies, the Mets clinched the series in a Game 4 win that was keyed by Lindor’s sixth-inning grand slam.
