As a die-hard Mets fan, my outlook on the season stares through a filter of negativity and pessimism.
“Nobody in the ballpark. 0-5. Hitless through 7. It feels like rock bottom.” This wasn’t hyperbole from New York Mets TV play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen.
There is a certain stigma about the Mets’ brand of baseball that emulates a sort of “Murphy’s Law-type ordeal.” You know, if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. That’s how it has felt for as long as I can remember.
Following a disappointing 75-87 finish in 2023, where they were sellers at the trade deadline and dealt future Hall of Famers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander for prospects, the 2024 season was expected to be a rebuilding year. The team also missed out on signing top superstars like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the offseason.
There really wasn’t much expected from this team or rookie manager Carlos Mendoza, and for the first 50 or so games, it sure seemed that way. However, the Mets found optimism in some unlikely heroes.
By 2024, José Iglesias’s baseball career was in limbo. He spent all of the 2023 season in the minor leagues and was released by both the Miami Marlins and the San Diego Padres. During this period of uncertainty, Iglesias tapped into another passion, music.
When Iglesias was bouncing around the minor leagues, he started to release songs under the alias, Candelita. However, nothing took off quite like “OMG.” Iglesias wrote and recorded the song during the winter, when he also signed a minor league contract with the Mets.
After starting the 2024 season on the Mets Triple-A affiliate, Iglesias’s path back to the major leagues quickly presented itself. By May 31, the Mets were 10 games under .500 and needed a change. After a series of roster moves, Iglesias found himself in Queens. Iglesias’s locker room presence was quickly felt as his energetic play quickly made him a spark plug for the team.
Iglesias’s walk- up song quickly caught on with the fans and the team. With its catchiness and positive message, it became an anthem for both the Mets themselves and their fans.
Notably, he even performed the hit live at Citi Field after a June win against the Houston Astros. “OMG” was not only popular in the Mets world, as it debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin charts. Its music video, featuring people from all different backgrounds in an outdoor celebration, captures the upbeat, communal spirit that Iglesias brought both on and off the field.
After May 31, the day Iglesias was called up into the majors, the Mets went on to go 66-40, the best record in baseball during that time frame. Iglesias himself cemented a spot in the everyday lineup, batting an impressive .337 during his time in the bigs.
While “OMG” was playing through the stadium speaker, the Mets found another unlikely hero in the form of a giant, furry, purple man-thing. That being Grimace. Yes, Grimace from McDonald’s.
Before a game against the Marlins on June 12, the Mets gave Grimace the chance to throw out the ceremonial first pitch in celebration of his 53rd birthday. After the pitch, the Mets went on to win seven games in a row. Fans began to dub this “the Grimace effect,” attributing the team’s success to the mascot.
Whether it was due to Grimace’s appearance or not, the Mets used the momentum from that win streak to surpass the .500 mark and eventually land in the final Wild Card slot on the last day of the season.
In the first round, the Mets were matched up against the formidable Milwaukee Brewers. In a win-or-go-homewin- orr- go- home Game 3, the Mets found Pete Alonso at the plate as the go- ahead run in the ninth inning.
As I was watching this unfold in real-time, I thought I knew how it was going to end. Alonso entered the postseason coming off a less- than-stellar performance in the last year of his contract. Looking through my pessimistic lens, I was about to watch Alonso hit into a double- play, ending the season and potentially his career as a Met.
But he didn’t.
Alonso smacked a game-winning home run over the right field fence. I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was watching.
The Mets continued to capitalize on clutch moments, marching their way to the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. But the powerhouse Dodgers proved to just be too much for the Amazin’s, beating them in six games.
I’ve seen the Mets lose big games, and the emotions I feel when they lose consisted of mostly anger. However, when the Mets were eliminated from a chance at a World Series on Sunday, I smiled.
Despite the loss to the Dodgers, this Mets season made me reconsider my long-held belief in “Murphy’s Law.” Instead of expecting everything to go wrong, I found I was seeing things finally going right.
