Your 2015 NL Champion NY METS

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• No miracle needed: Mets headed to the World Series

• NLCS Game 4: Mets complete sweep, reach first World Series since 2000

• Ten big reasons why the New York Mets are headed to the World Series

 

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Official New York Mets Website

Mets win fifth NL pennant with sweep of Cubs

 

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WATCH: Mets celebrate winning 2015 NL pennant at Wrigley Field - CBSSports.com

Mets win NL pennant, ensuring first all-expansion team World Series

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Great accomplishment and I am savoring the moment but it's not over yet. Let's close this out boys!

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

They woudl much prefer the Jays, who are a carbon copy of the team they just swept

 

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Morning Briefing: It's a sweeping success for the Mets

NEW YORK -- 10/22

FIRST PITCH: How sweep it is!

The New York Mets won their first pennant in 15 years by completing a sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series on Wednesday at Wrigley Field.

The Amazin’s will open the fifth World Series in franchise history on Tuesday at Kansas City or Toronto.

Daniel Murphy was named MVP of the NLCS, joining Mike Hampton in 2000 as the only players in franchise history to receive that honor. Murphy set a major league record by homering in his sixth straight postseason game.

Afterward, David Wright reveled in advancing to the World Series given all the down moments he had endured in recent seasons.


THURSDAY’S NEWS REPORTS:

• Lucas Duda awakened, producing a franchise-record-matching five RBIs as the Mets ousted the Cubs with an 8-3 win in Game 4. Steven Matz limited the damage against him to one run in 4 2/3 innings despite facing the bases loaded and none out in the fourth. Wright snared a wicked line drive off the bat of Starlin Castro for the first out of that frame. "I thought it was going to drag me into left field," Wright said. Bartolo Colon earned the win in relief. He now has the largest gap between postseason wins in major league history (14 years, 12 days), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Read recaps in thePost, Daily News, USA Today, Times, Journal, Newsday, Record and atNJ.com and MLB.com.
  
  
• Yoenis Cespedes departed the game in the second inning with left shoulder stiffness, but insisted he would be fine for the World Series. Buster Olney reports that Cespedes irritated the AC joint doing pushups. Cespedes said a morning golf game was no factor. Read more in the Post, Daily News, Record,Newsday, Times and at MLB.com.
  
  
• Murphy will receive a $15.8 million qualifying offer from the Mets, Joel Sherman reports in the Post.
  
  
• Columnist Ken Davidoff in the Post labels Murphy’s ride as a Met a "doozy." Read more on Murphy in the Times, Newsday and at MLB.com.
  
  
• Columnists Mike Vaccaro in the Post, John Harper in the Daily News, David Lennon in Newsday, Bob Klapisch in the Record and Tara Sullivan in the Record put the Mets’ win in context.
  
  
• Terry Collins likely only plans to manage for two more seasons. Read about Collins as a baseball lifer in the Post and Daily News.
  
  
• Keith Hernandez’s 1986 World Series player trophy is on the auction block.
  
  
• Read more on Colon’s relief outing in the Post.
  
  
• Read more on Duda in the Post, Daily News and Newsday.
  
  
• Read more on Matz in the Daily News.
  
  
• Travis d'Arnaud missed his best friend’s wedding, columnist Kevin Kernan writes in the Post.
  
  
• From the bloggers ... Mets Report suggests forgetting about the future and enjoying the now.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Some nice insights by Keith...(on podcast)


Keith Hernandez on Mets' growth this season

Two-time World Series champion Keith Hernandez weighs in on the Mets' development, Daniel Murphy's postseason performance and how each ALCS team would match up against New York.

 

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Morning Briefing: Which team will join the Mets in the World Series?


NEW YORK -- 10/23

FIRST PITCH: And now we wait.

The New York Mets have punched a ticket to the World Series, but their opponent remains unresolved.

The Kansas City Royals take a 3-2 series lead over the Toronto Blue Jays into Friday’s 8:07 p.m. ET game at Kauffman Stadium.

Neither is a perfect draw for the Mets’ power arms. The Royals had the best batting average in the majors against fastballs registering at least 94 mph during the regular season, while the Blue Jays ranked sixth, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Against those high-velocity pitches, Toronto had the highest slugging percentage, while Kansas City ranked second.

The Mets will have a workout at Citi Field on Friday at noon ET.

FRIDAY’S NEWS REPORTS:

• Third base coach/’86 Met Tim Teufel tells Mike Puma in the Post: "I think the '86 Mets are even tired of hearing about the ’86 Mets, so it would be great if we can take the next round. If we become world champs, this organization will be flying high again."
  
  
• Don Mattingly is out as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mets bench coach Bob Geren may emerge as a candidate, a source tells Mark Saxon at ESPN.com. Geren managed the Oakland Athletics while Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi worked in Billy Beane’s front office.
  
  
• Noah Syndergaard tells the Post he is “100 percent” confident the Mets will win the World Series.
  
  
• Tyler Kepner in the Times suggests the Mets’ frugal, build-from-within plan worked.
  
  
• In conjunction with the baseball arbitration team at Pace Law, ESPN.com annually does highly precise arbitration projections for Mets players. Those computations for this winter have not yet been calculated because postseason performance is a factor. Tim Dierkes at MLB Trade Rumors has that site’s projections. Lucas Duda is projected to earn $6.8 million in 2016, up from $4.2 million this year. As for notable first-time arbitration-eligible players, Matt Harvey is projected to earn $4.7 million and Jeurys Familia is projected to earn $3.3 million. Meanwhile, Addison Reed is projected to earn $5.7 million, which is one reason why non-tendering the setup man seems logical, after which he may be re-signed for a lower number.
  
  
• David Wright will be given the third base used at Wrigley Field during Game 4 of the NLCS, Fox’s Jon Morosi tweets.
  
  
• Fans gathered at Citi Field on Thursday to welcome back Wright and the rest of the team, the Daily News reports. Read Wright’s comments on Thursday from Maria Guardado at NJ.com. Read Wednesday postgame reaction from Wright to winning the pennant in Newsday.
  
  
• World Series tickets at Citi Field may be the most expensive baseball tickets in major league history, David K. Li writes in the Post. Read more on ticket prices in the Daily News and Record.
  
  
• Daniel Murphy's homer surge reminds columnist Mike Vaccaro in the Post of Linsanity. Read a recap of the NLCS MVP’s performance in Newsday.
  
  
• Wilmer Flores is thankful he remained a Met, columnist Kevin Kernan writes in the Post.
  
  
• Columnist Joel Sherman in the Post notes that the Mets’ high-end young power pitching is the difference this postseason.
  
  
• Michael Salfino in the Journal looks at which American League team may be a better matchup for the Mets.
  
  
• Four Mets farmhands will represent the organization with Team USA at the WBSC Premier12 Tournament in Tapei and Tokyo from Nov. 9-21: shortstop Gavin Cecchini, right-handers John Church and Cody Satterwhite, and catcher Dan Rohlfing.
  
  
• Columnist David Lennon in Newsday hails the contribution of Sandy Alderson to these Amazin’s Mets.
  
  
• Harvey was content not to have to pitch in Game 5 on Thursday, on the two-year anniversary of his Tommy John surgery, Marc Carig writes in Newsday.
  
  
• The 2015 World Series winner in “Back to the Future II” has been digitally changed to the Mets by the Post.
  
  
• Anthony DiComo at MLB.com notes that the layoff before the World Series gives the Mets the opportunity to line up their rotation.
  
  
• Neil Best in Newsday caught up with Steven Matz after Wednesday’s outing.
  
  
  
• Erik Boland in Newsday gets reaction from Royals manager Ned Yost to what the Mets are now facing in having to wait until Tuesday to begin the World Series.
  
  
• MLB opposes on-field champagne celebrations with fans. Read more from Best in Newsday.
  
  
• A woman refutes an allegation that she is a fair-weather Mets fan in the Times.
  
  
• From the bloggers … Faith and Fear calls the 2015 NL flag a most worthwhile pennant.
  

 

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Adam Rubin, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK -- History might suggest otherwise, but manager Terry Collins believes a five-day layoff between the National League Championship Series and the World Series could help the New York Mets.

Six of seven teams to sweep an LCS have gone on to lose the World Series, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Three have been swept -- the 2012 Tigers, 2007 Rockies and 1990 Athletics -- and the lone team to sweep an LCS and win the World Series is the 1995 Braves.

The Mets completed a sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS on Wednesday at Wrigley Field, leaving the team with a layoff before opening the World Series on Tuesday in the American League city.

"The extra rest we're going to get right now I think is going to benefit us more than hurt us," Collins said Friday during an optional workout for players at Citi Field.

Jim Leyland twice managed Detroit teams that swept the LCS before losing in the World Series, in 2006 and 2012.

Collins served as bullpen coach for Leyland, who retired in 2013, in Pittsburgh and said he views him as a mentor. They've spoken in recent days about how the Mets should prepare given the layoff. Collins also quizzed a few others.


"The general response I got: There's nothing you can do about it, no matter how hard you try -- pipe in loud noise, try to have simulated games," Collins said. "Jim told me one time they brought in their instructional league team to play them. And they said guys go through the motions. ... You can't simulate a game. You can't simulate 46,000 people in here, the flag-waving, the pressure of 3-2 with the bases loaded. He said, 'Go about your job and make sure they're prepared.' And that's all you can do."

General manager Sandy Alderson recalled to Collins that he took the Oakland Athletics to Arizona to face instructional league players when the 1989 World Series was interrupted by an earthquake, which seemed to work well. That time, Alderson told Collins, there were spectators watching the games, which added to the intensity.

About half the Mets players attended Friday's optional workout, with David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson and Matt Harveyamong the players who took it off. The Mets will have mandatory workouts in Queens on Saturday and Sunday before heading to the airport. They will face live pitching those two workout days.

"There's some guys who are tired, and I want them to have rest," Collins said about making Friday's workout optional. "And then I told them Saturday or Sunday we're getting after it."

The Mets are taking advantage of the downtime for some entertainment and promotion, too. Jacob deGrom, Wright, Harvey and Wilmer Flores will appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Friday night from Brooklyn. Meanwhile, Kevin Plawecki and other teammates will attend the New York Islanders game against the Boston Bruins at Barclays Center.

With Cespedes nursing a left shoulder injury that required a cortisone injection on Thursday, and with Wright and Granderson also banged up and the starting pitching heavily worked, Collins suggested the layoff might prove beneficial, despite what history suggests.

"I don't know if every team is the same," Collins said. "We're going to ride that pitching. And, by the way, our pitching right now can use a blow because we're pushing them pretty hard."