Young Amazins march into 2015 World Series

Pinstriped jerseys have ruled across New York, and the greater metropolitan area, for as long as baseball fans can remember.

While the Bronx Bombers, better known as the Yankees, have won 27 World Series Championships and captured the hearts of many fans, New York has become a “Mets town” now.

After years filled with horrendous free agent signings, historic end-of-season chokes, the Bernie Madoff scandal, and even the goofiest pop-up drop in history, the Mets are now the New York team that gets the last laugh.

While it seemed at the start of the season the best the Mets could hope for was a solid .500, even though General Manager Sandy Alderson promised a 90 win season, the Mets lived up to, and far exceeded that expectation.

The Mets finished the 2015 season with a 90-72 record, seven games ahead of the World Series favorite Washington Nationals.

Behind young power-arm pitching, timely hitting, stellar defense, trade acquisitions near the July deadline, and even some tears along the way, the Mets were able to be the last New York team standing, taking their accomplishments to a level that has not been hinted at since 2006.

Now, the Mets are the last National League team standing, with only the Kansas City Royals preventing them from capturing their third World Series title in franchise history.

The success of the Mets can be noticed nearly everywhere.  Similar to 2012, when the Giants dominated, the Schreiber halls are decked out in DeGrom jerseys, Cespedes shirts, and even some Free Shirt Friday t-shirts.

The excitement of the Mets’ victories has enabled closeted fanatics to break free and embrace the newfound happiness.

Not only has the excitement reverberated in Schreiber, but all over New York City as well.  The previously unknown have become household names.

Daniel Murphy has broken MLB records that have been in place for over 100 years, homering in six consecutive games.  Ruben Tejada’s playoff push was snapped by Chase Utley’s illegal slide, but folk-hero Wilmer Flores has stepped in at shortstop and done excellently.   At a recent Rangers game at Madison Square Garden, all-star pitcher Matt Harvey received an overwhelming standing ovation, lasting several minutes.

Mets captain David Wright, pitchers Matt Harvey and Jacob DeGrom, and Flores appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to discuss the team’s postseason dominance.

After sweeping the Cubs, who were looking for their first World Series win since 1908, the Mets went to Kansas City to face the Royals, who are in their second World Series in two seasons.

Kimmel was blunt with the players, saying, “What a great year to be a Mets fan, really.  I mean, who the hell expected this to happen?”

Any fan can say that they expected this type of season, but that would also mean they have been saying it for the past eight seasons.  We’ll get them next year.  But CitiField, along with the Empire State Building, has been covered in blue and orange, and this is our year.

Walking around the city, it is impossible to miss Mets hats and apparel.  The Amazins have the city poised and ready for a ticker tape celebration in the heart of the city.

CitiField has been electric, fans have been on their feet following Murphy blasts, anything Curtis Granderson related, and horse renditions of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” have been bellowed into deep October.

This team has not only stolen the hearts of Mets fans around the city, but of baseball fans everywhere.  It is not uncommon to see on social media Cubs fans, and even Dodgers fans, saying that they will be rooting for the Mets in the World Series.  And you cannot blame them.

With one of the youngest, but most talented pitching rotation in the majors, and electrifying hitting from Cespedes and Murphy, it is hard to hold back a smile with the teams’ success.

Who could help but feel good watching 42-year-old Bartolo Colon dominate in relief, despite never doing so in his tenured career as a starting pitcher?  Who could help but awe at Daniel Murphy’s homerun tear of six games in a row, despite never homering more than 5 times in a month?

That is the thing about baseball.  You never know.  And, like how it was in 1969 and in 1986, Ya Gotta Believe in these Miracle Mets.