Steve Sica. - Ten Years Ago The Greatest Mets Run Since 1986 Began

Wilmer Flores sends the Mets to a 2-1 win with an inspiring walk-off HR right after “no trade”

This week, ten years ago, none of us could’ve ever imagined that we were about to witness one of the greatest rides in Met history, and arguably the best time to be a Met fan since 1986.

True, the 1999, 2000, and 2006 teams were better by record, and had plenty of dramatic moments of their own. Every game for the 1999 team from the last week of the season to game six of the NLCS was packed with drama, and produced the “Grand Slam Single” one of the most memorable playoff moments in Met history. The 2000 team, like the 2015 squad, made it to a World Series, and of course, 2006, was certainly the most dominant Met team from start to finish since 1986.

The Mets made the playoffs again three times in the decade that followed 2015. Last year’s team made it back to the NLCS for the first time since the 2015 squad, and had a very similar feeling to that year. Coming out of nowhere and going on a magical run from summer into October.

But 2015 was different. Not just because that team won the pennant, but because of how success starved the Mets were prior. It had been nine years since the Mets made the postseason heading into the 2015 season. They infamously collapsed in 2007 and 2008 to miss the playoffs on the season's final day. Then began seven years of going through the darkness of irrelevance. 

The Mets would have teams that for the first couple months of the season had you thinking they might be able to go on a run. I can still remember the 2012 team being just four games out of first place at the All-Star break and thinking they could at least chase a Wild Card spot. That team finished at 74-88. There were times where you’d just wish for meaningful games in September, because by the end of July, it was time to start watching preseason football and hope that some of those prospects the Mets had down on the farm would hurry up and get to the Big Leagues.

But for the first time in years, 2015 brought real reason for hope and optimism going into Spring Training. The Mets had spent years building a core in the Minor Leagues that looked like they were ready to contribute in Queens. Matt Harvey was coming back from Tommy John surgery, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz were set to make their Big League debuts.

But by late July, while the pitching was solid, their offense was abysmal. On July 29th the Mets seemingly made a trade with Milwaukee to send Carlos Gomez to the Mets for Wilmer Flores and Zack Wheeler. Word spread fast around Citi Field that night, and Wilmer Flores, as he was playing shortstop, was seen crying on the field. On top of that, later that night the trade fell through. The Mets weren’t getting their big bat in Gomez and had become a laughing stock yet again, after fumbling the news. 

The next day, the Mets built a 7-5 lead over San Diego, before Justin Upton ripped a three-run home run off Jeurys Familia in the rain, to give the Padres an 8-7 lead and the win. The Mets fell to 52-50 and no news of adding a marque bat. The first place Nationals were coming to town next. It seemed as if the Mets were just a good little team, but not quite ready to compete among the National League elite just yet.

July 31st was the trade deadline and 4pm was quickly approaching. At the last second the Mets made a deal with Detroit. Yoenis Céspedes was coming to New York. The Mets had got their superstar for the lineup. Immediately the vibe around the Mets changed. I was at Citi Field that night and there was a buzz in the air that I hadn’t felt at a Met game since I went to games at old Shea. 

Matt Harvey was on the mound for the Mets as they took on first place Washington. Harvey and Gio Gonzalez waged a classic pitchers duel. Harvey was perfect through five, as the Mets held onto a 1-0 lead, but Washington would tie it in the eighth.

The game moved into extra innings with both bullpens pitching lights out. In the eleventh, Nats star Bryce Harper was ejected by home plate umpire Jerry Meals, much to the delight of the Citi Field crowd. The game was still tied at one going into the 12th inning, approaching nearly four hours, when Wilmer Flores came up to the plate to lead off the inning.

Just 48 hours prior he had cried on this very field thinking he had been traded from the team that he had been a part of since he was 16-years-old. Now, he had a chance to win the game. 

Flores swung at a 1-1 pitch from Felipe Vazquez, and hit a line drive over the left field wall.The Mets won the game 2-1 to move two games out of first. But the moment seemed so much bigger than that. 

With Citi Field going into a frenzy, the Met players came racing out of the dugout waiting to greet their teammate, who everyone thought was on his way to Milwaukee just two nights ago. Wilmer Flores rounded third and grabbed his jersey at the Mets insignia and shook it as if to say, “I’m at Met!”

Leaving Citi Field that night was one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever been a part of. Fans chanted “Let’s go Mets” and “Wilmer Flores” as we headed down the stairs to the parking lots along with some NSFW work chants about Bryce Harper. Suddenly the team and the fans had new life and energy, and it was about to grow even bigger.

The next day, Lucas Duda hit two home runs as the Mets beat the Nats 3-2. It was August 1st and the Mets were just a game out of first place. It had been seven years since the Mets were this close to first place this late in the season. The next night, a National audience watched Sunday Night Baseball as the Mets pummeled the Nats for three home runs in the third inning. A sell out crowd rocked Citi Field as the Mets sent a message to the Nats and the rest of baseball that magic had returned to Queens. 

Fans chanted loud enough to be heard on ESPN, “we want first place!” After years of being a league doormat with minimal to cheer about, Met fans were reintroducing the country to just how loud and intimating of a home field advantage Citi Field could be. The Mets completed their sweep, moved into first place, and never looked back.

Over the next two months the Mets kept winning. They’d meet the Nats again in September, this time in Washington, and would sweep them again in dramatic fashion to all but wrap up the NL East title. Three weeks later, the Mets would officially win the National League Eastern Division crown for the first time in nine years.

They’d ride that momentum all the way through a thrilling five-game NLDS where they’d beat the Dodgers and then roared past the Cubs in a four-game sweep to send them to their first World Series in 15 years. 

While the team didn’t win it all that year, late Summer and Fall of 2015 will always hold a special place in Met fans hearts. In a year where just playing “meaningful games in September” would’ve felt like an accomplishment, this team rolled all the way to playing in November. It was a magical time for a franchise and a fanbase that had been stuck in baseball's abyss for nearly  a decade. Ten years later, fans still give Wilmer Flores a warm reception every time he comes back to Citi Field, now a member of the Giants.

The Flores walk-off was more than a baseball moment. It’s a story of redemption. It's about, for the Met fans that suffered through all the losing seasons prior, rediscovering what hope feels like after years without it. How sometimes in life, you can be at what seems like your lowest point and then bounce back to the most incredible of highs. I’ll never forget all the emotions that surrounded that week in July, ten years ago.

The 2015 Mets didn’t win it all, but they did give us a reason to believe again, and what a ride they took us on.