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Your 2015 NL East Champtions!
"We deserve this, the fans deserve it, the City of New York deserves it. I’m glad we could deliver for them." -David Wright [New York Post]
"When I was laying on my back rehabbing for the few months this summer, this is what you dream of, this is what motivates you, this is what drives you. Again it’s not just for what we do on the baseball field, but how close this team has become and how we are in the clubhouse." -David Wright [New York Daily News]
"It’s worth all the time, all the effort, all the press conferences, all the things you do. This is the culmination of it all. Right now we’ve got to get home field advantage, that is next." -Terry Collins [New York Post]
"I think I took [2006] for granted — I’m not going to take this for granted." -David Wright [New York Post]
"We are real happy here, I’m very happy. This is just the first step in a year’s full of hard work." -Yoenis Cespedes [New York Post]
"Fred and Saul are very happy. This is step one, so let’s keep it going. I can’t say anything more about the guys in this room. This is great." -Jeff Wilpon [New York Post]
"We knew we wanted to win this game. We didn’t want to wait until tomorrow, we didn’t want to wait until Philly. This game was probably the most important game of the year for us. I wanted to be out there, I wanted to be out there more than anything. I always wanted to be out there." -Matt Harvey [New York Daily News]
Panic City?
"The first thing flashes through your mind is if [Cespedes’] out, how are you going to align things, who would hit where. If he’s gone, how are we going to fill that hole. If Juan (Uribe’s) out and he’s out, we’ve got, all the sudden, a couple of big bats out of the lineup. We got a long way to go before we have to use him." -Terry Collins [New York Daily News]
Panic City!
"I'm not very concerned. It's going to go away. It's just a matter of when." -Steven Matz [Newsday]
Only thing missing is a "Larry"-esque nickname.
"I think it’s just part of the game. I think that’s just the way it was this year. The Mets had everything going for them. They did a lot of things. That deadline came around and they got [Yoenis] Cespedes, [Tyler] Clippard and they built their team. They did a great job this year and they’re doing it. Coming from the East, I hope they win it all. Because they’re from the East and you want that out of your division. I hope they win it all and good luck to them." -Bryce Harper [Washington Post]
I really can’t recall a Mets team getting this much kudos from opponents.
"I’m just glad we don’t have to face those guys 19 times a season. With their pitching staff, they’re the team to beat (in October), man, I’ve gotta be honest. I remember watching the Braves back in the day but I can’t think of a team that had four guns that throw in the mid-to-high 90s with some nasty off-speed stuff. I know there are some good teams out there but you know the old saying that good pitching beats good hitting, and I’ll take their pitching over anybody." -Todd Frazier [New York Daily News]
Probably best to leave this game off the 2015 Season Review DVD.
"It was an ugly game. Eighteen pitchers or whatever it was. I sat up here and watched some ugly things." -Terry Collins [New York Daily News]
Keep doing you, Robles.
"I was trying to quick pitch and it got away. It was up and in. There is nothing wrong with my quick pitch, it only creates a little bit of issue with this team, this is the only team giving me trouble. I am going to continue to do it." -Hansel Robles [New York Daily News]
Wait, an article about a team’s sports psychologist that isn’t mocking the field or subtly calling the players head cases?
"[Jonathan Fader is] a resource. You make that resource available to the players the same way you make a pitching coach and hitting coach available. So if they need help in a certain area, there’s a guy there that can help them." -John Ricco [New York Times]
Bartolo Colon is the epitome of this axiom.
"Baseball is 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical. It doesn’t matter how physically talented you are; if you’re not able to conquer your own mind, you can’t really do much." -Noah Syndergaard [New York Times]
Awww.
"It's going to be real emotional for me and him and my mom and dad as well. When we were 6 and 8, we were watching baseball, talking about how cool that would be if we played with each other or against each other in the big leagues." -Travis d’Arnaud [Newsday]
I’m Keith Hernandez.
"I mean, how bad is this? I am paid handsomely, with six months off, and it’s baseball. Not bad, right?" -Keith Hernandez [New York Times]
I’m going out on a limb and going with ‘a good thing.’
"I don’t necessarily know if the [skipped start] was a good thing or not, but I felt good out there today." -Jacob deGrom [New York Post]
Aww, the Denver Broncos.
"As a Met fan growing up and all, it’s wonderful to be here in September when things really do matter, and it’s a very exciting time to be a Met fan. And I am still, as well, even though I’ve got the Tampa Bay Rays." -Stuart Sternberg owner of the Tampa Bay Rays [New York Post]
I thought my commute was rough.
"In Major League Baseball we try to have local ownership in places, but when we bought the team, George Steinbrenner was running the Yankees from Tampa, so I figured I could run the Tampa Bay Rays from New York." -Stuart Sternberg [New York Post]
SiteBot FacePalm of the Week
"Absurd. What is Collins thinking? The Magic number for homefield advantage is three. Its almost as if Collins doesn’t know this. It means one less trip to the West coast. WTF!!!!" -lesabre94
AA Quote of the Week
"Man, where to begin, I had to run out the door after the game ended last night, so I didn’t have a chance to say what I wanted to here, but now I can.
After Phillips flailed at that 2nd Familia splitter, I started tearing up. And while he got on base, I had to wait, but after Bruce’s weak swing on strike 3, they came back. Not bawling, just a few tears running down. Because 9 years of disaster was finally purged last night. We finally completed the business from 2007.
And I can go on forever with the bad times: Luis Castillo’s dropped pop up. Omir Santos, face of the franchise. This magnificent opening day lineup. The time I fell asleep at a meaningless August Mets-Phillies game: 2 bad teams playing boring baseball.
I think the low point for me was when the news about Harvey needing TJ surgery came down. I was literally sick to my stomach. It was like the first good thing to happen to the franchise in years had been taken away that quickly. I started to despair and think we’d go on a multi-decade Pittsburgh-esque run of futility. It’s hard to believe that low point was only 2 years ago.
But this year….man, just the games I was in attendance at: Harvey outdueling Scherzer and Jayson Werth-less misplaying a Murphy fly-ball into a bases clearing double. Thor’s magnificent Citi debut. Captain Kirk’s 3 home runs. Cespedes’ breakout night in Colorado. The capstone of yet another winning streak. Hell, even the one time I saw them lose in person, it was a night that will live in Mets lore: Flores in tears.
Of all the guys from the miserable years, the only one I wish could have been celebrating on the field last night was Dickey, but you know what? He’s probably going to be celebrating a division title himself soon. Good for him.
I can’t wait to see what else is in store for this season. We’re gonna be underdogs no matter who we play, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Bring on LA. Bring ’em all on." -Greenpoint Ian