Dodgers must now be standard Mets hold themselves to — and exceed

The Brewers were better than the Mets across 162 games, but the Mets were able to solve that thanks to one forever swing of Pete Alonso’s bat, and so they advanced out of the National League play-in series. 

The Phillies were better than the Mets across 162 games, but the Mets were able to solve that because at some point across the four games and five days of the NLDS, just about everyone stepped up to be counted, and then Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam to serve as a forever bookend to the home run he’d hit to beat the Braves in Game 161. 

There was a lot of talk about “magic” as the Mets kept grinding deeper and deeper into October, and those of us with laptops and microphones were among the loudest sonneteers of that storyline. But in its way, reducing what we saw starting on Sept. 30 to the misty mire of mysticism did the Mets a disservice. They were, after all, the best team in baseball from June 1 on. That’s real. That’s legit. 

But sometimes, legit runs into legit. 

And so the Mets ran into the Dodgers. The Mets’ 65-39 record after June 1 was the best in the big leagues but the Dodgers’ was fifth, at 61-41, and the Dodgers had the benefit of already being 37-23 by then. 

There was a reason why the Dodgers won nine more games this year than the Mets, a reason why they were able to ease into October rather than sweat their way in, a reason why they were able to sit out the play-in round. A reason why they beat the Mets in six games in the National League Championship Series that ended at 11:24 p.m. Sunday when Francisco Alvarez bounced out to second base, ending the game 10-5, ending the season six wins shy of where they wanted it to go. 

And a reason why the Mets want to co-opt their conquerors. 

“We not only want to be like them,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of the Dodgers, who will renew their ancient postseason rivalry with the Yankees beginning Friday night, “but be better than them.” 

The Dodgers have made the playoffs every year since 2013. That is the model. That is the blueprint. But part of the package that goes along with being a regular October member is being a regular October mourner. Every one of those years — except the odd COVID year of 2020 and (so far) this year — has ended for the Dodgers the way the Mets’ season just ended. 

With regret. With disappointment. With the empty echo of elimination. 

But that’s what happens when you shoot your shot every year. And what the Mets want to do, as much as anything, is to have this all become a habit and not a peculiarity. The way the Dodgers do. The way the Yankees do. In a couple of weeks, one of those teams will feel the same way the Mets did Sunday. But they’ll keep shooting their shot, too. 

“It’s Oct. 20 and we’re going home,” Mendoza said. “Obviously it stinks because we not only became a really good team, we became a family. 

“But we’ve raised our expectations now. This is what we should strive for every year, to play deep into October. We showed that this year.” 

It’s something they want to show every year. 

“Honestly,” Alonso said. “The pressure is a privilege. It’s been a real treat.” 

Alonso, of course, immediately makes the pivot from being a major piece of the ensemble that helped craft the last three weeks to the dominant part of the Mets’ narrative the next few weeks. Will he stay or will he go? Soon enough, that will be a part of every baseball conversation around here 

“I’m proud of everyone in that room,” Alonso said. “It’s been a joy to be a part of this team and this season. I love New York. I love Queens. I love this team.” 

It feels like the denouement of this drama has reminded even Mets fans teetering toward the other side of the debate that it would be right for Alonso to be a part of what everyone else here hopes will be the start of a new time, a new age, and a new commitment to annual prosperity. Francisco Lindor will be here, for sure. So will Brandon Nimmo and Mark Vientos, David Peterson and Francisco Alvarez. 

Will Alonso? Whether that is reflected in the agenda of the clear-eyed, cold-blooded men who will determine this course — David Stearns and Scott Boras — we’ll find out soon enough. Boras’ job is to maximize Alonso’s value, Stearns’ to determine whether retaining Alonso puts the Mets in the best position to do the one thing that matters most. 

“We want this to be the jumping-off point,” Nimmo said. “We want this to set the standard.” 

The standard should be reporting to work as late as Oct. 20 every single year. There will be a modicum of heartache that will accompany such regular trips to the summit. Shoot your shot enough, however, eventually you can make it to the end of the month, too. That needs to be the standard.