SNY: Megdal: Some meaningful games at last for Mets

Megdal with his latest…

If you are a stats guy like myself, numbers tend to come to the forefront. 1990 means Dave Magadan hit .328 and Darryl Strawberry hit 37 home runs. 1996 means Todd Hundley hit 41 home runs. 1999 means Matt Franco set the record for most pinch-hit walks.

But, just as quickly—since I am not just a stats guy—the other lasting images are either of games the Mets improbably won or improbably lost. 1987 means Terry Pendleton’s home run. 2006 means Paul Lo Duca’s double play at home plate. And 1986 means, well, so many games. The double play at home, then at third to end a game in San Diego. Tim Teufel’s grand slam. Wally Backman’s double play in St. Louis. And of course, a half-dozen games in the NLCS and World Series.

In other words, these are “meaningful games”. But I don’t mean it as Mr. Wilpon did. A meaningful game can happen in April just as easily as it can in October. And for the 1986 Mets, such wins were plentiful.

But for this recent version of New York Mets teams, such wins have been, incredibly, nonexistent. Now, unlike so many, I don’t believe that is a worthwhile way of measuring a team’s character or prospectus for the future. But it does set the fan base’s attitude.