It’s time, Mets fans.
It’s time to come out of the woodwork, to wear your Mets attire to class without hearing a single snide remark from your friends. It’s time to forget about everything that’s happened over the past 15 years. It’s time to watch the New York Mets play in the World Series for the first time since 2000.
Game four of the National League Championship Series displayed everything the fans have come to know and love about the Mets this season. Steven Matz, the rookie southpaw from Long Island, threw four and two-thirds solid innings. His battery mate, Travis d’Arnaud, teamed up with first baseman Lucas Duda to hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning to put the Mets up 4-0. Before they could even blink, every Cubs fan in Wrigley Field did what they did best: deal with another season without a World Series ring.
Matz, d’Arnaud and Duda experienced a euphoria like no other on Wednesday, as they were key pieces in sending their team to the World Series. Things weren’t always so rosy for the three of them, however. Matz was stuck in the minors for a long portion of the season because of the Mets’ incredibly talented starting rotation and a patient front office. d’Arnaud and Duda both battled injuries throughout the season. Because of injury, at one point or another during the season, the trio found themselves playing nowhere other than Binghamton, New York on rehab assignment for the Mets’ AA affiliate. All three were regular members of the B-Mets prior to becoming Major League contributors.
They are not the only players on the World Series squad to have played in Binghamton over the past two years, either. The Mets’ 2014 first round pick, leftfielder Michael Conforto and catcher Kevin Plawecki found themselves in the 607 for portions of the 2014 or 2015 campaigns.
Of the 25 men on the Mets’ NLCS roster, a whopping 18 of them have played for the B-Mets at some point in their career. This not only speaks to how well the Mets have developed players in the Sandy Alderson era, but to just how much talent we BU students could have had a chance to watch over the past few seasons.
Unfortunately, it appears as if the Mets’ time in Binghamton may be coming to a close. Although nothing has been confirmed, there’s a chance the team could move to Wilmington, Delaware following the 2016 season.
Much like the students who compose so much of this city’s population, the Mets’ time here is potentially fleeting, and it isn’t hard to see why. Attendance at NYSEG Stadium has been declining since their peak attendance numbers back in 2007. The B-Mets have ranked last in their 12-team division in attendance from 2010 to 2014.
With average ticket prices hovering around $10, it is a shame that the stadium generally struggles to fill even half of its 6,000 seats. Buying season tickets to their 71 home games this upcoming year will end up costing around the same as a single World Series ticket at Citi Field.
For a Mets fan, now is not the time to worry about anything. There is a World Series coming up, and it requires all of our attention. However, once spring training is finished and the mountains of snow are nearly melted, there will be competitive, professional baseball being played about 10 minutes from your dorm. Take a bus Downtown and watch infielders Gavin Cecchini or Amed Rosario, or any of the other budding stars on the B-Mets. There’s a chance you could be watching the next David Wright, Daniel Murphy or Matt Harvey.
Who knows how much longer we will have the future of the New York Metropolitans in our backyard? Let’s enjoy it while we can.