While watching the Mets this season, I kept trying to think of another example of a team that made such a spectacular turnaround in the course of a season.
In 1969, the Mets had a poor April start and were 18-23 by May 27, but expectations for them were zero. The ceiling of expectations was ridiculously low for a franchise that had never won more than 73 games. And while the 1973 Mets had an impressive late-season surge, they still only managed 82 wins. This was as much a story of the Mets’ success as it was the incompetence of other teams.
The Yankees have had two disastrous starts in recent years — 11-19 in 2005 and 21-29 in 2007 — but those teams were the polar opposite of the ’69 Mets, veteran teams accustomed to success. When they turned things around, it was simply the law of averages that came into play. And even our city’s great comeback teams, the ’51 Giants and ’78 Yankees, had solid seasons before falling so far behind, only to fall victim to hit starts by the Dodgers and Red Sox.
Francisco Lindor helped the Mets turn things around. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
For me, there are four seasons that are similar to this: one for baseball and three for football.
The ’99 Mets were so terrible, going 27-28, that manager Steve Phillips fired Bobby Valentine’s coaching staff during the Subway Series at Yankee Stadium, promising that Valentine would be next. The Mets went on to win 40 of the next 55 games, not only changing the course of the season but solidifying the manager’s position. This run came out of nowhere, and the season ended in heartbreak, but the fact that the Mets even made it to the NLCS was remarkable given their June record.
Mike Piazza’s Mets got off to a poor start before reaching the 1999 National League Championship Series. AP
But the three that stick out in my mind are all from football season.
First, the ’81 Jets, who had come off a 4-12 season and entered the new year with 0-3 records, 1-3 losses and 1 tie, but then won 9 of their final 11 games to end a 12-year playoff drought. Walt Michaels was out as manager after four games and Richard Todd was booed relentlessly for not being his backup, Matt Robinson, who had become a folk hero. At season’s end (which ended with a heartbreaking playoff loss to the Bills), fans were toasting Michaels and hanging “Todd Is God” banners at Shea Stadium.
Second is another Jets team, the 2002 edition. They started the season 1-4, 2-5 and were about as boring and lifeless a team as you can imagine before Herman Edwards replaced Vinny Testaverde with Chad Pennington. The Jets won seven of their final nine games, made the playoffs on the final day of the season and dominated Peyton Manning and the Colts 41-0 in the most recent home playoff game the Jets played.
Finally, the 2007 Giants are a great example. They were coming off an 8-8 season in which Tom Coughlin barely kept his job, losing hard to the Cowboys in Week 1 and the Packers in Week 2. They were down 14-0 in Washington early in Week 3. Coughlin was in about as tight a spot as you could imagine. So was Eli Manning. But they rallied in Washington, won 10 of their next 12 games, and, as you know, lived happily ever after.
Tom Coughlin orchestrated one of the greatest comebacks in New York sports history, leading the team from a 2-0 deficit to winning the Super Bowl in 2007. Getty Images
Vax Wax
If you’re lucky in this crazy tapestry of life, you’ll meet some incredibly kind and selfless people. Their spirit alone will inspire you to do the same. Father Dan Reilly was just that kind of person to generations of St. Bonaventure students. We lost him and his king-sized laugh this week. His big heart was stilled at 81 years old. Best of luck, old friend.
There may not have been five players ever born who could reach that spot in center field at Fenway Park that Aaron Judge reached in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday night.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates with his teammates after hitting a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Brian Fluharty – USA Today Sports
The late Mets cameraman Mark Levin was so well respected in baseball that the Yankees joined the Pirates and Marlins in honoring him in a pregame ceremony this week. Mark, who played for the Mets for 35 years, died on July 4.
Carlos Mendoza should be the clubhouse leader of the year for the National League managers because of how he worked when the Mets struggled and how he worked when the team was on the rise.
Counterattack against Vac
Ron Cole: Imagine Cashman and Co. leading the second-place Yankees in 1970. The cleanup hitters before Bobby Murcer were Kurt Belfary, Stick Michael, Jerry Kenney or Ron Woods, just like the hitters chasing Judge now.
Vac: I wouldn’t say I’m a true, long-time Yankees fan, even though I am a true, long-time Yankees fan.
We bring you all the information about Amazing
Sign up for Inside the Mets with Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+
thank you
Chris Salogub: As a Yankees fan, I’m not a “if only George were alive” guy, but if George were alive and saw Mets jerseys being sold at the stadium, we would have watched him totally attack employees for weeks.
The Yankees were swept in two games by the Mets this week. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Vac: When I saw it, I thought it was a gag stand. But I wasn’t.
@DanDePetris: Sometimes I think people forget that the Yankees missed the postseason 14 straight seasons under George. We tend to remember the good times and forget the bad.
@MikeVacc: As Casey Stengel says, “Just look it up.”
Daniel Polner: When was the last time the Knicks, Rangers, Mets and Jets all made the playoffs?
Vac: That’s a great question. We’ll have a thoughtful answer for you next week on Vac’s Whacks.
