For a detailed explanation/FAQ regarding this tournament, click here.
For the First Round results, click here.
For the Second Round results, click here.
For the Sweet Sixteen results, click here.
1968 (11) vs 2009(12)
G1: 7-6, ’09
G2: 3-2, ’68 (f/11)
G3: 3-1, ’09
G4: 8-3, ’09
Series MVP: Ángel Pagán
Can anyone stop the 2009 Mets? No, this matchup wasn’t comparable to their staggering upset victory against the 1986 World Champions last round, but it was surprising all the same — partially because one would think the 1968 home-field tendencies exposed their biggest weakness: the rotation. Instead, ’09 received fantastic starting pitching, including 8.2 innings of two-run ball from John Maine in Game 2 and a complete-game, four-hit performance from Mike Pelfrey in Game 3. In Game 1, when Johan Santana got lit up after earning an MVP last round, the ’09 offense was able to mount a six-run comeback, with Carlos Beltrán delivering the game-tying hit and Jeff Francoeur providing the go-ahead knock in the eighth inning while Francisco Rodríguez (who has been utterly un-hittable in the tournament) fired two perfect innings of relief. ’68 completed a comeback of smaller magnitude in Game 2. Trailing 2-0 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Ed Charles lined a game-tying single up the middle, and two innings later Bud Harrelson snuck a grounder past the dive of Luis Castillo to secure a walk-off victory. But the ’09 team didn’t falter again, propelled by the heroics of Pelfrey and Ángel Pagán, who accounted for two runs with his bat and his speed in Game 3 while going 4-for-4 in Game 4. J.J. Putz induced a ground ball from Ken Boswell to Alex Cora at short to end it as the first Citi Field squad got to celebrate in their new ballpark.
The ’68 Mets were able to take down the 2005, 2024, and 2002 squads, but not this mysteriously magical ’09 team, which I can only imagine enters the Final Four with a sense of overwhelming confidence. They mustered just 70 regular season wins, but they slew the giant of ’86. They’re no joke. Plus, if they beat the ’68 Mets, how afraid can they really be of the ’69 team lurking on the other side of the bracket? If anything, they might as well be more afraid of the other pesky underdogs awaiting them in the next round…
2001 (8) vs 2013(11)
G1: 9-4, ’13
G2: 4-3, ’13
G3: 7-4, ’01
G4: 6-4, ’13
Series MVP: Daniel Murphy
The 2001 Mets might have eliminated the 2015 team back in the Second Round, but the 2013 Mets — having a fair amount of players in common with the N.L. Champion roster two years later — were here to avenge that upset. That felt particularly true for Daniel Murphy, who channeled his 2015 postseason mode by going 8-for-19 with seven RBI (all of them relatively clutch) in the series. Matt Harvey was also in vintage form in Game 1, out-dueling Al Leiter by allowing just one run through his first seven innings of work (he did tire in the eighth, but reliever Scott Atchison was able to get out of trouble before things got too dicey). The ’13 Mets won Game 2 thanks to a four-hit day from Juan Lagares and a three-hit day from the next season’s Opening Day left fielder Andrew Brown, overcoming a late homer from Mike Piazza. In Game 3, ’01 saw an early 5-0 lead cut to 5-4 due to RBI from Brown, Murphy, and David Wright; but they got insurance runs thanks to a late hit from Piazza, who reached base five times in the game. Game 4 began in similar fashion, with the ’01 Mets going up big early and the ’13 Mets making an ambitious comeback attempt, only this time it was successful. A critical error by Todd Zeile in the bottom of the seventh set up a Murphy go-ahead, two-run double, and Bobby Parnell was able to pin down the save.
With the ’01 team’s elimination, it officially marks the end of the road for a number of iconic Mets in the tournament (Piazza, Leiter, and Edgardo Alfonzo to name a few). As for the ’13 Mets, the most promising sign as they advance to the Final Four is that they didn’t even need two starts from Harvey to win this series, since their relatively unassuming offense is performing unfathomably well. If middle-of-the-order bats like Lagares and Brown keep their hot streaks going while Murphy mashes like it’s October 2015…who’s to say they can’t be this tournament’s Cinderella story?
1969(1) vs 1985 (3)
G1: 4-1, ’69
G2: 4-0, ’69
G3: 5-4, ’85
G4: 6-1, ’69
Series MVP: Jerry Koosman
For all those who may have wanted a championship matchup between the 1969 and 1986 Mets, this is about as close as you’ll get. And for all those who wanted an epic battle of Cy Young Award winners Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden, that’s exactly what happened…from the second inning onward. Seaver surrendered a run on a Darryl Strawberry RBI single to right in the top of the first, while Gooden was tagged for four consecutive singles to open the game; when Doc finally recorded his first two outs, they scored the ’69 Mets’ third and fourth runs of the inning. Both starters were impenetrable from that point forward (each tossed a complete game), but Gooden’s inability to limit early damage cost him and the ’85 team a win. Game 2 featured another pitchers’ duel, but Ron Darling ultimately fell to Jerry Koosman, who threw an incredible three-hit, complete-game shutout. The ’85 Mets’ sole win came in Game 3, when they jumped out to a 5-0 lead early off Gary Gentry and fended off a four-run seventh inning from the scrappy ’69 offense. In Game 4, Donn Clendenon and Tommie Agee took over, combining for five of the team’s six RBI. In the bottom of the seventh, ’85 got their golden opportunity. Trailing by four, Keith Hernandez came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded against Tug McGraw and lined the first pitch he saw, but it was snagged out of the air by Ken Boswell at second base. Two innings later, Agee sprinted into shallow center field to catch the final out off the bat of Gary Carter.
It’s a devastating loss for the ’85 Mets, who had to feel confident after taking down the No. 2 seed ’88 Mets in the previous round. For the Miracle Mets of 1969, a championship sits firmly in their sights — but their stellar starting pitching staff will face its greatest challenge yet in the Final Four…
2006 (2) vs 2011 (8)
G1: 10-6, ’11
G2: 5-2, ’06
G3: 5-4, ’06
G4: 8-6, ’11
G5: 5-4, ’06 (f/12)
Series MVP: David Wright
The 2006 Mets sure do know how to script an ending. For the third time in four rounds, their series came down to a winner-take-all Game 5 — and this time, it ended in walk-off fashion. ’06 might have thought this series would be a walk in the park while leading Game 1 by a score of 5-2 thanks to a Shawn Green three-run homer, but the 2011 team announced their presence with a resounding comeback kicked off against reliever Aaron Heilman. Tom Glavine pitched ’06 to victory in Game 2, while a homer and 3 RBI from José Valentín (this tournament’s unexpected slugger) supported a quality start from Orlando Hernández to secure a Game 3 win. ’11’s lineup walloped John Maine in Game 4, setting up the thrilling, twelve-inning Game 5. The ’11 Mets simply would not die, coming back from being down 3-0 in the fifth inning thanks to clutch hitting from Justin Turner and Josh Thole. The ’06 Mets rallied multiple times in extra innings but came up short, with Mike Baxter (who hit a homer earlier in the night) making a game-saving catch to rob Carlos Delgado in the tenth and 38-year-old Jason Isringhausen retiring Paul Lo Duca to evade trouble in the eleventh. Carlos Beltrán led off the bottom of the twelfth with a single, and then advanced to second on a wild pitch with David Wright at the plate. Seconds later, Wright sent a 2-0 fastball hurtling towards the center-field grass, notching his second walk-off hit in as many rounds while punching his team’s ticket to the Final Four.
The ’11 Mets showed some serious fight, as they have for the entire tournament, but this time they will not be advancing along with their ’09 and ’13 neighbors. Meanwhile, the ’06 Mets now enter a scenario which may spark traumatic memories: if they win the coming seven-game series, they advance to the championship. Their semifinal matchup against the ’69 Mets should be the most high-octane showdown in Mets Madness thus far.
