Digging Up Those Old Mets Feels
Alright, so last weekend, I totally got sucked into this weird nostalgia hole. I was cleaning out my closet, right? Found this dusty old box buried under junk. Inside? Just piles of old Mets programs, ticket stubs, that kinda stuff. Mostly from way back, like… 2013. Felt like forever ago. And it hit me – dang, that season was a wild ride of “almosts” and facepalms, but honestly? Kinda beautiful in a messed-up way. Figured, why not dig deeper? See what moments folks really forgot about.
First step was obvious: fire up the computer. Dusted off my ancient external hard drive – the one that sounds like a jet taking off. Scrolled forever through folders. Finally found my “NYM Stuff” folder, buried under vacation pics. Inside, I hit the motherlode: a folder literally named “2013 Season Junk.” It was messy. Like, really messy. Game summaries I’d typed up right after watching? A ton. Weird, blurry phone pics of the TV screen? Check. Random links to long-dead sports articles? Sadly, yes.
So, I cracked open a beer – felt necessary – and just started reading. My own notes were hilarious. Loads of CAPS LOCK rants after stupid losses (“SERIOUSLY?! ANOTHER BULLPEN BLOWUP?!”), scribbles about rookies looking sharp, random stats I thought mattered. It was like reading a diary from someone who was constantly being punched in the gut but kept coming back for more. Totally forgot I kept stuff like this.
Then came the deep dive. I wasn’t just relying on my own foggy brain or shaky notes. Nope. I needed backup. Spent hours glued to Baseball Reference. Sorting stats, win streaks, losing streaks. Looking up guys who barely played 20 games. Dug up old Mets blogs and forum posts from 2013 – thank goodness for internet archives. Some stuff there I’d totally blanked on.
You know what really came flooding back? The sheer promise at the start. Felt fresh. Harvey was just… electric. Young guys like d’Arnaud and Wheeler showing flashes. Remember Ike Davis hitting that insane grand slam in April off Papelbon? Place went nuts! Felt like maybe, just maybe… Then the wheels started wobbling. Badly.
So many specific forgotten pains and weird highs popped up:
- That crazy Pirates game where Jordany Valdespin walked it off after falling behind 0-2? Remembered the hit, totally forgot he almost struck out twice in that AB!
- Shaun Marcum going a full MONTH without a win. Man, watching him pitch was agony. Groundout after groundout, nothing to show. Brutal.
- Matt Harvey’s near no-hitter vs the White Sox in May. Seventh inning, Alex Rios breaks it up. Still stings! He was dealing.
- John Buck going absolutely nuclear in April hitting homers like crazy… then vanishing into thin air right after. Weirdest hot streak.
- Daniel Murphy’s baserunning blunders. So many. One specific extra innings loss in Atlanta sticks out where he got thrown out trying to steal third, down a run, with one out. Just… why? Classic Murph.
- Bobby Parnell actually locking down saves for a good chunk early on. Totally forgot he was pretty reliable before his neck went kaboom. Sucks what happened there.
And the injuries? Oh god, the injuries. Harvey’s elbow blowing up was the gut punch everyone remembers. But digging deeper? Remembered Johan Santana blowing out his shoulder again before ever throwing a pitch that season. Jeremy Hefner needing Tommy John too. It felt like half the pitching staff was held together with duct tape by August. Just depressing.
Finding those dusty stubs, rereading my own angry notes, seeing those old forum meltdowns… it wasn’t just reliving the stats. It was feeling the rollercoaster all over again. The early hype, the Harvey magic, the constant injuries, the “here we go again” bullpen implosions, flashes of brilliance from unexpected guys. It was a season that screamed “rebuilding year” long before July. This little project made it real again. Messy, frustrating, but also… kinda special? Yeah, probably says something about me being a Mets fan!
