The New York Mets did many impossible things throughout their magical run that ended Sunday. And perhaps one of the best — and more improbable — things that the squad led by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso did this season made the fanbase (and esteemed radio voice Howie Rose) feel like kids again.
Rose, who has been the soundtrack for some of the biggest home runs in franchise history during this improbable stretch run, placed the perfect bow on the 2024 season. While the Mets had ‘Team of Destiny’ vibes, they ran into a buzzsaw that is the Los Angeles Dodgers, who used timely hitting and a stout bullpen to put an end to New York’s run in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.
The Mets, unfortunately, will not be playing for a World Series, as the team that’s gotten back off the mat time and time again was finally delivered a punch it couldn’t get back up from. Even down six runs in the top of the ninth of an elimination game, New York tried to climb back, but it proved to be the one thing it couldn’t overcome finally — the inevitably of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
What’s also inevitable is the emotions pouring out, as a team that started 0-5 and 24-35 parlayed a team meeting into being the best team in the sport since the beginning of June. While gimmicks like “OMG” and Grimace were front and center, behind that, was a team that deeply cared for one another — and refused to quit.
And as Los Angeles was amidst clinching a World Series berth over the Mets, Rose refused to let sorrows get in the way of what truly was a magical season. Rose stepped up to the plate with his immaculate calls of Lindor and Alonso‘s postseason home runs that will live forever in Mets lore.
And he stepped up to the plate again when it was time to reason with a fanbase that didn’t want their summer to end.
As always, Howie Rose articulates what we’re all feeling to a tee. What a ride for the 2024 Mets. pic.twitter.com/BODHwFBEz4
— jack (@Jolly_Olive) October 21, 2024
“If you are emotionally invested in this Mets team and you’re sad right now, it’s certainly understandable,” said Rose. “But I promise you, that won’t take long to wear off if it ends here because, once the immediate disappointment, if they don’t pull off some kind of magical comeback here, wears off, you’ll realize what an incredible ride this team took you for this year.”
Put the season in the books…but not before @HowieRose reflects on a wild ride. pic.twitter.com/Uy2jirweTs
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) October 21, 2024
“It started out 0-5; they showed some signs of life before they fell to 11 games under the .500 mark — and a lot of people had them written off right there,” the Mets’ longtime radio voice continued. “And so, when you’re lying around during the offseason anticipating the next one, and you think about what the 2024 Mets were all about, you won’t be able to keep yourself from smiling.
“Nobody in the ballpark. 0-5. Hitless through 7. It feels like rock bottom.” – Gary Cohen on the state of the Mets.
A reminder that this is game 6 of 162. The Mets still have 156 games left to play, and boy, are things getting late early in Flushing… pic.twitter.com/zYPjye0PGX
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 4, 2024
“Remember the talk over the winter? ‘Transitional year; they’re punting on the season.’ Well, they’ve kicked all the way to the sixth game of the National League Championship Series. And I’ll say this, personally: I was 15 years old when they won the 1969 World Series — that’s 55 years ago — so you can do the math yourself. But I’ll just say this about the 2024 New York Mets: they made this 70-year-old feel 15 all over again.
“People watch baseball for a lot of years and never seen the run that the Mets went on during the postseason — and the days prior.”
It was a beautiful eulogy — if you want to call it that — of the 2024 New York Mets season, which ended in abject disappointment, but not failure, on Sunday.
They may have fallen short, as Sunday night’s dream of a World Series run slipped away, but the 2024 Mets delivered something far more meaningful than wins and losses—they gave their fans memories, joy, and a reason to believe again.
And just like that, Rose gave Mets fans one last gift: the realization that the 2024 season may have ended, but the joy it brought will linger a lifetime.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.