Welcome back to NBC 4 New York’s continuing coverage of this unforgettable day. We now go live to Bruce Beck, who has word of an unforeseen development, as the massive downtown celebration of the NBA champion Knicks takes an unexpected turn.
Natalie, since Lower Broadway was already set up for an UNBELIEVABLE procession, New York City is now proud to welcome to its legendary parade route the 33-41 New York Mets, winners of a 9-1 game over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday afternoon! A little-known fact: the Mets wear orange and blue, just like the Knicks, so the color scheme here is a PERFECT match. And despite wallowing eight games below .500, the Amazins linger a mere FIVE-AND-A-HALF games from the third and final National League Wild Card spot. Keeping up the pace they established Wednesday in Cincy looms as the KEY to the CITI Field security staff potentially unlocking their gates beyond Game 162.
Leading the way up the Canyon of Heroes, emerging from his own canyon of ZEROS — seven innings pitched with no earned runs allowed and nine Reds struck out — is Nolan McLean. The fans go tentatively WILD, given how excited they were about McLean when the 2026 season started, only to scale back their fervor when the staff’s prospective ace hit a rough patch. But now that the Mets are ROLLIN’ with Nolan, the shouts on his behalf are becoming DEAFENING again!
A familiar face fronts the next float. It’s the SIXTY-SECOND Recidivist Met in franchise history, Zack SHORT! Zack, who started at the position named for him Wednesday, left the Mets early in 2024, and about a month later, the 2024 Mets took flight. The 2026 Mets are 1-0 since Short’s return to the team. No wonder the utility infielder is practically DROWNING in ticker-tape. The Recidivist Met float on which Short stands tall is sponsored by eBay, where you can probably find that item you suddenly have second thoughts about having gotten rid of years ago.
The strains of Counting Crows accompany the entrance of not Boo, but BO Bichette, who would probably like everybody along the parade route to eat some crow. No, folks, Bo Bichette’s career as a productive major league hitter is not over. Since dropping to a nadir of .213 early this month, Bo has batted .436 in his past thirteen games, definitely the sign of somebody who is more than simply ‘hangin’ around’. On Wednesday, Bichette chipped in another three hits and scored three more runs. This crowd seems to have set a record for thunderous applause building from NOTHING.
One of these days…
Ooh, it appears one of the fans along the route has broken loose of the police barricades and may be looking to cause a stir. But wait! A.J. EWING has caught that fan! A.J. catches EVERYTHING, folks, as exemplified by his diving grab of J.J. Bleday’s bid for a bases-loaded double or something even more lethal in the third inning Wednesday. It became a sac fly and the only run Cincinnati would plate. A.J. also drove in a couple of runs in the rout and the fans are showing their appreciation for all the rookie can do.
As for that interloper Ewing caught, the cops are going to let Luis TORRENS throw him out. What an arm! Luis has shot down twelve of sixteen baserunners trying to steal so far this year. And what a bat we’re seeing waved to the crowd from his backstop buddy Francisco Alvarez, who had three hits as designated hitter on Wednesday. Ooh, the throng starts booing at just the mention of “designated hitter,” but it may be Francisco’s best position. Mets pitchers’ earned run average when Alvy is behind the dish is almost FIVE, whereas when Luis goes into his crouch, it falls to just above three.
Now here comes a vehicle you can’t miss: Juan SOTO’S luxury ride. It’s taking its time coming up the parade route, because that’s just the way it goes. As soon as it moseys the length of Broadway, it will be showered with confetti and adoration in acknowledgement of the three hits, two runs and two runs batted in Juan contributed to Wednesday’s victory. Natalie, to opposing pitchers, Juan is unsafe at any speed. Even with the time he missed due to injury in April, Soto’s Baseball-Reference WAR is more than twice that of any other Met position player. Leading Mets pitchers in that category? Clay HOLMES, who’s been out for more than a month. Folks, sometimes Wins Above Replacement really tells you the score.
You won’t want to miss the rest of this repurposed 2026 Mets parade, just in case it’s the last one that happens this year. We’ll be back in a minute to see if we can find any sign of Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert, to name just TWO of the several Mets who we don’t think have shown up yet.
The New York weather report? Cloudy, with falling confetti.
Thank you, Greg, for always going above and beyond for us. You and Jason continue to be beacons of light, especially when times and seasons are tough.
Thanks, Flynn. To paraphrase Christine McVie, you make blogging fun.
That’s her voice in the background of Bob Welch’s ‘Sentimental Lady,’ one of the best songs ever. He takes out a toy gun at the end of the video (pretty shocking, considering…..).
The original version of “Sentimental Lady” is on the 1972 Fleetwood Mac album Bare Trees.
Welch, of course, left the band and rerecorded the song (with McVie and Lindsey Buckingham on vocals) for his 1977 solo debut, French Kiss. It was a Top 10 hit in the US.
Plus that time Bob Welch struck out Reggie Jackson (which didn’t prevent a different parade, but impressive, nonetheless).
Wow, he could sing AND pitch. Even Bartolo Colon couldn’t do that.
Brilliant, perfect post for today. Zack Short is the 62nd recidivist in Mets history, which began in ’62. Coincidence?
I was gonna say it was inevitable the count reached 62, but it takes an organization that chronically regrets its goodbyes to accelerate recidivism.
I hope one of the floats has video on a loop of Steve Gelbs’ absolute look of disgust as he bit into what passes for a hot dog in Cincinnati.
Steve Gelbs stuffing a hot dog into his face and babbling with his mouth full probably classifies as the most disgusting thing I have ever seen a human display on a sports broadcast. For shame, SNY. For shame.
I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but this post reads like a Donald Trump tweet, if he was touting the Mets for some unfathomable reason, random capitalizations and all.
PS: I went to the parade in ’86. Couldn’t see a dam thing. Got a few pictures of confetti & ticker tape falling from the sky against a backdrop of the top floors of the buildings across the street from our VANTAGE POINT.
Bruce Beck (whose sportscasts I absorb as a result of my wife’s taste in local news) tends to punch at least one word in every spoken paragraph, thus the capitalizing. Absolutely not the other thing.
My 1986 parade experience was similar to yours. Not an occasion for the claustrophobic.
That makes 3 of us. I was in a massive mob but never got close to seeing the team. I did buy a Mets cap at the parade, which I had for many years until the dog ate it (true story).
Make that 4, guys, but it was really exciting to be around there. I hope someone told Doc what he missed.
I feel sorry for Doc — from interviews I’ve heard, it’s one of the great regrets of his life.
When do we start clamoring for Juan Soto to be chosen in the All Star Game, currently 9th in outfield voting. Guy never does anything in important situations except pop out on the first pitch, strike out on three pitches, or hit a worm killer to second base. He looks mortal and overmatched in these situations.
I do not see it, at least not yet.
No Mets parade story. I was in Grad school in Albany though the tv lounge was loud, esp for the Buckner gift.
The fielding in yesterday’s game showed why both teams are under .500. We got away with our screwups but how many would we have scored if the Reds defense was up to par?
Great post. Maybe the Mets can get the keys to the sewer.
WAR is just a stat that people use when they want to justify how good a crummy player is.
It’s been proven that if you put on ‘a sock and a sock and a shoe and a shoe’ that you will win much more than if you put on ‘a sock and a shoe and a sock and a shoe.’
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