“My Girl” you know about — the singalong that accompanies Francisco Lindor‘s ABs is a new tradition that’s all the sweeter for its organic origins and the Mets having sense enough to stay out of the way.
But the crowd at Citi Field wasn’t satisfied with augmenting the Temptations. They did the honors on “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” accompanied by Muppets as it was Sesame Street Night. They sang rapturously along with “Dancing Queen,” the winner of the karaoke contest. They even burst detectably into song when a bit of the Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” popped up between innings.
And they sang the praises of Nolan McLean — toward the end of his eye-opening performance, of course, but also from the very beginning of his labors. They clapped in a rising cadence when McLean got to two strikes. They cried out in disappointment when a close call didn’t go his way. And they roared when he dispatched yet another Phillie batter, either via strikeout (six of them) or a sharp play made behind him.
I’ll spare you a scouting report from the 300 level beyond what I saw as part of the boisterous crowd: McLean filling up the strike zone and changing speeds with a maturity far beyond what his decidedly short resume would suggest. It was remarkable to see hitters of the caliber of Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper rearing up in the batter’s box, frustrated by their inability to figure McLean out — Turner and Harper were both sufficiently befuddled that their bats wound up helicoptering away from the plate, perhaps in wooden surrender. And McLean’s pitch count kept us doing double takes — only in the last couple of innings did it climb to expected levels, as he tired and lost a little precision and zip.
Only a little, though — McLean’s eighth had the crowd in a frenzy, trying to will him through the frame after crybaby Alec Bohm singled with nobody out and Max Kepler moved him to third with a single of his own. They roared when Juan Soto caught a Nick Castellanos fly and uncorked a missile to the plate, keeping Bohm at third tete-a-teteing with Dusty Wathan. They roared again when Bryson Stott flied out to left and Brandon Nimmo let fly with a Thou Shalt Not throw of his own. And they exploded when Harrison Bader hit a little tapper to McLean, who tossed it to Pete Alonso at first to complete eight innings of stellar work.
(BTW, Stott’s walkup music in Philly is the earworm “AOK” by Tai Verdes, and you could hear Phillies fans singing it for him during his ABs. Like I said, a musical night!)
By the eighth the anxiety had left the stadium, letting us cheer McLean for his own sake. The Mets put together three runs in the third with five straight hits off old friend Taijuan Walker, added another in the fifth on a Mark Vientos RBI single, and made things academic in the seventh when Vientos hit a bolt of a home run off Tanner Banks.
Citi Field has been a house of horrors for the Phils — they’ve now lost their last 10 here — and the Mets did them no favors by playing one of their better games of the season: The defense was crisp, with Alonso starting a nifty 3-6-3 double play in the second and Jeff McNeil making a leaping grab above the fence in center, and the hitters looked loose and aggressive all night.
A three-game sweep, a rookie on top of the world, and one of the best crowds I’ve even been a part of at Citi Field. Kind of makes you want to burst into song all over again.
Speaking of music, and to quote the song that Jason referenced yesterday, is it possible that we didn’t waste our summer praying in vain for a savior to rise from these streets? McLean fits the bill!
Not to rain on the singalong but now we have to wait to hear about Alvarez. From the video it didn’t look like anything was messed up – supposedly he was gonna be pulled in the 7th anyway so leaving in the 6th after a HBP shouldn’t mean anything – but it’s a Met so who knows.
Most worrying thing about last night’s game was SNY showing McLean picking at his finger like he had a blister or something between (pitching) innings. Guy was really in control – other than a Peterson start or two haven’t seen someone in command of a game like that all season.
Winning fixes just about everything: The sing-a-longs are peppier, the Nathan’s fries a little tastier, the ushers a little friendlier. If Jonah “King” Tong, the Eighth Wonder of the World, comes through on Friday night, the place will be in second-stage orbit. It’s nice to dream about the possibilities.
Lest we dwell on would-be, potential blisters, another Nolan (Ryan) had that chronic issue and it did not seem to do anything other than temporarily mothball Von Ryan’s Express (along with his various Army reserve stints). I can still hear Bob Murphy detail how the Mets and Pitching Coach Rube Walker instructed Ryan to soak his finger in pickle brine to address the issue, without avail. It may have been a factor (along with countless 3-2 counts and bases loaded jams) in the mind-numbingly short-sighted decision to trade him, and we all know how that turned out.
Nolan McLean was at 57 pitches after 6 innings last night. I’d be willing to bet that Nolan Ryan never got through a six-inning stretch in his career with only 57 pitches.
I thought it was trainer Gus Mauch who came up with the pickle brine solution for Ryan’s blisters
Could have been Gus Mauch, it is not clear from the Zapruder film. I am not sure that anyone would stand up, chest out and lay claim to that “solution.” My only recollection of Gus Mauch is him donning his sporty white Mets jacket in the ’69 Team Picutre at Shea.
Nolan, where have you been?
i only learned that nolan ryan had been a met around 1974 when i found my grandfather’s 1969 world series program – and for jim fregosi?? but never had to live through that one in real time, unlike with seaver.
still bummed and angry that wheeler was let go with such disdain from the bvw-led front office, but with the emergence of today’s nolan, all is forgiven.
very cool that you were there jason. me: i sat (and stayed awake!) through an entire ballgame for the first time since senga got hurt. i care – and believe – again, look forward to watching tonite’s (and tomorrow’s!!!!) games.
amazing what the call-up of a fully formed ace can do for a balllclub and its frustrated and suffering fan base.
to say nothing about what tomorrow nite may bring.
stoked!
Even if you did have an irrational fear of parabolic mikes, who in their right mind would make a big deal about it? Would you really want to be That Guy? I already knew Bohm was a crybaby, but this cemented it. You don’t need a parabolic mike to hear his sobbing…
given the sighting of fan-brought parabolic mikes in the stands, we may have the 2025 mets’ late-arriving fetish, the answer to last year’s OMG signs.
to troll the phils the mets *have to* swap that huge flip flop for a parabolic mike for home run celebratory photo-ops.
i’m sure bohm’s teammates are pissed enough at him now.
rub some salt on that clubhouse wound!!
Absolutely, I said it in an earlier post — last year we had OMG, this year we have Parabolic Mike. If that turns the season around, great! Thank you, Alec Blown.
nice seth, i’m in good company then.
missed earlier post as i’m just returning to daily participation in things mets.
Abby & I were a part of that crowd, too, Jason, and you absolutely nailed the atmosphere.