NEW YORK — Every October legend needs an October legend moment. For Francis Lindorato this was the moment.
It's amazing to try to understand what one swing of a bat can do – the stories it can write, the memories it can create, the reputations it can seal. But we saw it all Wednesday night at Citi Field.
We saw Lindor send a baseball floating through the Queens sky. And when it falls, nothing will be the same again.
There will be no Game 5 of the NLDS in Philadelphia on Friday, as Lindor's shocking grand slam in the sixth inning would end the series, securing all four runs in the inning in the Mets' 4-1 victory for the ages.
There would no longer be a need for long-suffering Mets Nation – year after frustrating year – to wait for such a memory, for such a home run, for the euphoric series-ending party that this wave of Lindor's bat was about to unleash.
And there would never come a time, for the rest of his life, when people – his people – would ever question whether their stop was a man ready for their city, for their dreams and expectations, or for such moments.
Franciszek Lindor. BIG SLIME. #NLDS pic.twitter.com/CdKuEVOfT3
— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2024
When a man hits home runs, like this home run, they never really go down. They flow forever. But what made this home run so poetic was that the man who hit it had already reached the point where he felt it was almost planned.
“I think the whole stadium thought that was what was going to happen,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said afterward as drinks splattered around him in the swinging clubhouse. “But to do this is just absurd. It's crazy. Absolutely crazy.”
It's magical enough to hit a Grand Slam in October that puts your team ahead. But if you think that's all, you're not doing it justice. It was a timeless October fairy tale about long balls. In fact, you could come very close to saying that there has almost never been a postseason home run like it. That's because…
It was a grand slam that sent his team to the NLCS. And in the history of postseason baseball, only two other players have given up a shutout in the sixth inning or later in a game that ended the series for their team. One of them was Shane Victorino for the Red Reds in Game 6 of the 2013 ALCS. The other was Devon White for the 1997 Marlins in the game that ended the Giants' NLDS sweep.
It was a hit that was responsible for every run his team scored. But here's what sets Lindor's slam apart from all the others. How many men have ever hit a similar shot in a game that propelled their team to a postseason victory? According to STATS Perform, the correct answer is none.
It was the first postseason lead in his club's history. In fact, it was the second late-inning hit in Mets history to give them the lead in a postseason game. The second was Edgardo Alfonzo's ninth-inning strike against the Liverpool Diamondbacks in 1999. But then the game was tied. And it took place in the first game of the Division Series, not the game that ended it. So… Lindor advantage.
But this particular home run had more than just a special historical context. This was an emotional context that felt even more powerful. As that baseball soared into the night, it carried the weight of all the Mets' years of October anxiety and then released it in a roar of cathartic thunder.
How long did Citi Field rattle and hum after a home run landed in the Phillies' bullpen deep in right center? Five minutes? Ten? Twenty? Or it is Nadal gusty? It was one of those rare sports moments that lets you tell people you weren't just watching it. You felt it.
Francisco Lindor slams the door on the Phillies and sends the Mets to the NLCS. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Mets reliever Ryne Stanek was hanging out in his bullpen when the baseball left Lindor's launch pad. And as Stanek craned his neck, trying to follow it, he was suddenly overcome with the breathtaking feeling that people feel when they realize what they are witnessing.
“I said, 'Oh my God, it's gone,'” Stanek said. “And it was amazing.”
Sit back and listen as he tells the story of the joy this flying baseball brought to the Mets bullpen, even among the men who play the game for a living.
“It's just pure emotion,” he said. “Nothing more. Like no other thought can come to your mind except: What just happened? Just like there is no worry about anything else. You just see the ball go and then you finally see the ball go over the fence. And everyone's like, “Oh shit, that just happened.” And it was unbelievable.
“It was absolutely amazing. That moment where everyone just passed out in the pen and we were just a bunch of 5-year-olds. It almost brings you back to being a fan. Like you don't just watch it. You live in the moment. So no one was worried about, oh, I need to (warm up) for the next round or whatever. It was just pure joy – people were just running around, not knowing exactly what to do, just losing control.
And they weren't alone.
“I felt like Ricky Bobby,” he told Pete Alonso Always when you need a good Will Ferrell “Talladega Nights” reference. “My hands were in the air, just in delight. Just unbelievable swing. It was the swing of my life.
Francisco Lindor and his Mets teammates celebrate a moment they will never forget. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)
No doubt these guys would have felt it, regardless of who was hitting. But it wasn't just a big home run from the 26th man on the depth chart. It was a bull's-eye from a man who has been lifting the Mets' spirits for weeks, even months, with his baseball genius, and whose passion for the sport, the team and his teammates has enveloped everyone around him.
“He's the MVP,” outfielder Jesse Winker said. “He carried us all year round. It's like every time there's a big home run, he hits it. I don't know how he can stay so calm. He's the MVP, really. I'm so proud of him. I'm very happy for him.”
All right, Lindor too NO I'm going to win it National League MVP Award. Shohei Ohtani probably always intended to win this. However, Lindor's September back injury cost him enough time to seal it.
But does it really matter on nights like these? We will share with you some interesting facts about how special this home run was.
The Mets have been around for 63 seasons. They played almost 10,000 regular season games. And in all these years and all these matches, they have only once managed to hit a winning Grand Slam at the end of the round. in a regular season game. Ike Davis hit that one on April 5, 2014, with the Reds trailing in the ninth. But that was in April. It was a decisive night in October.
And it's there, even with the October story NO-crackling. Over the past 10 postseasons, only four other home runs of any size or shape, in the sixth inning or later, have resulted in a series-clinching victory for the team that hit it.
Here are the four. You will remember them.
• 2019 World Championships – Howie Kendrick (Compatriots) from Zack Greinke (Astro)
• NLCS 2022 — Bryce Harper (Phillies) kontra Robert Suarez (Padres)
• 2022 World Cup – Yordan Alvarez (Astros) against José Alvarado (Phillies)
• NLWC 2024 — Pete Alonso from Devin Williams (Brewer)
(Source: Baseball Reference / Stathead)
How about this: five jaw-dropping steals in a decade… and the Mets hit two of them last week.
Hey, it was that kind of year and that October for the team, who took part in one of those magic carpet rides that don't come around very often – especially in Flushing. But just when you think they won't make it to the last minute, a baseball flies through the ozone on an unforgettable Wednesday evening in New York. And everyone who saw it will talk about it for decades.
“It was a special moment,” Stanek said, “for a guy who is so special to this team and so special to this city. I mean, that's how you would write it if you could write a screenplay. You know what I mean?
“Seriously, you have superstars on your team who are great in situations like this. And that's why they deserved this contract. In moments like these they come out on top. He's just an incredible player, an incredible teammate and an incredible leader for us. And I couldn't be happier for him. We all couldn't.”
GO DEEPER
Francisco Lindor's life-changing move takes the Mets to the NLCS
GO DEEPER
Longest-tenured Mets players celebrate milestone: 'Dream come true'
GO DEEPER
What you need to know from the MLB playoffs: Mets to NLCS, Dodgers force Game 5
(Top photo: Brad Penner/Imagn Images)
