Tale of Two NY Teams

Apr+18%2C+2016%3B+Philadelphia%2C+PA%2C+USA%3B+New+York+Mets+starting+pitcher+Noah+Syndergaard+%2834%29+pitches+during+the+first+inning+against+the+Philadelphia+Phillies+at+Citizens+Bank+Park.+Mandatory+Credit%3A+Bill+Streicher-USA+TODAY+Sports+ORG+XMIT%3A+USATSI-258628+ORIG+FILE+ID%3A++20160418_ajw_sq4_022.jpg

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Apr 18, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard (34) pitches during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports ORG XMIT: USATSI-258628 ORIG FILE ID: 20160418_ajw_sq4_022.jpg

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Well, what did you expect? Rebounding off winning the N.L. East, an amazing trip to the 2015 postseason and the World Series, the Mets lost one of their biggest stars, Daniel Murphy in the off-season.
As the 2016 season rolled on, multiple injuries occurred in stars like Matt Harvey, David Wright, Neil Walker, Jacob DeGrom, Steven Matz and Lucas Duda. Even though the Mets got Jay Bruce at the trade deadline, he was horrible.

By Aug. 19, the Mets were 5.5 games under the Wild Card and had been brutally beaten by the Arizona D-Backs, a sub-500 team, 9-0. However, they still somehow made it to the Wild Card game.
The “turning point” game was on Aug 20 while on a trip to San Francisco. The Mets, led by Noah Syndergaard, shut down the Giants. This was the start. And they kept on winning and winning, and they didn’t stop winning. Suddenly, they had the top spot in the Wild Card. Suddenly, Jay Bruce become a hot hitter. Suddenly, people actually gave the Mets a chance.

But, it was not enough as the Mets suffered a brutal loss to the same team that started their spark, the Giants. Jeurys Familia, one of the greatest closers in baseball, choked as he allowed a home run to Conner Gillespie, making their postseason dreams vanish. It was heartbreaking for thousands of Met fans to watch their team fall again in the postseason. However, they got to laugh as both the Giants and the Nationals choked as well. But moving away from the bad moments of 2016, let’s look at some good ones, like the Mets getting back Jose Reyes, the free agent signing of Asdrubal Cabrera, all the minor leaguers who came up, like Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo, T.J. Rivera and Brandon Nimmo and the amazing home runs that propelled the Mets as far as they got.
Asdrubal Cabrera’s walk off three-run homer was great as was pitcher Bartolo Colon (a 43-year old) hitting his first home run. The sweep of the first place Cubs to the young pitchers who made their mark—these were a big part of the 2016 season.

Even though 2016 was not the best year for the Mets, one thing helped them live on during the 2016 season: the home run. That was their primary way of scoring runs throughout the season. It was an exciting year for Met fans around the world.

As for the Yankees, they had Gary Sanchez, an amazing new catcher who is now a legitimate star on the team.

The Yankees did have their shining moments and fans cheered because the team despite its shortcomings kept the team in the conversation about who might win a trip to the wild card game.
This year the Yankees said goodbye to baseball greats like A-Rod and Mark Texitera, but it was not enough because they ended their season before the postseason.
It was a very different year for Yankees fans around the world who were let down again.