Frankly, it was a surprise that the Mets got as far as they did; few people expected them to be in the World Series this year and it's thanks to manager Terry Collins and general manager Sandy Alderson, who made some significant trades before the July deadline, that they did. The Royals played assertively and the Mets could not adjust, after defeating the lethargic Cubs in four straight games. For those of us who like runs being produced by singles, doubles and aggressive base running rather than the New York style (of both the Mets and the Yankees) of waiting for homeruns, the Royals were a beautiful team to watch, led by their stoic and heroic manager Ned Yost.
The Royals showed that the stolen base is not, as Joe Morgan and others have claimed, a lost art. What is something of a lost art now is the complete game, which once was common for pitchers. Now a starting pitcher is not expected to go much more than six innings and a closer only one (Goose Gossage, closer for the Yankees in the seventies and eighties, routinely went two or more innings and often came in the game with men on base), which means a team usually needs a seventh-inning guy and an eighth-inning guy and Terry Collins did not have dependable pitchers for those roles. In addition, closer Familia had already blown two saves in the World Series, so I do not blame Collins for leaving in Matt Harvey in the ninth, even after he gave up a walk.
The Mets have good starting pitching and some hitters, especially Curtis Granderson, who can hit with power. They need to improve their bullpen and their infield (which was not helped by the loss of Miguel Tejada in the series with the Dodgers) and learn to put the ball in play more, sometimes even by bunting.
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