NY Mets: 5 best moments from an entertaining 2021 season

4) NY Mets top moment: Pete Alonso wins the Home Run Derby again

Will anyone ever defeat Pete Alonso at the Home Run Derby? Now a two-time winner in two consecutive derbies, it’s beginning to look like the self-proclaimed “best slugger in baseball” truly is.

Alonso did a lot of superb things for the Mets this year. He was easily their most consistent hitter and managed to stay relatively healthy outside of one short IL stint. At the plate, he was about as monstrous as we all expected.

Meanwhile, his defense also improved. Kudos to him!

But none of those moments Alonso had at the plate or in the field in a regular season game compared to the night when he owned Coors Field. Bobbing his head through the tournament, Alonso changed the storyline one July evening. He won the Home Run Derby quite handily.

In round one, Alonso beat Salvador Perez with 35 home runs. Round two included 16 dingers and a defeat of Juan Soto. In the finals, the Polar Bear stopped at 23 home runs when he took the victory away from Trey Mancini. He finished each round with the most home runs of any participant.

A big Mets moment this year, I don’t rank it as high as some others because we have seen this before and it made no difference in the standings. As an individual moment, however, I’m sure Alonso ranks this latest Home Run Derby win among his favorite MLB accomplishments.

3) NY Mets top moment: Francisco Lindor swats three home runs against the Yankees

The shining moment of Francisco Lindor’s first season with the Mets came in September. In the finale against the New York Yankees after an emotional September 11th ceremony one day prior, the two Big Apple clubs battled it out on Sunday Night Baseball.

Lindor had yet to have his “signature moment” for the Mets but for at least the 2021 season, he had one in store for us all.

Lindor blasted not one, not two, but three home runs in this winning effort from the Mets.

It all started in the second inning with a three-run shot off of Clarke Schmidt. In the bottom of the sixth, with Wandy Peralta now on the mound, Lindor hit number two on the day. This time it was a solo shot to help increase the team’s lead to 6-4.

The most dramatic home run of all from Lindor’s bat occurred in the bottom of the eighth inning with one out. Chad Green delivered a 2-0 pitch that Lindor took yard. Best of all, it helped the Mets pull back ahead 7-6. This score would hold and for a few hours it felt as if the Mets had climbed back into the playoff race again.

A three-home run game in September is always huge for a Mets player. Doing it against the Yankees on Sunday Night Baseball makes it even more memorable.

2) NY Mets top moment: Jacob deGrom hurls a shutout against the Nationals

In only his fourth start of the season, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom tossed his gem of the year. It was Friday, April 23rd when the Washington Nationals came to town. A few hours later, they would leave with only two hits and a 6-0 loss.

This was possibly the best game deGrom has pitched in his career. He went all nine and struck out 15. It took the Mets ace 109 pitches to dispose of the Nationals. Among them, 84 went for strikes.

deGrom looked like he was well on his way to having another Cy Young worthy season. He went into the matchup with two consecutive 14 strikeout games. He left it with a 2-1 record and a season-low 0.31 ERA.

Sadly, this would turn out to be the highlight of deGrom’s season. While he would turn in a few more quality starts and continue his Cy Young pace, many of his starts were limited to less than 90 pitches.

Way back in April when deGrom was sticking it to the Nationals, nobody could have guessed it would have been such a disappointing year for him. It’s not that he didn’t pitch well when he was on the field. Injuries just happened to get in the way of what should have been one of the greatest seasons we’ve ever seen a pitcher put together.

1) NY Mets top moment: Every bench mob walk-off or game-leading at-bat

Is it cheating to put more than one moment as the number one? It probably is. It’s like saying all of your children are your favorite. Who are you kidding? At least one is your least favorite.

The Mets bench mob captured our hearts in 2021. Not all of their brilliance came in walk-off or game-leading moments, but those were definitely the biggest.

Off the top of my head, there was the Tomas Nido go-ahead home run against the Atlanta Braves. We had Patrick Mazeika making his presence known with walk-off fielder’s choices and walks to go along with go-ahead sacrifice flies. Has there ever been a more unique set of game-winning circumstances? Brandon Drury was a late addition with his walk-off hit and subsequent refusal to get stripped on the field.

Others who passed through, like Jose Peraza and Billy McKinney, also shined for a period of time. When things were seemingly rockiest, the team managed to stay alive.

Beyond those bench mob attendees, we have the performance given by Jonathan Villar and Kevin Pillar this year. Acquired this offseason to be leaders on the second-string, each played their way into a more prominent role with the club. Villar, especially, put together some huge hits for the Mets.

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Which other Mets moments were your favorite this season? Before you answer, let me put on a helmet and await a barrage of “seeing it end” comments to come.