Mets Fans Bring Out Good-Luck Charms For 'Amazin' Game 5 Win Over Dodgers
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Losing was not an option for the Mets in a winner take all game against the Dodgers on Thursday night.
And while it was a nail-biter, the Mets left fans thrilled -- and they will now go on to the National League Championship Series. Indeed, the Amazins lived up to their name with a 3-2 win over Los Angeles.
After the final pitch was thrown, the scene at Lansdowne Road, at 599 Tenth Ave. in Hell's Kitchen, and likely at sports bars all around the city featured hugging, high fives, and endless cheering, CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported.
Eddie Fernandez said he was nervous the whole game, "But we did it -- we're there! Go Mets, number one!"
But before the game, the spirit was far more anxious.
Kevin Striker of East Elmhurst could not hold back enthusiasm for his Amazin' Mets just a few hours away from their do-or-die game in Los Angeles.
"I'm so excited," Striker said. "I don't even want to go to work today. I wanted to call out and just prepare all day."
Die-hard Mets fans were probably not getting much work done across the Tri-State area in anticipation of Thursday night's National League Division Series finale.
Jacob deGrom took the mound for New York, going up against Zack Greinke of the Dodgers.
De Grom was coming off a 13-strikeout gem in Game 1.
"The biggest game I've ever pitched," he said before the game. "I just try to block everything out. Once I get out there on the field, then the nerves go away, and it's the same game we've been playing all year. I'll go out there and just try to put up zeroes."
"You've got to love the fact that it's going to do Game 5 and everything's on the line," Mets rookie Michael Conforto said ahead of the game. "You've got to leave it all out there. We're feeling pretty good about who we're throwing out there."
Before the game, many Mets fans were all decked out and pulling out good-luck charms.
"DeGrom is gonna win; Greinke is gonna spit the bit," one Mets fan said.
"Do you have a superstition leading into the game?" CBS2's Andrea Grymes asked.
"That's why I'm wearing this shirt and this old hat that's all sweaty," the fan said, pointing to his Mets gear.
"I'm not taking this off," Dave Lapkin of the Upper East Side said, pointing to his hat. "The whole day, the whole night -- not until the last pitch. It didn't work the other night, so I hope it changes!"
The biggest Mets fanatic might be U.S. Rep. Peter King. He follows the Mets to spring training, home games and road games. He's so convinced the Mets can't win without him that he didn't dare switch the TV to the Democratic presidential debate this week for fear of a jinx.
"Nothing can come between me and the Mets," King told CBS2's Jennifer McLogan. "And I really feel -- not that I'm that powerful -- but if I turn the game off for a moment, it's going to hurt the Mets. I'd feel guilty if while I was watching Hillary Clinton, some Met struck out or something. This is a moral issue for me."
The series was a roller coaster of emotions.
The Mets won the first game on the road, and then the Dodgers took Game 2 after Chase Utley's hard slide that broke Ruben Tejada's leg.
The Mets officially ended the Dodgers' season with the win and have set their sights on the National League Championship Series.
There were nail biting innings for Mets fans, but they never lost faith and were confident that the team would pull through.
Fans said the team is unstoppable and that this will be their year.
The Mets are coming back home to CitiField to face the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
