The Mets winning the '15 NL pennant "validates their adherence to a plan born of necessity and based on prudence, pitching -- and a whole lot of patience," according to a front-page piece by Tyler Kepner of the N.Y. TIMES. Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said what makes him most proud of the team's vision is "that we stuck to it." Kepner notes the vision was "conceived and executed" by GM Sandy Alderson. The Mets from '12-14 "operated with a payroll of under" $100M. Teams in "much smaller markets, like Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Minneapolis, sometimes spent more on player salaries than the big-market Mets," who began this season with a payroll of "just over" $100M. Alderson said that spending lavishly on free-agent talent "was simply not an option in those seasons," with the Bernie Madoff issue "lurking in the background." He added that the Mets "found it easier to simply say no to big signings." Alderson: "And now we’ve gotten accustomed to it. It’s worked out pretty well for us." The Mets "have signed one player to a nine-figure contract under Alderson: their homegrown third baseman and captain, David Wright, who accepted" an eight-year, $138M extension in December '12. The Mets "will face difficult decisions this winter about two of their best hitters," LF Yoenis Cespedes and 2B Daniel Murphy -- October’s "slugging sensation -- who are both facing free agency" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/23).
FIND YOURSELF A CITI TO LIVE IN: BLOOMBERG NEWS' Martin Braun cited a source as saying that the Mets, "riding on this season’s playoff run," project next season's total attendance "will rise by 500,000 to 3.1 million, generating an additional" $25M in revenue. That figure is "on top of" a 20% attendance increase this year. When the 42,000-seat Citi Field opened in '09, the team "projected an average attendance of about 37,980" in '13. Instead, the Mets "sold an average of 26,366 tickets per game that year." In '14, the Mets' "sixth consecutive losing season, turnout averaged 26,528." Boosting attendance to 3.1 million in '16 "would bring the average to 38,272" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 10/22).
JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON: Thursday night’s edition of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” aired from Brooklyn, and show staffer Guillermo Rodriguez walked on stage dressed in a Mets uniform accompanied by team mascot Mr. Met. Host Jimmy Kimmel, who threw out the first pitch of NLCS Game 2, said, “As I am sure you know, the unthinkable has happened: The Mets are going to the World Series. ... The Mets haven’t won a World Series since 1986. The world was a lot different in 1986. In 1986, we thought ‘Crocodile Dundee’ was a good movie.” Kimmel said of a video showing Mets P Jacob deGrom being doused with champagne, “It looks as if they are shampooing a dog.” Kimmel also aired a video of an excited Mets fan proclaiming, “Nobody else is going to do it like New York because we do it like nobody else does it anywhere else because we’re from New York!” Kimmel said, “I have no idea what he said, but I couldn’t agree more” ("Jimmy Kimmel Live," ABC, 10/22).
