After all that has happened to these Mets, too much of it bad, they are lucky to be five games behind the Nationals after that villain Daniel Murphy bludgeoned them yet again Saturday night.
It’s fair to wonder, even given Neil Walker’s professionalism and 15 home runs, where they would be with Murphy picking up where he left off last October, when Citi Field paid homage to Murph-tober.
They boo him in Flushing now, and Murphy pays them no mind and nonchalantly buries his old team and silences his old fans.
He already had singled and doubled when he added further insult to all these Mets injuries with a two-run homer toward the Shea Bridge in the seventh, his career-best 16th, and sixth this season against the Mets, after manager Terry Collins had summoned southpaw Antonio Bastardo to attempt to torment him. It gave Murphy four RBIs on the night and a ridiculous 19 for the season against the franchise that raised him and wasn’t obsessed with keeping him.
Murphy’s three-year, $37.5 million deal sure looks like a bargain. He takes his NL-leading .349 batting average to his second All-Star Game.
To their credit, the Mets have not crumbled under the weight of great expectations and dastardly adversity, and they plan on chasing the Nationals all the way to October.
But Murphy’s ongoing rampage only emboldens the Nationals, adds a measure of swagger and grit they lacked a year ago and complicates the Mets’ ambitions.
Murphy is forever the reluctant star, content to let his bat do most of his talking for him.
Asked about the boos, he said, “I don’t know. I guess it means you’re doing something to help your ballclub win a game that day against that team, so that’s the way I look at it.”
When he was asked if he could see how Mets fans might muse about what might have been had he stayed:
“I’d say that’s a question for Mets fans,” he said and smiled.
Dusty Baker don’t think the angst of Mets fans is justified.
“I don’t understand the booing ’cause he took ’em to the World Series,” Baker said. “That part I don’t understand, ’cause Murph didn’t do anything to cause that. He didn’t say anything adverse about the Mets’ organization that I know of or certainly not anything against the players. He’s a gentleman, lead-type warrior. I’m glad we have him.”
Baker had mentioned Murphy’s first half alongside the likes of Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds.
“It’s humbling, yeah, very humbling … how many games over .500 are we?” Murphy turned and asked the club’s PR man.
He was told 16 games over .500.
“We’re 16 games over .500, that’s the most important part right now,” Murphy said.
They’re 17 over, but who’s counting?
The Legend of Daniel Murphy grows in the Nationals’ clubhouse.
“It definitely means more when you’re playing your old team,” Baker said. “He knows them, and they know him. He knows the catchers. He knows most things about the matchups and stuff and what they’re gonna try to do to him and do to us.”
Murphy now has hit safely in all 12 games against the Mets.
“Murph is learning how to hit the ball out of the ballpark,” Baker said, “so sky’s the limit. Who knows what he may become? I know what he already is.”
Winning pitcher Max Scherzer struggled to find the right superlatives about Murphy. He raved about how Murphy has lengthened the Nationals lineup out.
“This guy’s just absolutely hitting the cover off the ball,” Scherzer said. “He just understands what he’s doing at the plate, has such a great feel for the strike zone, and when he gets his pitch he hits it. And man, he’s hitting these guys pretty good.”
Maybe Mets fans should try cheering Daniel Murphy. Booing him isn’t working.