You think of Endy Chavez and Ron Swoboda and Tommie Agee.
And now when you consider great postseason catches in Mets history, you’ll think of Curtis Granderson.
But give the weather an assist, Granderson said.
“If the game was at 2 o’clock, it would have been a little different,” said Granderson, who made a magnificent catch against Brandon Belt to end the sixth inning. “The weather being the way it was it kind of knocked it down.”
With the game nail-bitingly scoreless, Granderson kept it that way when he turned, raced back, ran farther still and made an outstretched grab and then crashed into the center-field wall to rob Belt of extra bases and an RBI.
“When you see that play you’ve got to think we’re going to win,” said the injured Wilmer Flores, who watched from the dugout.
Said manager Terry Collins: “He played center field and I asked him to go out there as good as you can ask. He made a lot of big plays out in center field, and tonight, that at the time was a game-saving play, no question.”
The great play may be merely a footnote in the wake of the Mets’ 3-0 wild-card game loss to Madison Bumgarner and a three-run, ninth-inning homer by Conor Gillaspie off Jeurys Familia. But its brilliance can’t be denied.
A pumped Mets starter Noah Syndergaard gave an “I don’t believe what I just saw” look leaving the mound and Belt slammed his helmet rounding first in frustration as he failed to deliver Denard Span, who had walked and swiped second base. In a game of high-powered aces, Syndergaard versus Giants postseason stud Bumgarner, any score would grab momentum and could be a ticket to the NLDS against the Cubs.
“Tough one, just trying to get back there to reel it in,” said Granderson, who banged his left hip when he crashed into the wall and dropped to the warning track. “I looked up, I still had a shot and once I hit the wall just holding on. Luckily it was the third out so I didn’t have to get up and make a play.”
Granderson’s journey to center field for the Mets was a strange odyssey, laced with injuries (Juan Lagares and Justin Ruggiano) and reluctance (Yoenis Cespedes). When others couldn’t or basically wouldn’t, the center-field mantle fell to Granderson, who spent much of the season in right.
“The best thing about Curtis is that he never lets anything bother him. I ask him to lead off, he leads off. … There is never a discussion, never an argument,” Collins said at Tuesday’s workout.
“When I put him in center field, I knew he didn’t particularly care to play center field anymore. He had gotten comfortable in right field. But he understands for the betterment of the team he needs to play center field. He’s gone out and done very, very well. He’s handled it great.”
