The Mets are back in the World Series after 15 years, seeking their first title in nearly three decades. Their ascension to baseball’s grandest stage validates their adherence to a plan born of necessity and based on prudence, pitching — and a whole lot of patience.
Before this season, when they won 90 games and lost 72, the Mets had endured six losing years in a row. No team in the majors had a longer active streak of futility.
Complicating matters was the Bernard L. Madoff fraud scheme, which had a direct effect on the Mets, embarrassed the team, strained its finances and undermined public confidence in the club’s lead owner, Fred Wilpon.