Grimace “Power” Gives Mets Fans Reason to Believe

Who knew that the New York Mets season could be linked to a big, goofy, purple McDonald's mascot named Grimace?

But here we are!

The Mets have won five straight games, having won two games against the Miami Marlins and sweeping all three games over the weekend from the San Diego Padres. A win Monday night in Texas would tie for the club's longest win streak of the season at six games.

And what is the reason for this success? A sizzling J.D. Martinez? Francisco Lindor turning it around with the bat? Is a pitching staff finally finding a groove?

Sure, if you want to keep it strictly to baseball, one can find manifold reasons for the Mets' recent run of success.

But, if you ask many fans, they point to the moment before Wednesday's game against Miami, when the McDonald's character Grimace threw out the first pitch.

Since that time, the Mets haven't lost. In conjunction, the Mets shaved off the deficit to the wild card spot from three games to 1.5 games, and have leapfrogged over two teams in the standings.

Don't believe me? Check out social media.

Overboard? Yes. Is there more of this? You kidding, right?

Yes, Mets fans will cling to anything to believe that their beloved Amazins stand a chance. A couple of things are true. The Mets do indeed have a shot.

The National League is mostly mediocre, with only four teams over the .500 mark. While the Mets have to jump over seven teams just to get the last wild card slot out of the National League, it's not impossible. 1) It's only 1.5 games. 2) New York has to play a vast majority of those teams in front of them in the standings. 3) The Mets have the veteran talent to do this.

The question is can the Mets be consistent enough? New York has gone through plenty of highs and lows already this year. One never knows which Mets team will show up on a nightly basis.

If anything the Mets should fully embrace the Grimace magic. Stranger things have happened in baseball, and sometimes something a little crazy can go a long way.

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PINEHURST, N.C. - Golf has seen a bit of an upswing with fans in recent years, and this week the fans have shown just how much, as they turned out in big ways for the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina.

The USGA estimated that 250,000 people will make their way around the course this week, and even with blazing heat and humidity, that seemed like an underestimated number on Saturday.

Even without Tiger Woods around for the weekend, or the world's best golfer, Scottie Scheffler, in contention, the fans weren't dissuaded.

Pinehurst No. 2 has homes lining many of the holes, and enterprising groups have made the most of that, with party decks and celebrations happening to see over the temporary blackout fencing.

Saturday, the biggest crowds gathered around Bryson DeChambeau and Ludvig Aberg in the final pairing. And while the cheers were plenty loud for Aberg, it was DeChambeau that was getting the biggest support. At one point, DeChambeau actually apologized to fans for putting his driver back in his bag, and taking a safer approach with a long-iron.

Sunday will see another scorching day on the course, with DeChambeau looking solid to be in the hunt for another U.S. Open championship. If that does happen, the fans at Pinehurst No. 2 should be plenty happy.