One of the more infamous moments in recent Mets history came late in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series, with the Mets down 3-1 in the series to the Kansas City Royals and facing elimination at Citi Field.
Entering the top of the ninth, the Mets held a two-run lead after eight shutout innings by Matt Harvey. The ace and manager, Terry Collins, argued in the dugout about whether or not Harvey should go back out and try to finish the game.
He ended up going out, and the rest was history, as the Royals tied the game and eventually won in extra innings.
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Fast forward to 2020. Collins made an appearance on WFAN Saturday night and was asked if he would've put Harvey back out on the mound if the game wasn't at Citi Field.
His answer was simple:
"Probably not," Collins said to Zach Gelb, who was there that night in the stands as a Mets fan and wanted Harvey to come back out himself. "I had a guy out in the bullpen (Jeurys Familia) who saved 50 games for us that season, but you know what? The emotion of that night in Citi field, with all our Mets fans — that energy you cannot create in any other place except for Citi Field — I looked on and Matt came down and said 'I'm ok, I want this game.'
"I preached that in our players. You've got to want to finish the games. You've got to want to be there in crunch time. And I said 'I cannot deny this guy the opportunity to go out there.'"
Harvey walked Lorenzo Cain on the first-at bat of the inning, but Collins decided to keep him in there because he said he doesn't believe in pulling a pitcher after the first at-bat of an inning.
"I hate it, I absolutely hate it," Collins said. ". ... He's only going to face one hitter? Bulls—t. ... If you're worried about him letting the first leadoff hitter get on, then you shouldn't send him out there."