After 9 long years, Mets back in playoffs

Jacob deGrom will be on the hill and in the spotlight Friday, when the Mets play their first playoff game in almost nine years.Eight years and 355 days ago, Carlos Beltran took a called strike to end Game 7 of the NLCS. Any Met fan on the planet was bummed that day and had trouble sleeping, but believed the 2006 Mets, built on a young, left side of the infield, and some incredible vets would be back the next year, bigger and better.

Of course, they didn't, and now, on Oct. 9, 2015, we have our next Mets playoff game. It's been a long wait, and this 9:45 start is making it even longer. So every Met fan - whether they are fatalistic, optimistic, pessimistic, complete schills - has to be pumped…