If Somebody Had Told You on Opening Day...

...that Jose Reyes, TJ Rivera and James Loney would drive in the Mets first four runs in the game they clinched a post-season spot, you'd say, "No way!"
Let's run the "tape" back to the beginning of April. Reyes was a Colorado Rockie, about to start a lengthy suspension after a spousal abuse incident. Rivera was a little-known second- or third-tier Mets prospect, already way past his 25th birthday and buried behind newly acquired Neil Walker and fan favorite Wilmer Flores. And Loney had just been cut by the Rays at the end of spring training.
Yet, those three guys all played vital roles as the Mets punched their ticket to the playoffs.
Reyes, the catalyst and exuberant lead off man, whose agents landed him a huge 2012 free agent contract with the Marlins -- who in typical fashion traded him a year later to the Blue Jays. Toronto and its artificial turf weren't an ideal home for the speedster, whose numbers fell off and eventually found himself shipped to Colorado for Troy Tulowitzki. Suspended for the first two months of the season, the Rockies cut him in mid-June, even though he had most of two years left on his contract. The Mets, seemingly reaching for straws, and having just lost David Wright to season-ending surgery, took a chance on Reyes -- who cost them just the major league mininum salary -- as their fill in at 3rd base. They hoped that away from a team that didn't want him and back in familiar surroundings in Flushing, he could recapture even a hint of the magic of his early career.
Rivera spent a life in baseball always being overlooked. A standout at Lehman High School in Bronx, he didn't wind up at St. John's or Concordia, local colleges that have sent players such as John Franco, Frank Viola and Mike Aviles to the majors. Rivera's journey took him through Wallace Community College and then Troy University in Alabama. But he went undrafted after graduating -- before his junior college coach, ex-Met Mackey Sasser recommended him to his old club. Rivera worked his way up through the Mets system, hitting well at every level, without ever being labeled a top prospect. I saw him for the first time this March in spring training. Rivera's opportunity finally arrived late this season. After "top prospect" Dilson Herrera was traded to the Reds for Jay Bruce, Walker's season ended after back surgery and Flores jammed his wrist in a home plate collision, Terry Collins turned to Rivera, who did what he's always done -- hit the baseball.

Loney's trail to Flushing began with several productive seasons with the Dodgers before being moved to the Red Sox and Rays, who this spring didn't see much use for a singles-hitting 1st baseman making big money. Released at the end of spring training, he wound up with Padres Triple A club, before the Mets, again needing to fill a hole -- Lucas Duda went down with a back injury -- picked him up in late May. Even though the power-hitting Duda recently returned to action, he can't yet play every day, so Loney was in the lineup Saturday at Citizens Bank Park, where his 8th inning home run gave the Mets the lead for keeps.

Reyes, Rivera and Loney... three of the most unexpected heroes if we'd been making predictions around the 1st of April. And yet, those are the names that jump off the page in the victory that clinched the Mets their place in Wednesday's NL Wild Card Game.
You might find a Jim Plunkett in pro football. But three unexpected heroes all coming through the same day for a club none were playing for when the season began -- that's bordering on Hollywood whimsy. Yet it happened for the Mets. For real.