Mets OF Brandon Nimmo Shares Amazing Perspective Of Learning His Grandma Died An Hour Before 1st Pitch

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While home run slugging first baseman Pete Alonso is understandably getting all of the headlines, the New York Mets’ amazing miracle comeback win against the Milwaukee Brewers was a team effort.

Veteran starter tossed six scoreless innings, closer Edwin Diaz came in the 7th inning to stop the bleeding after the Mets fell behind 2-0, and both Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo got on base ahead of Alonso to give the Mets the baserunners they needed to win the game.

Nimmo’s one-out single ahead of Alonso is particularly impressive when considering that, on top of the pressurized situation, he was also coping with the loss of his grandmother, which he learned about just an hour before the first pitch.

“We knew it was a possibility. She had gotten COVID, and her lungs weren’t doing well. She had pulled through, and then she was back to the ER yesterday, and she wasn’t doing well. About an hour or so before the game, I got the text,” Nimmo told SNY, the local broadcasters of Mets games in New York.

While his parents had to “rush out” of the stadium, Nimmo had to lock in to play the biggest game of his life, one in which he’d get a crucial hit in the 9th inning to set up Pete Alonso’s 3-run game-winning home run.

“I just said, you know what? She and my grandpa watched every game. I got to see them [recently]. I have pictures of us together and holding hands. I know she’s in a better place now. But it really just put things in perspective before the game, to be able to say that this stuff.…”

As the Mets celebrated their remarkable victory — historic, even, as they became the first team in MLB history to hit a go-ahead HR while trailing in the 9th inning or later of a winner-take-all postseason game — Nimmo soaked in the scenes in the locker room and delivered a sermonic perspective.

“Right here, this stuff matters, the experiences, the moments like this, celebrating, this is what it’s all about… The money, the accolades, no — this is what it’s all about. Moments with our [Mets] family,” Nimmo said.

“[Her name was] Claudine Nimmo,” he said. “She was in her late 80s. She got to live a long and good life. By no means are we trying to make it out to be more sad than it is. It’s just her time. Nobody lives forever. But it did put things in perspective for me. And then to score four runs in the ninth– I know she would have loved it. She would have been cheering us on, and so happy. It’s just a huge roller coaster of emotions today.”

As mentioned above, while Alsono and Lindor generate most of the Mets’ headlines, the 31-year-old Nimmo is just as key a piece to the team as anyone, as he’s played in at least 151 games in each of the last three seasons for the Mets, providing defense, base-running, on-base percentage (he was their leadoff man before Lindor), and leadership. This season, Nimmo had the most RBIs of his career with 90.