This time last year I was considerably less excited about the Cubs’ movie moments, particularly when Panic City was aflutter about the potential clairvoyance of Back to the Future 2, in which Doc and Marty travel to October 21, 2015 and the Cubs win the World Series. But now that there’s nothing on the line for us Mets fans, I find the Cubs cameos considerably more charming. I mean, let’s be real—I spent many a Blockbuster trip on Rookie of the Year. (Fun fact: Rookie of the Year was a remake of the 1954 Roogie’s Bump, in which the kid joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and Carl Erskine, Billy Loes and Roy Campanella starred.)

Then again, the Kings of Queens themselves are no slouches when it comes to movie appearances. In a 2000 interview with the LA Times, Cindy McManus of Major League Baseball Properties—which clears the use of team names and iconography in film and TV—confirmed that the Mets are “definitely one of the more popular teams” as far as frequency of depictions. So while the options are many, I offer you my top five favorite Met movie moments:

The Odd Couple

This 1968 film based on the play featured the ever impressive game-winning “triple play,” with which the Mets get out of a jam to topple the Pittsburgh Pirates. The scene was filmed on location at Shea preceding an actual Mets-Pirates game on June 27, 1967. The Mets went on to win the real game, too, 5-2—Ron Swoboda the night’s MVP with a three-run homer.

Movie Stats: A perfect 100 on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, (maybe critics were nicer then?) with an 89 percent Audience Score … let’s just ignore that a remake ever happened, shall we?

1967 Mets: Turns out the aforementioned game was special indeed—a rare win for a team that went 61-101 that season, batting .238/.288/.325 with an ERA of 3.73.

The Wiz

The 1978 remake of the Wizard of Oz was, in many ways, groundbreaking—it featured a predominantly African-American cast, was instrumental in the renovation of the Kaufman Astoria studios, and filmed at iconic locations across New York City, one of which was, you guessed it—Shea Stadium! Sadly, the Mets don’t exist in Oz, but Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the scarecrow do lead a star-studded flying-biker-monkey chase up and down the stadium’s ramps.

Movie Stats: Maybe the critics weren’t ready for The Wiz—it scored a 36 percent on the Tomatometer, but fared better with audiences at 65 percent. But, ahem—Michael Jackson Grammys: 13 wins and a Lifetime Achievement Award, Diana Ross Grammys: 4 nominations and a Lifetime Achievement Award.

1978 Mets: Looks like it was a pretty lackluster year for the Mets, too, going 66-96, .245/.314/.352 with an ERA of 3.87.

City Slickers

Billy Crystal may be well-known for his diehard Yankees fandom, but his character in City Slickers, Mitch Robbins, is definitely a Mets fan. Robbins is often seen sporting a Mets shirt and cap in unlikely places, including Pamplona’s running of the bulls, and later atop a horse at a cattle ranch. Crystal is said to have featured the Mets in the movie because they were big donors to his charity Comic Relief, where Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, and Robin Williams helped raise more than 50 million dollars for the American homeless population. The Mets are also mentioned in the film Awakenings starring Robin Williams, as the film is set in ’69 and the Mets’ World Series win is big news.

Movie Stats: 90 percent on the Tomatometer, 64 percent Audience Score

1991 Mets: 77-84, hitting .244/.317/.365 and an ERA of 3.56

Two Weeks’ Notice

Okay, so I have a crush on Sandra Bullock. Hugh Grant is also a bonus. But the Mets game in Two Weeks’ Notice is also a timely feature, as Bullock’s character has a Steve Bartman moment and receives a good old-fashioned Shea shaming from her fellow fans, Mr. Met, and Mike Piazza (in a killer cameo).

Speaking of Rom-Coms, the Mets are the butt of a joke in You’ve Got Mail, in which Hanks’ character writes that his dog Brinkley was such a good catcher he was offered a try-out for a Mets farm team. Lucky thing Hanks is otherwise so goddamn delightful, or… *shakes fist*  

Movie Stats: Poor Sandy—Two Weeks’ Notice gets a rotten 42 percent on the Tomatometer and 59 percent Audience Score but hey, sometimes the ump is wrong! You’ve Got Mail made out better with 69 percent /73 percent, though to be fair, they did have Shakespeare on their team.

2002 Mets: The Mets were 75-86, batting .256/.322/.395 with an ERA of 3.89; 2002 Piazza slashed .280/.359/.544 with 33 home runs.

Men in Black

This 1997 favorite featured a quick but crucial Mets moment, in which Mets outfielder Bernard Gilkey had a cameo. In the outfield he stares up at a giant alien spaceship, only to be conked in the head by a fly ball. Sure it’s a fleeting scen, but it’s the climax and there are aliens to kill here, people! There’s also a Mets’ mention (of 1969) in Men in Black 3.

Movie Stats: A sky-high 92 percent on the Tomatometer, with a 79 percent Audience Score makes this the most-loved post-internet movie on the list.

1997 Mets: And the best Mets season on the list, too—they went 88-74 hitting .262/.332/.405, with an ERA of 3.95.

Honorable Mentions: Frequency and Gone Girl. I haven’t seen Frequency, but I hear the 1969 World Series is an integral plot point in this fantasy time-travel thriller. Also a thriller, Gone Girl is worth a mention in that the protagonist, Nike Dunne (Ben Affleck) is supposed to be a Yankees fan, but Affleck is such a Sox fanatic he reportedly refused to wear the hat—Met-Sox Alliance, represent!

The Mets need some heroes to lift them to the postseason, which, as the days pass, appears like it will have to come by way of the Wild Card rather than a division title. Those heroes, to use a baseball idiom, are unlikely to come out of left field. To get a sense of what a player can do for a team over the course of roughly a half-season of baseball, I sought out the best second halves in Mets’ history. The sample for a second half (usually a bit more than 81 games) is relatively small, but it’s large enough to demonstrate that the Wilmer Floreses of the world might be single game heroes, but over months of play, the stars stand out.

According to Baseball Reference, the Mets players with the highest sOPS+ for the second half of a single season yield a list of great players in the midst of great seasons:

There aren’t many surprises here. Perhaps Bernard Gilkey’s run of excellence is just as forgettable now as it was when it was actually happening, but the man posted an eight win season in 1996. Cleon Jones doesn’t stand out, but the “1971” next to his name elaborates why. But Jones’s second half that year was just a slightly better continuation of his first half. He finished up the season with a 144 OPS+. Perhaps Lucas Duda’s second half run in 2011 can be seen as surprising because it was the first time he’d gotten that much playing time, but in hindsight it’s not unexpected. Otherwise, this list is a who’s who of great Mets hitters, from Keith Hernandez to David Wright.

The best second half starting pitching performances, this time measured by sOPS+ against, are slightly more varied with regard to stars and others, but it is still dominated by players we’d expect:

Of these, Steve Trachsel’s 2001 is the only second half that was not also part of an excellent full season. He posted a 2.74 ERA over 14 second half starts and 98.2 innings. For the season, however, he produced a 4.46 ERA and an ERA+ of 93. Otherwise, there aren’t surprises on this list either.

The second half of the 2016 season is just a week old, so the split OPS+ figures for hitters range from Neil Walker’s -8 to James Loney’s 158. Bartolo Colón’s 150 represents the highest (worst) among the starters, Jacob deGrom’s 69 is the lowest. Right now, the samples are too small to draw any second half conclusions—the heroes, if there will be any, are yet hidden. If they do emerge, however, they’ll be from the places we expect. The Mets need more than great second halves from players like Yoenis Céspedes, Michael Conforto, and Noah Syndergaard, but they can’t get there without them.

Photo credit: Brad Penner: USA-TODAY Sports.