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Grandy: 'No reason to hang our heads'

NEW YORK -- The Mets will zip their suitcases and scatter to the winds instead of boarding a now-canceled charter flight to Kansas City, but as the book closes on the 2015 season, there will be recognition that Curtis Granderson very well could have been their most valuable player.

Granderson did what he could to keep the Mets' dreams alive in Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday, slugging Edinson Volquez's fifth pitch over the wall for his third homer of the Fall Classic. And though he was still stinging from the Royals' 7-2, 12-inning victory, Granderson opted to view the season with a glass-half-full approach.

:: World Series: Mets vs. Royals -- Tune-in info ::

"To be able to be one of the final two teams standing is definitely a good thing to take with us," Granderson said. "There's no reason to hang our heads, by any means. The Royals played a great series this World Series, and you've got to give credit where credit is due."

Granderson was the fourth Met to hit a leadoff homer in a World Series game, and the first since Lenny Dykstra in Game 3 of the 1986 World Series. The others were Tommie Agee (Game 3, 1969) and Wayne Garrett (Game 3, 1973).

Granderson's three homers in the Fall Classic tied Donn Clendenon's 1969 club record for a single World Series, as well as the Mets' World Series home run record. The homer gave Granderson 12 RBIs in the postseason, tying a single-postseason club record, set by John Olerud in 1999.

"I was just trying my best to help this team win as many games as possible, no matter what the situation happened to be," Granderson said. "If it was offensively, defensively or in this clubhouse, I just tried to get guys ready to roll and do anything I can to put other people in a position to succeed.

"As long as I can continue to do that, I'll be satisfied with the season. As we win, I'm able to do those kinds of things."

Granderson batted .259 with 26 home runs and 70 RBIs in 157 regular-season games this year, his second in Flushing after leaving the Yankees as a free agent. He led the Mets in games, at-bats (580), runs (98), hits (150), stolen bases (11), walks (91) and on-base percentage (.364).

"I knew he was a great player," David Wright said. "He showed it with Detroit, he showed it with the Yankees and he showed it with us. I think, quietly, he had a monster year from the leadoff spot.

"What he was able to do with getting on base, with hitting with power, driving runs in, he deserves probably more credit for the type of year that he had and the postseason he had than he's probably getting."

Granderson believes the playoff experience will help lay the groundwork for the Mets to return next year.

"It's definitely a good thing," Granderson said. "To look at where we were, considering what everybody else was saying about us and how we continued to believe in ourselves, the acquisitions that we made, the guys that came up and proved they belonged, it's definitely a good thing to bring with us."

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat.
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