Hanging On

The Mets are hanging on for dear life. With nine games left and a game and a half lead over the Fightin’ Phils, the Mets need to hang on just a little longer. And it’s not getting any easier. On the heels of the news of Billy Wagner’s back spasms, Carlos Beltran goes down with a knee injury, and is listed as “day to day” which in Metsworld is more like a week; proving the old adage that, when it rains, it pours.

The Mets need to find a way to stave off this charge by the Phillies, who, let’s be honest, deserve a lot of credit for fighting their way back in to this thing. Granted, the Mets have played poorly, but the Phillies have shown remarkable resiliency led by probable MVP, Jimmy Rollins, who has been carrying his club down the stretch. And when you have guys like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and a rejuvenated Pat Burrell in the lineup, you have one potent offense; the best in the NL.

The Mets, with their backs against the wall, and the Phillies breathing down their neck, have been in first place since the middle of May. I don’t want to hear about who needs to play what record with these remaining games; Mets play .500, Phils go 6-2…Whatever. All of that stuff goes right out the window if the Mets lose a game in the standings tonight. All they need to do is take one game at a time, and hold on to first place for one more week.

Hardly Amazing

The Amazing Mets have been anything but this season. In fact, the only thing that has been amazing is that they’re still in first place, although that mirage will soon be exposed and the Mets will be the chasers rather than the leaders. And I guess I’m starting to welcome that notion because it appears that nothing else will motivate this team to win ball games. This season has been so remarkably boring that I, as a beaten down die-hard fan, would welcome that kind of adversity just to see how this team will respond.

Will they actually be able to pick themselves off the mat and rise to the occasion? Will Carlos Delagado find his once-fearsome stroke? Will Carlos Beltran finally be the elite player we all assumed he would be? Will the young stars, Reyes and Wright, carry this team into the Promised Land or will they fold under the enormous pressure of what would be a monumental collapse?

This team has been so uninspiring all year long that it just might take a shocking role reversal into second or third place in order to wake them up. How else can you explain two straight inexcusable losses to the lowly Florida Marlins at a time when you can make up ground on your nearest pursuers? Rather than grabbing some breathing room, they’re flat out sucking wind.

So be prepared Met Lifers. Be prepared to relinquish first place. And when it happens, embrace it. And then finally, we will get to see if this 2007 Mets team has the courage and heart, the drive, the determination, and the will to rise up and take what should be theirs; the NL East crown.