NEW YORK, NY – I’m writing this the afternoon before the New York Mets second home game against the Washington Nationals—a game they really needed to win – and they did. There are 11 games remaining in their season, and every single one of them seems like life or death. Having already won 83 games, the Mets have already probably outperformed expectations for their bruised and battered fan base, but you gotta get greedy. The Mets making the playoffs would be insane, but it is very much within their grasp. Here’s how it goes.
Beat the Nats Tonight. The Mets need to close strong against the Nationals tonight. In years past, these are games and teams that seem like easy W’s but never are for the Mets. Seriously, I have never seen so many scrubby teams pull it together down the stretch so they can just ruin the Mets. When did the Mets become such league-wide villains? And don’t tell me it’s because of their rich owner. Well before Steve Cohen showed up, teams like the Marlins were beating up on the Mets in September. In the name of Del Unser (both a Met and Expo), you gotta win this game tonight.
Get at Least a Split with the Phillies. I know this is “loser talk.” You should want to kick the holy crap out of the Phillies and be focusing on taking the final four-game home set. But, c’mon, let’s be realistic. The Phillies still have plenty to play for, like best record in the NL. These teams and fan bases hate one another, and I hope it shows in this series. Two Mets wins seems ok, but three would be amazin’. After that, it’s on the road to close out the season.
Turn the Braves Into Tomahawk Chop Suey. Even if you aren’t a fan of either team, you can’t ask for a better end-of-season series this year than Mets at Braves for that final NL Wild Card spot. God, I hate the Braves. I miss the days when they were completely inconsequential and had great baseball card guys like Mike Lum and Rowland Office on their roster. Ugh!, screw the Braves! Wait, let me change that, sweep the Braves! A tall ask, but you gotta try.
Closing Out with the Brew Crew? After playing Philadelphia and Atlanta, it seems odd to be winding up the season in Milwaukee, but that’s what we got. The Brewers are another team with a rich history of player names that I loved. Names like Sixto Lezcano and Don Money and Ben Oglivie and Stormin’ Gorman Thomas. But this is no time to be strolling down memory lane. Mets need to win this final series and there’s a good chance Milwaukee will still be playing for something, even with their huge lead in the NL Central.
I really hope the Mets somehow manage to make the playoffs, not so much for me, but for my brother.
Let’s Go Mets!
