Eleven days ago I was in a bar in Seattle watching the Mets on national TV come from from behind to defeat the Braves and lower their magic number to 11 and extend their NL East lead to a comfortable 6.5 games with the Phillies coming to town. I have tickets for Tuesday's game and 11 days ago I was worried that the Mets would have clinched last week and I would be watching a meaningless game. Eleven days later, after another sweep by the Phillies to start a five game losing streak, the Mets are only up by 2.5 and the magic number is 5. While it is technically possible for them to clinch on Tuesday night when I am there, I am not holding my breath.

The Mets can't collapse, like they did in 1998 and 1999, when they had horrible finishes to miss in '98 and force a 1 game playoff in Cincinnati in '99. The Mets can't collapse, they have never won two division titles in a row, and to blow it now would send them spiraling as a franchise. Forget about the playoffs this year, that is not important. What is important is winning the NL East. Not giving up. Not collapsing. Boston collapsed in 1978 and we all remember Bucky Dent. Right then and there, the Red Sox joined that ultimate choke list, the one that includes the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies, 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers and 1995 California Angels. Boston was cursed, doomed to fail. From Bill Buckner in 1986 to Pedro Martinez in 2003. Even last year they blew the East and nobody was surprised. They are a franchise scared by 1978. The Mets can't become a franchise scared by 2007.

Posted by Steve in Amsterdam.

Sunday, September 23, 2007 4:59:10 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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