Opinion: 17 to Play
Last year, the Mets wasted a seven-game lead with 17 games to play, and lost the division to the Phillies.
This year, today, with 17 games to play, the Mets have a four-game lead in the loss column – with the Phillies again in second place.
The Mets have been given a golden opportunity here to redeem the disaster of last September – in that they can more or less fight the exact same fight against the exact same team.
Wednesday, on SNY’s Pre-Game Show, I said, “I believe the Mets can win the NL East.”
In thinking about it, though, last year’s team had already been struggling – long before September. And so, while 
September hurt, in hindsight, it should not have been such a surprise that it happened.
To me, that is the biggest difference between this year’s team and last year’s team. If you recall, the Mets had been playing up-and-down, average, high-wire baseball, which we had been freaking out over and worrying about through much of the summer. It wasn’t until the first week of September that they turned it on, going 9–2 to start the month. They then lost 12 of their final 17 games. Again, up and down.
This year’s team – or, I should say, the post-June version of this year’s team, you know, the one with Jerry Manuel, the one with a strong Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey, the one with a productive bench and a Carlos Delgado contending for 
the MVP, the one with a large, effective bullpen, and, most importantly, the one that experienced last season and who appear mentally stronger for it – this year’s team, the one that ended August winning 8 of 12, and six of their first eight games in September, the one that is 38–19 since July when they were in third place and had to fight back to be where they are today – this year’s team just seems different, they seem more focused, more confident and more determined to keep fighting, regardless of the competition and where they are in the standings.
So, for me, no more guarded language, no more worrying, I’m ready to believe again. Baseball is supposed to be fun, and not a horror movie, and so I refuse to cover my eyes for fear of what could happen and miss what will be an exciting finish, all set to occur in the final days of Shea Stadium.
I have officially moved beyond the Collapse, and now believe the Mets will win the NL East…Sorry it took me so long.
