9/20/07 - Marlins 8, Mets 7…10 innings.

When November rolls around and all the champagne has dried up and all the ticker tape has been swept off the streets, all the championship teams share the same common denominator-They win close games. They push, and get pushed back. They slip and fall, but they get back up stronger. They refuse to lose.

We see that perserverance in one National League team. I’m sad to say it’s the Phillies, and not the Mets.

Philadelphia won’t catch the Mets in the division. I think deep down, every Met fan realizes that. They haven’t caught the Mets all year, even when it seems inevitable that they are going to. They are an imperfect team with woeful starting pitching that will undoubtedly stumble for a couple of games in the home stretch, but they fight. The Phillies have moxie, passion, tenacity.  This year’s amazin’s don’t.

This whole season has been one giant, symbolic parallel to Carlos Beltran looking at strike three in Game 7 of last year’s NLCS.  This team is far from complacent- it’s clear that everyone in that dugout wants to win bad- but for one reason or another, they haven’t come out on top in tight games all year long. That doesn’t bode well for the playoffs, where you can’t go into a weeklong slump only to rebound a week later.

It’s silly to blame Randolph for leaving Sosa in an inning too long, or the Mets bullpen for walking batters, or Jose Reyes for striking out yet again with the bases loaded. The bottom line is, these Mets have found a way to break your heart in every way imaginable this year, and although I’m not a big believer in karma, I’m starting to believe that the boys from Queens are a little more aware of their fallbility.

All I know is it is a good thing I’m moving to Bristol, because I can’t stomach another Yankee parade through the city if they stomp over the Mets in October.  I really hope I’m wrong about these guys.

I’ll try to get my act together with the posts for the pennant race.