A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Mets Clincher

It's been six years since the Mets last made the playoffs and 18 years since they won the NL East. So for a longtime avid Mets fan, this season's achievements have been exciting, especially in light of the condition the Mets were in after Art Howe and Jim Duquette's tenure ended after the 2004 season.

I have to admit, though, to being skeptical about how far the Mets can go with a starting staff that is filled with question marks.

When the Mets won the division in 1986, they were heavily favored and expected to win the World Series, which they eventually did, after putting their fans through 13 enormously stressful games. Two years later, the Mets again won the division and were favored to beat the Dodgers in the NLCS, and then face the Oakland A's in the World Series. Of course, the Mets blew it against LA, losing in Game 7, and what could have been a great World Series between the two most talented teams of the late 80's never transpired.

In 1999, the Mets collapsed down the stretch, then rebounded to gain the wild card in the regular season's final days. The next year, the Mets almost knocked off the Braves to win the NL East, but instead, strong starting pitching and superb managing by Bobby Valentine took them to the World Series, where Armando Benitez's usual meltdown stopped the Mets momentum in Game 1.

Because of how large the Mets division lead has been for so long, there has been little drama during this successful season. Because of my doubts that the Mets can win the World Series, I'm not quite as excited about the playoffs as I was the previous four times they made in there.

Still, I'll be watching closely once the playoffs start (and anxiously waiting for results if the Mets are still playing during the Succos holiday), and will probably catch a game or two at Shea, where I'll be as loud as anyone. As any Mets fan knows, the playoffs don't come around every year at Shea - this could well be the last time for that - so we must be thankful for the performance of the 2006 Mets.
posted on 9/19/2006