Could This Be The Mets Final Test?

Could this be the final test for the Mets?

I hope it’s not, but if they fail it may mean the figurative end to their season.  The next two weeks are very critical, and the first order of business is just flat out winning games.  The Mets have played very well at home this year, and they’ve got three games against the tough Cardinals, and then three against the not so tough Diamondbacks.  There can be no excuses: They have to win games.  Omar’s job, provided he still has one, is to bring in reinforcements after that.  The trading deadline is next weekend, and the Mets are in need of some help.  No longer can they play waiting games or decide they don’t like the price.  When you drop as many games in the standings as the Mets did, you no longer have the luxury of pretending you’re not desperate for help.

After the Diamondbacks the Mets again head on the road.  It’s this road trip that could prove to be critical, as they face the Braves and the Phillies.  The Braves have been amazing lately, and the Mets have been making just about every other ballpark look to them like Turner Field did around the turn of the century.  By falling so far back, it’s become imperative that they make up ground by beating the competition in front of them.  Losing and falling further behind could very well be a death blow.

The Mets have been extremely streaky this year and they really are much better than they’ve shown lately.  If they take that streak and turn it into a hot stretch where they’re again a team that’s tough to beat, they could climb right back into this race.  There is still a lot of baseball to be played and August could be a good month for them.  After they play the division rivals on the road, they come home for the Rockies and the Phillies before going on a road trip that one would describe similarly to the Cleveland-Baltimore trip they took that they were successful on: they play the Astros and the Pirates.  Another home stretch with the Marlins and the Astros provides plenty of time to fight their way back into this race before facing the Braves again at the end of the month.

Can the Mets ace this next test and fight their way back into relevancy again?  I don’t know.  Neither answer would surprise me, but I’m certain they’re capable of it.  They often say you need to get hot at the right time and if the Mets can capitalize on that by beating up on the division rivals, as the Phillies did in 2007, they can certainly win this division.

A trip to Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium

I told myself I would go to Yankee Stadium one more time before it closes. I barely remember my previous visits, and I figured I should have some memories of a stadium that’s been around in some form for over 80 years and hosted players like Babe Ruth. I had free tickets from a friend, so I decided to take advantage. Of course, I neglected to look at the tickets, and they were bleacher seats. The bleacher’s aren’t attached, and staying way out there didn’t sound like a fun way to watch the Mariners. I hung out for batting practice leaning on the wall over Monument Park, and debated climbing over the wall and down the side of the Mariners bullpen into Monument Park to sneak into the main part of the stadium. I decided that my bright orange shirt under my Wright jersey with my Mets hat would make it hard for me to jump down and blend into the crowd, so I didn’t do that. Eventually I walked out, an decided I’d just fork over the money to enter the main part of the stadium. Standing on line I actually ended up buying a scalped ticket, I paid $20 for a $60 ticket that I didn’t end up sitting in anyway.

You’re not allowed bags in Yankee stadium, but they didn’t actually pat me down or anything. I had to show them my cellphone and remove my cap, but If I’d had a gun in my pocket they’d never have known. I brought plastic bags and used them to hold my stuff and started walking around. I spent most of my time in fair home run territory, and it was a nice change to be able to be in fair territory where home runs can actually reach.

There wasn’t really any aggression towards my choice of attire. The phrase of choice was “You’re in the wrong stadium.” There weren’t many Mariner fans, and I only saw a handful of Mets fans.

First the negative. It’s probably mostly biased, but the new Yankee stadium just looks boring and plain. The concourses make Shea look spacious, but I guess that’s the difference of 40 years in design. If possible, the prices are actually more expensive for food. (Not to mention seating) I’ll skip the obvious in that we all know the Mets don’t play there, so that’s a big minus. Plenty of people complain about Sweet Caroline at Shea, but it’s nothing to complain about next to the grounds crew singing “YMCA”. The Yankees still feel the need to play God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch, which also annoys me.

I like being able to be in fair territory with the possibility of catching a home run. There are probably only a dozen home run balls at Shea that land in the seats, but there were a couple Tuesday night. A-Rod’s went soaring over my head and landed in the upper deck. It was definitely on it’s way down, but it was certainly impressive. Abreu’s later landed in the seats about 10 feet to my left. Staring out at the outfield, imagining that Monument Park and the bullpens aren’t there, it’s amazing to think Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs playing in this ballpark. Posada’s home run that easily cleared the fence in left-center would’ve been an out. The new Yankee mascot, the squirrel that hangs out on top of the right foul pole made an appearance, which was more interesting than the Mariners. One thing the Yankees have right is the merchandise. I saw shirts for Jobu Chamberlain, and Phil Hughes. At Shea you can’t buy a shirt for Oliver Perez, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey or Joe Smith. The Endy Chavez catch bobble head came out before the Mets were selling Chavez shirts.

The Mets salvaged a split of the road trip after dropping the first four, which is cool. The division is all but wrapped up, the magic number is 19 and I’ve been to 26 (22 Mets) games this year. I have tickets to four more so far, and I’m thinking about adding another to make it 27 Mets games, officially 1/3rd of all home games. I think the Mets have turned the corner on their lackluster season, and I expect them to play well, and win well, on this long homestand.

Time to get hot

In last nights game both Wright and Delgado had hits. RBI hits. Big hits. Delgado hit a home run into the water, and Wright has the 2-run double that gave the Mets the lead. Off Armando Benitez too. Gee, didn’t see that coming? A lot has been made about Wright’s lack of home runs, and while he should be hitting more, he’s not a power hitter. He claims that himself, and if you look back, a lot of his big hits are just that, hits or doubles into the gaps or down the line or over Johnny Damon’s head. He has his share of big home runs too, but he doesn’t go up there swinging for the fences, knowing a 2-run double can be just as important. I don’t think there is any reason to worry about David Wright, haircut or not.

They secured the game last night, getting runs when they needed it. However, we still feel like we’re waiting for them to click, but when you look at the record, it’s not like they’re struggling. Sure it’s not as strong a start as last year, when we’d only lost one series to this point and already had a huge division lead, but we didn’t think it would be this year. Despite the 21-12 record, it’s apparent the Mets have another level that they haven’t yet reached. The 5-2 road trip was good, but it wasn’t dominating. Remember that west coast trip the Mets went on last year? Where they basically scored in the first inning every day and just didn’t lose? I’m sure they have a streak in them like that this year. And maybe it’s coming. As we saw when games went from meaningless spring to grudge match against the Cardinals, the Mets can find strength in playing tougher teams. The Brewers and Cubs and Yankees are all coming up, all pretty good teams. 10 game homestand, where they haven’t yet played well, only going 7 and 7 in their first 14 games at home. This looks like as good a time as any to go on a tear. 8-2 or 9-1 homestand asserting their dominance of two of the better teams in the National League and one of the best in the American?

The season’s starting to really get going, and It’s time for the Mets to make their move and gain some distance from the Braves.