Thanks to the Cubs' vigilance on our incidental behalf since the All-Star break, the Mets have picked up ground on the Nationals, so we go to Washington holding a 17-game lead in the only race in which we are likely to participate for some time to come. I'd say we have a real chance to […]

It's fairly standard procedure for Jerry Manuel to go through as many as a half-dozen pitchers to cover one regulation game. It's a union rule, I think. Thus, I suppose it doesn't necessarily matter if he wants to spread members of his eight-man bullpen out per usual, like with a starter pushing himself overboard by […]

Dozing in front of a game is generally an excellent way to lose track of what's happening. But sometimes one sense is sufficient.

For example, with Brian McCann at the plate I had my eyes shut and was lying in bed, drifting somewhere between a coma and mere snoozing. The second McCann's bat connected with Mike […]

I think I started getting excited around 3 p.m. — the Mets are playing tonight! Weirdly, it was almost like Opening Day II — no, I didn't have particularly high hopes, not after the torrent of injuries and bad luck and craptacular baseball that was the first half of 2009, and not after Omar Minaya […]

Once a year I forget how much I hate every player on 15 rival rosters and root for the National League All-Stars. But every year, given the shark-infested waters under the various bridges we've burned ('06 NLCS, '07/'08 collapses), it gets harder to muster that ol' team spirit.

It got more difficult between innings at Sunday's […]

There's a most pleasing sliver of my baseball season that recurs now and again, one I tend to forget about as soon as it's transpired, which is too bad. It's the great underreported gem of any year. I don't think I truly noticed it myself until yesterday.

Let's say it's a Sunday morning and I've made […]

Jeff Francoeur is the best thing to happen to this ballclub of ours since the butcher and the baker and the people down the street gathered to make an appointment to get acquainted with the Mets of New York town.

Jeff Francoeur is the rising tide that lifts all boats: Johan Santana threw his best game […]