Mets, NL East Go Down to the Wire

It takes a lot of pacing by Mets manager Jerry Manuel (and walking back and forth to the pitcher's mound), but the Mets hold on after taking leads of 7-1 and 8-2. Mets ultimately win, 9-7 over the Nationals, September 17, 2008. (AP)

With only 10 games remaining, the New York Mets find themselves in a very familiar situation. For the second straight year, theyʼve lost their division lead to the Philadelphia Phillies, who are playing their best baseball of the season. The Metsʼ 2007 collapse sent them home early and put their archrival Phillies into the playoffs. But this year is different. Though the Philliesʼ dominant play of late has them leading the East, the Mets are 1 ½ games ahead of the fading Milwaukee Brewers for the NL Wildcard.

Who would have thought that two NL East teams would have the opportunity to make the playoffs? The Brewers were 4 games ahead of the Phillies less than two weeks ago! Still, Iʼm not getting too excited yet. There is more than a week left to play and, as we learned last year, anything can happen. The Mets, Phillies, and Brewers are all within two games of each other.

No matter the outcome, this has been a very special year for the Mets, who hope to stretch their last year at Shea stadium into October. Also, with the Yankees out of the playoff picture, the Mets will finally have a chance to be the talk of the town. If they flop again, this will be an unusually quiet October in the Big Apple. From a slow start, to Randolphʼs firing and Jerry Manuelʼs major team turnaround, this season has been a rollercoaster ride. How sweet it would be for the Mets to end it with a playoff berth or even a World Series championship. -Matan Cohen, Special to Bobby v. the World