Mets and Phils in different baseball worlds
Posted: Friday, September 28, 2007 1:43 PM
The games ended five minutes apart in stadiums within 100 miles of each other. But Philadelphia and New York were in different baseball worlds last night.
After beating the Braves the Phillies left the field to roaring fans waving towels. Players were jumping on each other, clearly reveling in the moment and ready to play another game right away.
In Queens the Mets fell 3-0 to the depleted Cardinals and so they slowly filed out of their dugout, several players and coaches remaining behind, most with looks of disbelief and some slamming the bench in frustration.
Both cities are tough on their teams. But last night New York looked like it was smothering the Mets. The team looked thoroughly joyless in the late stages of its defeat. True, a team that loses -- particularly without hitting -- looks dead. But in a stretch run a veteran-laden team like the Mets is striking in its appearance.
The owner’s son, not the owner, publicly challenged the team this week and that could not have sat well with anyone in uniform. Couple that with the hangover from losing a 5-0 lead to Washington Wednesday and the Mets are in freefall.
In Philadelphia they taste first place after 159 games, just as last year’s Twins. There is spirit and belief. After all, they played August without their best hitter (Chase Utley) and pitcher (Cole Hamels) and survived. Now they play the final weekend for everything. And those seven straight wins in September over the Mets now seem so important to the entire postseason picture.
For the NL East may be winner take all, loser go home. San Diego has shown its own heart, winning three straight road games after the insane Sunday afternoon that cost them Mike Cameron and Milton Bradley. Now the Padres and Rockies (Colorado won its 11th straight last night) seem to have an edge in the chase for the wild card.
In 1998, the Mets lost their last five games and the wild-card lead to Chicago and San Francisco, which won six of its last seven. This finish has that kind of feel for the Mets and they need to show the passion that was evident in Philadelphia and Colorado last night. Their fans need to support not shower boos upon a team that won last year without a race and now must prove it can win a “short series” to avoid a complete failure.
