New York Mets

It was at a baseball card show in Dec. 2000, a few months after New York's first subway series since 1956.

I had the opportunity to speak with Tug McGraw.

The father of one of my students, Becky Hisler, ran the show. The theme was, of course, the subway series.

Almost all the players signing autographs had been or were still on the New York Yankees or the New York Mets.

My son, Scott, wanted Doc Gooden's autograph. We went into a large room where Gary Carter, Doc Gooden, and Tug McGraw were signing.

At the beginning of the season, I told you that the Mets would be much better than people think. And while I would love to take full back-patting on that prediction, to do so would be disingenuous. 

Who could have predicted solid starting pitching from R.A. Dickey? Who could have predicted a "hold-down-the-fort" type of pitching performance from Isinori Takahashi? Who could have predicted an Ace-like performance by Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese?

Jason Bay is on pace to hit just 12 home runs this season. Yes, 12. Considering he has averaged 30 over the last six seasons, that would be miserable—an almost shameful return on the Mets' investment, right?

In many respects, Bay has changed his game since coming to Citi Field. He is utilizing the gaps in the alleys to drive the ball for extra-base hits, and he is being a lot more aggressive on the basepaths.

With the All-Star break finally upon us, fantasy owners have time to take a breath and determine exactly where they are and what they can do to improve over the final few months of the season. Now is usually the time that stock can be taken.

We are now at the All-Star break and it's time to take a look at how the Mets can make the playoffs.

Right now, they are four games behind the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East, but they're only one game behind in the NL Wild Card race.

It's probably the easier route to the playoffs for the Mets, especially seeing how the Braves are capable of playing over the weekend, and how deep their starting rotation is.

Looking at the Wild Card race, there are five teams other than the Mets who will be competing for the spot.

The Mets were in dire need of a win today. The Braves threatened to sweep them, and increase their lead to six games over the Mets heading into the All-Star Break.

The Mets, especially Johan Santana, made sure that didn't happen. Santana tossed seven shutout innings against the Braves, and the Mets actually scored some runs for him. It was a great game all-around, and it's a good note going into the All-Star Break. 

The Mets announced today that Carlos Beltran will start on Thursday against the Giants and hit cleanup, barring any other injury. To make room for Beltran on the roster, the Mets sent down Jesus Feliciano. The Mets will bench Jeff Francoeur on Thursday and start Angel Pagan in right field.

With the Mets having lost the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, they are still in need of another starting pitcher.

Losing the last two games to the Braves and falling to five games out of first place and two back in the wild card race have made this need even more obvious.

NEW YORK: No, the headline is not an exaggeration; the Mets are "in desperate need of a win." With yesterday's 4-0 loss to the Braves, the Mets now find themselves five games back in the NL East.

And with the Phillies victory and recent extra-inning magic, they only trail the Mets by one-half game. Meaning if the Mets were to lose today, and the Phillies win, the Mets would enter the All-Star break six games behind, in third place.

Even if they are in second place, six games behind is not ideal when fashioning yourself as a contender.

As much as I hate to admit this, I think the Mets have been overachieving this year.

I'm not sure anyone would have guessed that they would have been playing this great of baseball this year.

No one expected stellar performances from R.A. Dickey, or even Angel Pagan. David Wright was a huge question mark, especially given his peculiar 2009 season. Jose Reyes's health has been in question.