This is a nice idea for the Mets, but before anyone gets too excited, they need to take care of the bullpen first and foremost. Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis need to walk the plank first. Those two have caused the fans to have nightmares, sleepless nights, and visions of horror. Next, they need to open up their wallets to fix the bullpen as soon as the World Series is over.

The critics made sure to point out that the Giants weren’t going to be able to pull off a win this week because of the absense of their number one receiver, Plaxico Burress. They made sure to point out that they wouldn’t be able to win because their record in games following the bye weeks in recent history is horrendous. However, the Giants made sure not to listen to any of that.

Domenik Hixon, who was filling in for the suspended Burress, was going to score a touchdown in the first half, predicted FOX analyst and former Giant, Michael Strahan. Strahan was, indeed, correct. Hixon scored a touchdown in the first quarter on a bomb thrown down the field by quarterback Eli Manning. Later in the game, Hixon left the game with a concussion when he was hit helmet-to-helmet.

Brandon Jacobs flattened the Seahawks’ defense, thanks to the offensive line. Jacobs ran nearly 30 yards untouched on multiple occasions, as he ended with 136 yards on the day. Eli Manning had a great day at the helm, and as the game progressed, he did better and better. He threw for 267 yards, and went 19-27, without any interceptions and two touchdowns. This is the best Eli we have ever seen, especially with only one interception thus far (and that was all the way back in week 1). The giants put David Carr in for the fourth quarter to prevent any injury to Eli Manning, since the game was already too far out of reach for Seattle.

This game never seems to go well for the visiting team. The Giants have lost each time they have played Seattle in recent history, while Seattle was crushed this time around when they were the visiting team.

The undefeated Giants will head to Cleveland to take on the Browns next week in a Monday Night match up. The only other undefeated team remaining, the Titans, won on a comeback drive by former Giant Kerry Collins.

And the fans just sat there.

While you see fans from the Milwaukee Brewers or the Philadelphia Phillies waving towels and screaming their hearts out, you will see fans from the New York Mets either standing there or booing. The only time they actually decided to cheer was when Beltran hit the game-tying home run. I sure didn’t see any towels flying. I know the Mets have failed to meet expectations, but give me a break.

I hope CitiField hands out towels to all rivalry or important games because it could also give a boost to the players knowing that the fans believe in them. After the home runs given up by Scott Schoenweis and Luis Ayala, the fans decided to quit on the team and the players decided to call it a season by just hanging their body over the railings. It was only two runs they needed! TWO!

But no. Everyone in the stadium decided to call it quits too early. The sad part is that the players did too.

My Memories at Shea

My memories of Shea range from my first game in 1999 to my final game in 2008. I attended several games per year in that time span, and have too many memories to explain. However, I do have two top memories of my experiences at Shea:

Watching Mike Piazza tear up pitchers through the late 1990s and early 2000s was very fun to watch and by far my favorite memory in general. Piazza was my idol as a young child, from pretending to be him while catching in Little League, to freezing whenever I was busy around the house just to watch his at-bat. My first Mets game was in 1999, which was the beginning of my love for the New York Mets. After attending that game, I officially loved the Mets. I saved ticket stubs of each game I attended, which for the most part, was against the Atlanta Braves. My father wanted to be fair to both my brother and I, since my brother Mike is a Braves fan, that we would attend a game at Shea that featured both the Mets and Braves. We would always stay in a hotel across the street, which featured a restaurant ran by Bobby Valentine. We would always go down there and find him for a picture, one of which is up in my living room from 2002.

My next favorite memory is more of a specific rather than general memory. It was when the Pedro Martinez had a pitchers duel with Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks in late May of 2006. From what I remember, each pitcher was 8-0 at this point, and I was extremely excited to see Pedro Martinez pitch in person for the first time ever. The game was a quick one because of how great the pitchers were, and it flew into extra innings. My sister, Jess, whose patience is not exactly the highest when at a baseball game, wondered if it would ever end. However, Endy Chavez came up in the bottom of the thirteenth inning and hit a walk-off single that was in the gap, scoring Jose Valentin from third base.

In just two weeks, the stadium will begin to be torn down piece by piece. Before you know it, all that will be left of Shea Stadium will be a parking lot.  Shea Stadium will no longer exist as a structure, but the memories will remain in photographs and the minds of Mets fans and players for generations and generations. Thank you, Shea, for the great memories.

The Mets have lost to the Florida Marlins, 4-2, and have been knocked out of the playoffs by the same team in back-to-back seasons. Oliver Perez didn’t even last six innings, and the weak bullpen took over and failed. Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala gave up solo home runs that gave the Marlins a two-run lead. Carlos Delgado just missed on an attempt to put the Mets ahead in the eighth inning by crushing a ball to the warning track. In the ninth inning, Ryan Church also nearly went deep to tie the game, but the ball was short at the warning track.

The Brewers came from behind to win their game and snatched the wild card spot from the Mets. They will face the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS.

Maybe it is just the right time to knock down Shea Stadium. Maybe a change of scenery will help turn things around.

Somewhere, Willie Randolph is having a great day.

Heading into this game, the Mets didn’t even control their own playoff destiny, meaning that if they won their final two games, they could have missed out on the playoffs. However, they still had a chance to make the playoffs by hoping for a Brewers loss, which came true tonight. The Chicago Cubs, without even a need to win another game following their clinching of their own division and home field advantage in the National League, kept playing hard without their starters and knocked off the Brewers today in Milwaukee.

On the other hand, the Phillies clinched the NL East divisiion title for the second season in a row. Whoop dee do. I don’t care. That to me is just as important as Dallas was when they won their division. The Giants still beat them that season in the playoffs when it mattered most.

From here on out, if the Mets keep winning, more games will keep coming. A win tomorrow would mean at least a one-game playoff with the Brewers on Monday. What else does that mean? It will also be home, at Shea, giving the Mets a chance to make the playoffs in front of their home crowd. But even better, if the Mets win and the Brewers lose tomorrow, an automatic ticket to the postseason will be punched tomorrow for New York.

Who will the final postseason spot in 2008 belong to? Find out tomorrow at 1pm on SportsNet New York! Pre-game coverage begins at 11:30!

The Phillies clinched at least a tie for the NL East crown, but with a Mets loss or Phillies win in the next two days, the NL East belongs to Philadelphia. In order for the Mets to make the playoffs, they not only need to win, but need the Brewers to lose at least one of their final two games.

Johan Santana will be pitching tomorrow on 3 days rest, even with a weather system approaching New York.

If the Brewers and Phillies win out, the Mets will be eliminated from playoff contention by default. All the Mets can do now is win and cry for help. Their game with the Marlins begins at 1:10 pm tomorrow at Shea Stadium, while the Brewers play an hour later and the Phillies play at 4.

In the ninth inning, Jose Reyes led off the inning with a single. However, later in the inning it appeared Daniel Murphy was making the nightmares of last night visible. After repeated unsuccessful bunts, it was obvious there was some miscommunication between either manager Jerry Manuel, Church, or the third base coach. Church went on and fouled off a 2-strike bunt attempt with Reyes taking off toward second base.

This made every Met fan cringe. David Wright then struck out to make matters worse, but the powerful Carlos Delgado was coming to the plate. Wanting no part of Delgado, Cubs skipper Lou Piniella opted to intentionally walk him, bringing up Carlos Beltran. Beltran hit a hard line drive off the glove of the diving first baseman to score Jose Reyes from second, giving the Mets a crucial win in the playoff race.

The Phillies had the night off, meaning the Mets are now only one game behind them in the NL East. The Brewers and Mets were tied heading into today, but the Brewers are in extra innings right now so the wild card standings will be determined later tonight. Obviously, if Milwaukee wins, nothing changes, but if they lose, the Mets will then hold a one game lead in the Wild Card race.

The Marlins, who already announced in the middle of their series with the Atlanta Braves that they would play hard and try to knock the Mets out of the playoffs, head to Shea for the final three games of Shea Stadium and the 2008 regular season. The Washington Nationals will be heading to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies in their final three games.

Thanks to the information provided by Metsblog.com , I can tell you the playoff scenarios should the Mets, Brewers, and Phillies be tied at the end of the season. The Mets and Phillies will play a one-game playoff Monday in Philadelphia. The winner will win the NL east, and the loser plays the Brewers in a one-game playoff for the wild card spot. That game would either be in Philadelphia or New York, not Milwaukee.

Santana’s magical broken-bat single in the middle innings sent the crowd into a state of excitement. The Mets went on to take a 6-2 lead by means of a clutch David Wright two-RBI bloop single, and a Jose Reyes triple down the first base line. Reyes was so pumped following his triple that he began to clap and jump all over the place. Johan, on the other hand, threw 125 pitches, the most of his career, and was still popping his fastball in the glove at 93 miles per hour. He was so fired up during this game that, following his release of a pitch, he would jump up and down.

In the ninth inning, everyone held their breath from the very first pitch by Pedro Feliciano. He was able to get an out, but allowed two base runners. Here we go again. Jerry Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen began to work furiously in the dugout, then Manuel went to the bullpen to bring out the reliever Luis Ayala. Ayala got his first man to ground out to Delgado, who could have turned a double play, but took the safe route and touched first base for the second out. Ayala got the next batter to pop out to Jose Reyes, who caught the ball and immediately did a fist pump similar to the one Carlos Delgado does in the final out of a big game.

The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 to trim the Mets deficit in the NL East to only a game and a half. If the Phillies lose today, and the Mets win today and tomorrow, the Mets and Phillies will have a tie for the NL East. This is because the Phillies have a day off, meaning the Mets can gain another half game on them.

The Brewers lost, but that may be a good thing. This means the Mets won’t just settle for a Wild-Card spot, they instead know they need to keep fighting and get that Division Title wrapped up. If they are able to wrap the division title up, I see this team going deep in the postseason.

Who knows, maybe Santana is the only pitcher that can get this team a win because he is able to go so far and prevent the bullpen from blowing a game. With Carlos Zambrano pitching for Chicago tonight, Oliver Perez needs to be at his best when game-time approaches at 7:10 pm tonight at Shea Stadium.

At this point, the Mets have to be ecstatic that the NL-leading Cubs are coming into town. Why? The Cubbies have already clinched their division, meaning they can basically lay back for the next week. The four-game series at Shea begins tonight at 7:10 pm.

Tonight is rally towel night at Shea, and the playoff atmosphere should be alive and well as if it was 2006 again. The Mets should be in a comfortable position now, with their final seven games of the season being at home.

Writers easily find flaws in this team in every which way. I know the bullpen remains in a state of emergency, but that’s why the Mets give guys like Carlos Beltran $119 million.

In June, I didn’t think I’d be saying on September 22nd that the Mets control their own playoff destiny. The Mets don’t even need to win all of their remaining games to get into October. If they win five of their final seven games, they are guaranteed a playoff spot.