A Mets Fan's Take

With the New York Mets losing to the Florida Marlins 8-1 today, combined with the Philadelphia Phillies beating the Washington Nationals 6-1, the Phillies earn the NL East crown. This continues a dubious distinction for the Mets; never in their 47 year history have they won division titles in consecutive years. Tom Glavine allowed 7 runs in 1/3 of an inning today, and the Phillies steamrolled the Nationals for the win.

My take on this whole thing?

It's said that pressure brings out true character. That is the justification for many people's attacks on Alex Rodriguez, that during pressure situations, he shows himself to be made of inferior mettle. For me, I agree with the statement, but not it's implementation against A-Rod. But I'm not here to write about A-Rod. I'm here to tell you what I learned from this year's pennant race, and I'm going to do it in the form of a list.

1) As I said above, character reveals itself in tenuous situations. Let's take a look at the shortstops from both teams. Jose Reyes wilted down the stretch (September stats: .214/.290/.348, with only 5 stolen bases in 9 chances), and showed his immaturity, failing to run out at least one play, and picking a fight with Marlins' catcher Miguel Olivo on Saturday. His smile disappeared as quickly as his team's playoff chances.

On the other side, Jimmy Rollins continued his inspired play, both on offense (September: .289/.321/523 with 12 steals in 12 chances) and defense (along with Troy Tulowitzki, should be the front-runners for the Gold Glove). His energy was infectious, and in today's game, he stole 2nd and 3rd in the same inning. There's been a lot written Rollin's MVP candidacy, but he should be in the top-5, without a doubt (some combination of Rollins, Prince Fielder, David Wright, Matt Holliday, and Chase Utley).

2) Despite losing a 7-game lead with 17 games to play, there were positive signs out of the Mets. Among these:

• The Mets finally seem to have found a leader. Wright has stepped up in the second half, and his September stats reflect that (.356/.438/.615), but his comments after Friday's loss, in which he called out himself and his teammates, showed that he wanted to be the leader on that team.

• Scott Schoeneweis finally showed some signs of life, and was actually the Mets' most reliable bullpen option in the last week of the season. Sure, it's not much to go on, but as he's signed to a 3-year deal, it would be nice if this was the start to a new, more successful era in his Mets career.

• Pedro Martinez's progress in his comeback from rotator cuff surgery has been nothing short of astounding. Since coming back, Pedro is 3-1 in his 5 starts, with a 2.57 ERA and 32 Ks in 28 IP. This is extremely encouraging, as the Mets have 3 solid pitchers (Pedro, John Maine, and Oliver Perez) in their rotation for 2008.

3) There was a lot of talk about the Mets not having any heart down the stretch (discussed a little in number 1, with Reyes), and while some of that seemed to be accurate (Lastings Milledge's behavior in this weekend's series disgusted me, to be honest), you can't tell me this team quit. A couple of examples:

• Paul Lo Duca tried to play after taking a foul ball off his kneecap. The most fiery member of the Mets, no one could ever convince me Lo Duca would just roll over and die.

• Luis Castillo has been playing on an extremely gimpy knee, and never once did I see him jog or take it easy. He continued to try bunting for base hits, legging out doubles and triples, and generally being a great example of how to be a professional. It's too bad Reyes wasn't paying attention. I know Castillo's 32 and has lost a step, but I wouldn't mind having him back as next year's second baseman.

• Moises Alou had better be back next year. He's a great veteran presence, and at 41, he can still rake, and it's obvious that he still loves to play the game.

4) Many people are clamoring for Willie Randolph to be fired. Apparently he's too stoic. As Rob Neyer pointed out in one of his ESPN.com chats, he'd be more worried about Randolph if someone had pointed this out when everything was going well for the Mets. I don't believe Randolph is as responsible for the Mets misfortunes as most people think. Managers always get more credit for success and more blame for failure than they truly deserve. His most serious problem was not that he was unemotional, but rather that he was handcuffed by a bullpen that became unreliable at the most inopportune time.

In September of last year, the Detroit Tigers had a 12-15 record. While not as dramatic a letdown as this year's Mets team, this was still an awful September for a team that had been in first place all season. No one mentions this when talking about that team, because they still made the playoffs and advanced to the World Series. My point is this: Without Philadelphia going 13-4 over the last 17 games of the season, we wouldn't be filleting the Mets. The Phillies were the single largest reason for the Mets collapse. I can't speak highly enough of the spirit and perseverance of Philadelphia over the past month. I know I may get killed by fellow Mets fans for saying this, but I look forward to watching the Phillies in the playoffs.