This time, Mets avoid the trap, continue to rake

Wednesday night's game against the Tigers was the classic trap game that the Mets, in recent years, always seemed to stumble into.

They get a win in the first game of the series, and face a less-than-impressive starter in game two, knowing that the opposition's ace awaits in game three.

The Mets won game one on Tuesday, then faced Phil Coke in game two, the ex-Yankee of the 1-7 record, with Cy Young candidate Justin Verlander (who was drafted by Detroit one spot ahead of the Mets, ugh) going in game three. The middle game was the winnable one, the one that would clinch the series win.

In the past, the Mets would find a way to botch this scenario, then inevitably get throttled by the ace in the final game and lose the series.

So it was great to see them hammer Coke the way they did, the offense continuing not only to hit but to hit with two outs, something they couldn't do at all in April. And pile on runs, which came in handy when the Tigers kept scratching and clawing to stay in it, until the relentless of the Mets offense — did I just type that? — became too much to overcome.

Angel Pagan had a huge night, as did Daniel Murphy, who had two, two-out, two-run singles. Of course Jose Reyes had another multi-hit game, what else did you expect? Guy is hitting EVERYTHING. Turner and Tejada also had two hits each, and Ronny Paulino, batting FOURTH, had four hits and four runs scored.

I hope Terry Collins had some time to take a ferry to Ontario for some casino action, because everything he does is coming up gold right now.

Jason Bay was 1-for-2 but drew four walks and made an incredible diving catch in left early in the game to keep the Mets comfortably in front. He also had two steals as the Mets continued to run at will on the bases, this time against the ineffective Victor Martinez.

What more can you say about how this team is playing now? They have scored a franchise-best 52 runs and amassed 69 hits in the last four games, with an RISP average of .484. Good Lord.

Enjoy the ride.

Signs of the apocalypse, or of better things to come?

You would think that hitting two grand slams in one game (in consecutive innings), when your team hadn't hit one in two years (while allowing 18 to the opposition) would exorcise plenty of demons.

Toss in the fact that one of the blasts was delivered by Jason Bay, who needed a hit like that more than anyone else on the roster, if not in the league, and Tuesday night's demolition of the Tigers could be viewed as a season-altering event.

We'd like to think so. After singling the Rangers to death, the Mets busted out the big lumber, hitting three bombs to give R.A. Dickey a month's worth of run support. The Mets chased starter Rick Porcello and then hammered Daniel Schlereth for the two grand salamis. That'll inflate the old ERA.

And what more can you say about Jose Reyes? How about this: Ty Cobb. Reyes has 98 career triples and 360 steals. The only other player in history to reach those numbers as fast as Reyes? Cobb. Wow.

I'll say it now. Pay the man. Sure, teams are valuing him on a career year that may never happen again, but understand that Reyes is entering the prime years of 28-32. That's five seasons. You're going to want Jose Reyes in his prime for five seasons. Yes, health is a rosk, but anyone can get hurt. He's healthy now, and has been healthy before (153-plus games a year from 2005-08).

And what's he worth to the team from a marketing standpoint? Many, many dollars. What is he worth to the soul of the franchise? To the fans? It's priceless.

Keep Jose.

Everything old is new again

Terry Collins, at age 62, qualifies for a senior discount at just about every restaurant and movie theater in this country. But when the National League East managers get together for their regular canasta game these days, he's the one they call "Kid."

Collins may indeed enjoy an early bird special now and then, but he's got nothing on his compatriots at the helm of the other teams in the Mets' division (well, three of them, anyway). The Phillies' Charlie Manuel is 67, new Marlins skipper Jack McKeon is 80, and running the show now for the Washington Nationals is former Mets manager Davey Johnson, who checks in at age 68.

(The Braves' Fredi Gonzalez is essentially the pool boy at age 47. His role at the canasta table is to keep Jack updated on the latest from Hialeah, and fetching Charlie Manuel's gin and tonics.)

You get the feeling that the Mets set a trend with the hiring of Collins. He'd been around a while, had success at other places, but hadn't managed a major league team in a number of years. Ditto McKeon and now Davey J., who of course had a loose hand on the rudder of the Mets' 1986 World Championship team.

Johnson's hiring was particularly reminiscent of Collins', in that he was already working for the Nationals organization as a consultant and knew the players and the system well. Those qualities have certainly seemed to have helped Collins, who has had to manage a number of former minor leaguers filling in for injured starters.

On Sunday, the Mets won another road series, this one against the defending AL champion Rangers. Like Saturday's win, the Mets piled up hits and scored a healthy number of runs without the benefit of the long ball. Jose Reyes continued to rake, getting four hits, including his 14th triple, and three runs. Daniel Murphy stayed hot with three hits, and he and Reyes both made outstanding plays in the field. Carlos Beltran had two RBI.

Dillon Gee overcame a shaky start and lasted six innings, allowing eight hits and two walks, and three runs to improve to 8-1 on the season. The bullpen of Beato, Byrdak and Izzy was perfect. Why they put in K-Rod in a non-save situation is puzzling since he's always terrible, and he made things too interesting before retiring the last three hitters.

Another game finished for K-Rod, who was quoted over the weekend saying he would set up for a contender. Someone should alert K-Rod (and the rest of the New York media, for that matter) that the Mets, even at .500, at 4 1/2 games out of the wild card lead, are, by definition, contenders.

You know Collins considers them contenders, and you know Davey will have the same attitude with the Nationals. McKeon has already benched Hanley Ramirez and mistaken Twitter as the name of a player's dog. Manuel? He's sitting in the catbird seat, his only worries whether Oswalt can stay healthy and what channel Matlock is on when he's on the road.

Gonzalez, meanwhile, barely looks up at the canasta game from his Nintendo DS, white earbuds blaring Arcade Fire as he wonders when these geezers are going to hit the hay so he can play Tour of Duty online without being asked to bring over a walker or light a cigar.

Taking one for the team, instead of taking one ... elsewhere

I had already shut the computer off. The tenth, the eleventh, the twelfth innings had gone by and I had thoughts of going to bed and not watching the rest of this game, filled as I was with the feeling that this was going to be a bad, bad, bad loss.

But I couldn't do it. So I decided instead to start the process of turning in while the game plodded onward. Brought the dog in. Locked the doors. Turned off a few lights. Then went into the office and shut down the computer, figuring any recap was going to be painful, and I could just as well grind that out in the morning.

The computer got turned back on.

No surprise that the Mets' first walk-off win was accomplished with Jose Reyes and "Super Ginger" Justin Turner Overdrive playing key roles. Reyes tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth before K-Rod blew his second straight save, and while Turner had only one hit, it was the run-scoring single that moved Reyes home.

Of course, Turner doesn't get up in that spot if Reyes doesn't get intentionally walked to load the bases. You can't blame Bob Melvin there. Reyes is the man, has been all season, and you're not going to let him beat you.

Turner, meanwhile, is second on the team in RBIs and while he didn't get a hit in the 13th inning, he got the run home in characteristically gritty fashion with the walk-off hit by pitch.

It was a much-needed win. R.A. Dickey was fantastic and should have gotten the win. The bullpen, aside from K-Rod, came up big, especially Beato, who needs to regain what he had earlier this season.

With the news that Ike Davis could well be lost for the season — are you kidding me?! Really?! — we're looking at an offense that is going to have to scrap and fight for runs, unless David Wright comes back at full strength and Jason Bay — who looked lost again tonight after a great game Tuesday — rediscovers his power stroke.

It's a huge opportunity for Daniel Murphy to reclaim the first base job, at least for a couple of months, or for Lucas Duda to prove to everyone that he is not a AAAA player. He was hitting bombs in Buffalo before he was called up, but hasn't done much with the big club, though he did get two hits in this game.

One of them has to step up. Only half the cavalry is coming over that hill.

What's so funny 'bout singles, doubles & triples?

Tags: Elvis Costello, Music, More Music Videos

More wisdom from the Book of Mex this weekend, as he recalled that the Cardinals teams he played on were pretty successful and they didn't have a lot of power. But they played in a big ballpark, and had a bunch of guys who could get hits, including doubles and triples, and there was nothing wrong with that.

So here we have the Mets, winners of six of their last eight and now a game removed from .500 (again), who in their recent run of success have slapped around opposing pitchers without getting the knockout punch. Their hit totals of the last four games: 12, 10, 13 and 11.

Other than the back-to-back homers by Scott Hairtson and Jose Reyes, which were icing on the cake of Sunday's 7-0 shutout, the Mets have gotten by with singles, doubles and triples, and lots of them. They have even showed an ability to get two-out hits, which at the beginning was as foreign to them as  humility is to LeBron James (we are all Nowitznesses).

The power drought is no surprise considering the lack of David Wright and Ike Davis, and the struggles of Jason Bay, but one of Terry Collins' strengths is not bemoaning what he doesn't have, and focusing on what he does have. And it turns out he has quite a bit.

Jose Reyes had three hits and has 33 multiple-hit games, tops in the majors. The guy is just awesome, no other way to put it.

Daniel Murphy is hitting better than .400 for the last three weeks, and Justin Turner continues to rake, getting a clutch, two-out double that kick-started a four-run eighth that put the game away.

I'll admit I wasn't crazy about pinch hitting for Chris Capuano in that inning. He was dominating the Pirates and his pitch count was low, and Willie Harris is far from a sure thing pinch hitting with two outs. But this decision went Collins' way, as Harris got a single, Reyes got a single, and then Turner doubled, followed by a two-run single by Beltran, and then the weird play where Jason Bay scored Murphy on a sac fly, but Angel Pagan was called out for not tagging second on the way back to first.

Capuano's start was just the lastest in a string of quality starts by Mets pitchers, and it's to the point now where — so unlike where things stood in April — I am confident with any Mets starter now.

Pelfrey may be the only one where you wonder what you're going to get, and he's been much better lately. Niese? Consistently good. Capuano? Solid. Dickey? He's had some troubles so far but you know he's got the ability to shut a team down. And Gee? He's been unreal. Just tremendous.

If you're a Mets fan, I don't know how you don't love this team. Young guys stepping up. A manager who holds everyone accountable and keeps everyone involved. An MVP-like year from Reyes. Great starting pitching, including a player who came from nowhere.

I've said it before, that for a team that had no expectations, there has been a ton of pressure placed on it, especially by the media. Which has put the team in the position of "searching for light in the darkness of insanity," to quote Mr. Costello.

They're finding that light. And if they can ever get Wright and Davis back (and Santana), it's going to get a whole lot brighter.

Dickey and Reyes are good. True that - DOUBLE TRUE!

It was a lazy Sunday in the Gasparino household. A late pancake breakfast. Kids playing outside, Mom grading papers, Dad spraying ant killer and throwing out trash. After lunch we took a drive to do some quick shopping. I'd planned on DVRing the Mets game and watching it after the kids were asleep, as usual.

We were on Jericho Turnpike headed for the Walt Whitman Mall at around 3 o'clock when my buddy Mike called. His company has tickets behind home plate and a client backed out at the last minute. Would I like to go?

Damn right I would!

By 7:30 I was at the rotunda, looking forward to seeing R.A. Dickey try and give the Mets the series win over the Braves. And what a game we saw (well, the first 8 innings, anyway).

Dickey was superb. Eight innings of four-hit ball, the only blemish a solo homer by Met Killer Brian McCann. Otherwise, we saw some pretty futile swings out there by the Bravos.

When you chase Tim Hudson in four innings, you know you're doing something right. Jose Reyes was the firestarter yet again, leading off the first with a single and scoring on Carlos Beltran's double, Beltran himself scoring on a sac fly. In the second, Hudson walked Reyes to face Justin Turner with two out and two on and Turner delivered the opposite-field hit, scoring Pridie. Reyes came home on a wild pitch that never came close to the backstop.

He's fast.

Reyes had an RBI double in the fourth, and at this point the "KEEP JOSE" chants were cropping up left and right. Ruben Tejada also made a terrific catch at second.

Of course, with sunshine comes rain. Beltran fouled a ball off his ankle and left the game. X-rays were negative but we'll see how that goes. Dickey gave way to Manny Acosta in the ninth and he promptly walked the leadoff man and then a double one out later. In came K-Rod (with a five-run lead) to face pinch hitter and slap hitter Deonis Hernandez, and of course he homered to left.

Two strikeouts later, we put it in the books, and closed out an eventful 10-game homestand at 5-5. A trip to Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Atlanta follows.

Thanks again, Mike. Great seats, great company, and an always enjoyable Mets win. And it was helmet night, so the kids got a treat as well. A true win-win.

You know when it's real

So Dillon Gee is now 6-0 after shutting down the Braves on Saturday night. Any thoughts of this guy being a fluke or some flash in the pan are quickly evaporating, as they should, especially after he allowed just four hits and two walks in seven shutout innings.

And he's now 8-2 in 13 major league starts, with an ERA of 2.61.

He's the real deal.

Jose Reyes hit his 10th triple of the season, which came with the bases loaded and one out, on the heels of Jason Pridie's bases-loaded single that broke a scoreless tie. Fredi Gonzales lifted Jair Jurrjens after Pridie's pinch hit, and Reyes burned Scott Proctor and broke the game open.

Jose Reyes is the real deal.

In fact, it's getting to the point that if the Mets do trade Reyes this season — and we're finally starting to see stories about how the Mets may actually want to keep Reyes and Wright, or at least Reyes, which should be obvious to anyone with half a brain — the fans will burn Citi Field to the ground.

And I may be the one handing out torches.

Daniel Murphy had two hits and all of a sudden is batting .303, and Josh Thole had a nice night with two hits. Jason Bay was dropped to sixth in the order and I can't argue. The guy has got to get on track.

Rubber game Sunday night, painfully on ESPN. The good news is I will DVR the game and watch it with the volume practically off, so I can fast forward at will knowing I won't miss any commentary worth hearing. And that includes Bobby V. I loved the guy when he managed, but as a color guy, he's a great manager.

O M Gee, it's the second coming of Matlack

One of my earliest memories as a Mets fan is the 1976 season. I was 7 years old, and played a lot of baseball in the street with the kids down the block. And I recall very distinctly talking about the major league season that had just ended, when the Mets finished in third place, and thinking that was pretty good. Kids — so full of hope.

One of our favorite players was Jon Matlack. He was third on the staff behind Seaver and Koosman, but he was younger and kind of underrated. He won 17 games in 1976 and was awesome.

Then 1977 happened. Seaver was traded in the middle of June, the Mets fell off a cliff, and in December they traded Matlack -- a 26-year-old potential ace -- in a four-team trade that also saw them deal John Milner, only to get the immortal Willie Montanez, Tom Grieve and Ken Henderson (the player to be named later) in return.

It took seven years for the Mets to recover, and to their credit they put together a pretty good team. And while Matlack won 15 games the next year, he got hurt and was never the same.

(Another reason I liked Matlack was he looked just like Herman Munster. Or more accurately, Fred Gwynne.)

But when Matlack was a Met, he was fantastic. And now Dillon Gee has tied Matlack's team record for being the only rookies to start 5-0. Gee doesn't have the high leg kick of Matlack, but his delivery is effortless and while he doesn't have overpowering stuff, he knows how to mix his pitches and attack a lineup. He struck out eight Pirates Monday night and all of a sudden, we don't miss Chris Young as much.

Jose Reyes was out on bereavement leave at the passing of his grandmother, and Terry Collins still kept Jason Bay on the bench for a rest, despite the fact that he has a five-game hitting streak and we've been waiting forever for him to stay hot.

There wasn't much power in the lineup, but the Mets singled the Buccos to death. Josh Thole delivered the big hit, a two-run double that broke a 3-3 tie. Justin Turner added an RBI double the next inning and he continues to rake.

As for the Phillies series, it was frustrating but not discouraging. Yes, we dodged Lee and Halladay and you would have liked to have won two at home, but the first two games were good games ruined either by a misplay or bullpen failure. I had more of a problem with Collins removing Capuano when he did than I did when he took out Pelfrey, although isn't Byrdak our top lefty guy? Still, O'Connor had one job, to get one out, and he failed.

With three more against Pittsburgh, this could be the cure for what ails the Mets, who will be without Reyes until at least Wednesday. Hopefully Bay hasn't cooled off any and continues to hit, as does Daniel Murphy, who could be playing first for a while with the news that Ike Davis needs his ankle re-examined, which is never good. Hey, more at-bats for Turner.

Ain't nothin' but a Gee thang, baby

I've started and re-started this post three times now. I want to rip into the New York media, a few people in particular, for all but abandoning objectivity and trying to constantly control the narrative concerning the Mets, Fred Wilpon, the Madoff suit, everything.

But that's a fruitless and exhausting exercise, and this morning I just don't have the time or the energy, and for what purpose, anyway? Let's just say I watch the games, form my own opinions, and pretty much ignore the vast majority of what's written because I find it worthless. Keeps me sane.

As for the Mets' win Wednesday night, fantastic job by Dillon Gee getting past his first-inning woes and settling down. Gee is 4-0 and is perhaps proving that his AAA success, while surprising to some, really was a harbinger of things to come. He knows what he's doing out there and has some cojones.

I look at a rotation with Gee, and Niese and Pelfrey, three players with progressively more experience but all still developing, and wonder how much they would be helped simply by Johan Santana's presence. Santana's talent and on-field performance is certainly missed the most, but his effect on the young pitchers must be tremendous.

The Cubs' pitching and the rain helped big-time Wednesday night. Carlos Beltran had a big night with two hits, including a two-run double, and Daniel Murphy drove in two as well, one with a hit and one with a walk. Jose Reyes also had two hits. Boy, he and Beltran really look devastated.

No relievers needed in the rain-shortened win and so the bullpen is fresh for today's afternoon game at Wrigley, with R.A. Dickey on the hill. Winning the game and the series would be huge, what with the Phillies coming in for the weekend. The Mets could use some positive momentum.

As for ownership, there are several reports that hedge fund manager David Einhorn has been selected as a minority partner. According to his Wikipedia page, his firm, Greenlight Capital, "has historically generated greater than a twenty-two percent annualized net return for partners and investors."

Is it just me or does that sound too Madoff-like for our own good?

Fred Wilpon finds his inner Col. Jessup, and we can't handle the truth

Think back to just over a month ago, when reaching .500 seemed as likely as Irving Picard being invited to throw out the first pitch at Citi Field.

The Mets were in freefall. Losers of five, six, then seven games in a row. Worst record in baseball. Left for dead by just about everyone in the media, locally or nationally, and by many fans as well.

Making mistakes. Looking awful. Not playing the game "the right way," as manager Terry Collins had promised.

Think about how you felt as a Mets fan. Was there any confidence? Any joy? Any optimism? In my case, there wasn't so much optimism as there was faint hope mixed with the knowledge that the season was far from over.

"But it's only April. There are five months of baseball left. Is that good or bad?"

I wrote that in a post after the Mets dropped a 4-3 decision on April 20 to the Astros, a loss that sunk their home record to a dismal 1-8. It was the final loss in a 2-12 stretch that marked the nadir of the Mets' young season.

It was also the night that Jeffrey Toobin of The New Yorker accompanied Fred Wilpon to a Mets game.

Toobin was working on a piece that would come out just over a month later, a 10,000-word exploration of Wilpon, Saul Katz, Sterling Enterprises, Bernie Madoff and the billion-dollar lawsuit filed by Picard.

The article portrays Wilpon and Katz positively in many ways. They are well-regarded personally and professionally. They are charitable. They are family men. They are self-made success stories who seem like regular guys who worked hard and earned everything that came to them, who went on to do something most baseball fans can only dream about: Own a major league team.

Certainly Wilpon knew who Toobin was and what kind of piece he was working on. Wilpon needed all the help he could get, and a piece that supported the contention that Wilpon and Katz — two "real estate guys" whose investing experience was not much more than trusting someone close to them — knew nothing about Madoff's Ponzi scheme in a magazine like The New Yorker was good press.

And granting Toobin access to the owner's box during a game must have seemed like a good opportunity to show Toobin that while he was the owner, he was at his core a fan, as die-hard as the folks wearing WRIGHT and REYES jerseys in the seats below.

Take what Wilpon said without attribution and it could pass as something almost any Mets fan could have uttered. Should Reyes get Crawford money? Not with his injury history. Is Wright a good kid, a great player, but not a superstar? With his rising strikeout totals and frequent slumps, you could make the argument. That Beltran was 70 percent of what he once was? Duh.

I know what you're thinking. He's the owner. He can't say that, even if it's true and he really believes it. Where are his PR people? What was he thinking?

Maybe he wasn't thinking. Maybe he was. Knowing Beltran wasn't coming back next year (and possibly leaving before that), he had no trouble lamenting the checked strike three against the Cardinals in 2006. (Wilpon seems bitter over Beltran's recent injury history, and possibly over his lengthy recovery last season and then poor performance once he finally came back. And that strikeout against Adam Wainwright clearly still stings, as it does for every Mets fan.) Maybe he wanted to downgrade Reyes and Wright because he wants to keep them but doesn't want the price to go up any higher.

But maybe, given the state of the Mets on April 20, Wilpon wanted to send a message. Like Colonel Jessup in "A Few Good Men," who in his heart wanted people to know he made a command decision and ordered the code red, Wilpon wanted people to know that he was pissed off at how the team was performing. And if that meant tweaking Reyes (who at the time was hitting one-something with runners in scoring position) or Wright (who was in yet another slump) or Beltran (who at the time hadn't shown he could play every day, which he soon would), then so be it.

Again, remember the timing. Do you think if Toobin came to the Mets game on May 19 — a 1-0 win over the Nationals, the team's second straight shutout win, a victory that moved the team to within a game of .500 — that Wilpon would have had anything bad to say about Reyes, who was leading the league in hits and lighting up Citi Field again? Or about Wright, who we now know was playing a month with a broken back? Or Beltran, who was showing remarkable health and consistency, which other teams would almost certainly be looking for? Do you really think he would say that Ike Davis is a great player on a shitty team?

No. Way.

But on April 20, with a writer from The New Yorker at his side, his Mets were playing like crap. So he let fly.

As for the reaction to the story, it was typical. No one quoted the line from Wilpon when he described Reyes as "a racehorse," which is a compliment. Instead, most headlines were along the lines of "Wilpon Rips Reyes." Really?

And then there was Adam Rubin of ESPN. My doctor has advised me not to read Rubin's Mets coverage because I take everything he says with so many grains of salt, I get hypertension. The guy has one of the biggest axes to grind with this organization, it is almost comical that he still covers the team. Could Rubin be a good reporter? Sure. Just go cover a team that you don't personally want (or need) to bury at every turn. Please.

Funny how of all the reactions to Toobin's story, the one I found I agreed with almost completely was by (gulp) Mike Francesa, who basically said that Mets fans want Wilpon to show that he cares, and then when he does, and says things that recall the days of George Steinbrenner, people get their knickers in a twist.

Wilpon, who posed for a photo for the magazine with Reyes, Wright, Bay and Collins, had no comment. It should be noted that The New Yorker had a fact checker run all the quotes by him and they all stayed in the story. Toobin himself said that Wilpon was a "stand-up guy."

Maybe this is just another lesson in accountability, a word we've heard a lot lately in reference to Collins and how it has helped the team manage to claw its way back to break-even despite so many injuries. Wilpon said what he said at a time when he felt the need to say it, and he's not denying it now.

If the players don't like it, that's fine. Prove him wrong. Play with a chip on your shoulder.

That's what a Brooklyn boy would do.

Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose ... Jo-se! Jo-se!

The Mets failed to complete the sweep of the Dodgers on Sunday, settling instead for two out of three and three wins in their last four games before embarking to Colorado and Houston this week. But rather than recap the weekend, I much prefer to talk about Jose Reyes.

Four triples in his last four games, and the guy has been pure dynamite. I actually had a dream last night that Jose hit three triples in one game, prompting Gary Cohen to cry on the air. I can totally see that happening.

He is that kind of player. I have made plain my feelings on Reyes and why the Mets would be smart to keep him in Flushing, and I'm glad to see that others out there are feeling the same way. I don't want him going anywhere, and I think most Mets fans agree he's just too good a player — a game-changer, homegrown, dynamic, everything fans love.

That said, if he does get traded or even if he signs elsewhere, here is what I would like to see happen. And by writing it down in this humble blog, I hope to get the credit when, 40 years from now, someone asks, "Where did that come from?"

On February 25, 1979, Islanders captain and All-Star defenseman Denis Potvin checked promising Rangers winger Ulf Nilsson and broke his ankle. While the Rangers went on to eliminate the Islanders in the playoffs that season, the Rangers lost to the Canadiens in the finals, Nilsson was lost for the season and by all accounts was never the same again, and the following season the Islanders began their string of four straight Stanley Cup championships.

Rangers fans, who hated Potvin already, now had even more reason to despise him, and created a chant that piggybacked onto the end of "Let's Go Band," a popular tune played in stadiums and arenas. (Side note: At Boston University, the marching band would play the tune and after the final three notes — DUM-DUM-DUM — the crowd would chant, "GO B.U.! BEAT B.C! THEY SUCK SH*T!")

At Rangers games, the organist would play the tune and the fans would yell, "POT-VIN SUCKS!" The Garden banned the playing of the tune in the mid-eighties, but the savvy and resilient Rangers fans (I have to give them credit on this one, and I am an Islanders fan) got around the ban by WHISTLING the tune en masse, and then chanting, "POT-VIN SUCKS!"

More than 30 years later, Rangers fans still do that chant, both at home and at Islanders-Rangers games at Nassau Coliseum. It has become part of the fabric of New York sports.

What does this have to do with Reyes? Well, should Reyes leave the Mets, at the first non-Reyes game at Citi Field — whether it is a regular season game in 2011 or the first home game of the 2012 season — Mets fans should, when the Mets' leadoff hitter steps up to the plate in the bottom of the first, start the JO-SE, JOSE, JOSE, JOSE chant.

And keep it up for the whole opening inning. And do that for every home game after. For the rest of the season, and for every game in every season to follow.

Can you imagine what that would be like? What better way for the fans to let their feelings known — other than by not buying tickets or merchandise. No signs that could be taken away by eagle-eyed ushers. There would be no way for the Mets to silence thousands of fans.

It would be incredibly emotional at first, but as time went on, the chant would become part of the regular home game routine. A haunting tribute to a player who transcended sabermetric analysis, who turbocharged not only his own team but the fans. Whose departure would suck the life from a fan base that has been battered the last five years.

Like I said, I hope Reyes stays. But if he goes, this has to happen. And when I'm at a Mets game with my grandchildren and they ask me, "What are the fans singing?" I will have some story to tell them.

Mets win, Pelfrey pitches well, but the cranks are still cranky

This post should really be about Mike Pelfrey showing signs of life, pitching into the seventh inning for the second time in his last three starts to help the Mets avoid the sweep Thursday, 5-2. It should be about how Pelfrey may be starting to turn things around, and how we shouldn't have been too shocked that he started off slow, considering his personality, the extra pressure of having to be "the man" in Santana's absence, and the death of his friend and confidante, sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman.

It should be about the win. It should be about Beltran continuing to hit and also play almost every day. It should be about Jason Bay coming back and doubling immediately, about Jose Reyes tripling in two runs, or about K-Rod walking the tight wire again but still getting the save and still, despite all the baserunners, not allowing a run.

But it's not.

You know I've cut Francesa out of my life, and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be. Well, now Joe and Evan have been cut from the rotation.

I'm getting lunch and listening to the FAN prior to Thursday's game and a bumper comes on with Chris Capuano promoting the Mets Box Office Blitz. Evan follows by saying, "Be the fifth caller — and five is probably what Capuano's ERA is going to be at the end of the year..."

Are you shitting me?

This is on the day after Capuano pitched reasonably well in a 2-0 duel with Tim Lincecum, allowing two runs in 6 1/3. But no, the Mets are losers, let's just crap on them at every given opportunity.

Of course, misery loves company, and who is more miserable than Joe Benigno? A few minutes later, they're running through the Giants' lineup and noting how awful most of the batters are, and Joe chimes in with, "Well, Pelfrey's pitching tonight so they'll probably score 10 runs."

Evan mindessly agrees, and, like clockwork, Joe adds, "Oh, the pain."

Tune into Mac and Tierney at noon on ESPN 1050, folks.

Metsblog gets into the act as well. We don't need to see the wild card standings every day. And yes, Matt, since you're asking, May 6 is too early to worry about games behind. So cut the standings update back to maybe once a week, if that? Thanks.

And I understand why there is speculation about the Giants maybe trading for Reyes. It makes sense. Reyes is going to be a free agent, the Giants' offense sucks, they have no decent shortstop, they having pitching to spare, and they were in town for three games. You could see it coming a mile away.

But beyond that, can we have a chance to enjoy the season, and enjoy Reyes, before the stories speculating on his future become incessant? Can we at least wait until June? We're starting already on May 1? Come on.

I'm also getting tired of reading about how the Mets may not want to give "too many years and too much money" on a player "who relies on his legs."

First off, if you're going to sign a star player, you are definitely going to pay too much money and run the risk of giving too many years. It's just how it goes. If you're never going to do that, then you're never going to acquire a star player. Simple as that. And make no mistake, Reyes is a star player.

Regarding his legs, it seems to me that players who rely on their legs primarily are the ones who keep their legs the longest. One of them is coaching first, Mookie Wilson. What about Rickey Henderson? Kenny Lofton? These guys were athletes and runners first, like Reyes, and maintained that edge well into their 30s, and played into their 40s.

Will Reyes? Who knows? But to flatly state that it doesn't make sense to give a 28-year-old a multiyear deal because he runs well is ridiculous. He'll be 34 at the end of seven years, and seven likely the longest anyone would go on him. Sure, you could expect some kind of decline by then, but you'd likely have some pretty good prime years in between.

I think you can take to the bank that K-Rod will not finish 55 games this year, or he'll be traded. So that's $12 million off the books to go along with the $19 million for Beltran, and another $18 million for Ollie and Castillo. That's $49 million leaving.

The free agent list isn't terribly impressive and one would think with ownership issues and new management they are not going after the likes of Albert Pujols or anyone else too expensive anyway. But this is still a New York team charging New York prices competing in the New York market with the Yankees and in a division where the Phillies added Cliff Lee to Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

They may cut payroll, but they can never go cheap. This ain't Oakland.

Reyes gets $11 million now. Considering the dearth of talent at shortstop, why not pay an extra $5 million or so a year to keep the guy who you already have, a player who when he plays, your team wins, who is beloved by the fans, who is the third-best shortstop in the game, who puts people in the seats at a time when you really need people in the seats?

It's almost mind-boggling. And then you get the people saying it doesn't make sense to trade Reyes unless you trade Wright, too, and bring back a ton of new players to start over.

Really? You think fans are staying away in droves now?

It's depressing, at a time of the year when none of us should be depressed. It's early May, for God's sake! But no, there's no time to just enjoy baseball, to see how this all plays out, to see whether Santana comes back, to enjoy guys like Reyes and Beltran finally playing every day, healthy.

The Dodgers are in town for three this weekend. Which of course means more stories of how these two franchises are on the rocks and doomed.

Sounds like fun.

Daniel Murphy dropkicks the Nats

We said early on last season that we loved us some Daniel Murphy. And while Ike Davis has been tremendous at first base, we still felt bad for Murph, who got hurt, went to the minors to learn second base, and then got hurt again on a dirty takeout slide.


At the time, it seemed like that was that for Murphy, at least as a Met. But give the Mets credit for seeing value in Murphy's offense and his work ethic. They held onto him and plugged him into the second base mix, figuring he could at least be a lefthanded bat off the bench. Lo and behold, the guy has played decent defense and has shown that he knows how to swing a bat.

The latest proof came Wednesday night in game two against the Nationals, a game that could have turned on an absolutely awful blown call by third base umpire Marvin Hudson. Jose Reyes was clearly safe at third on what should have been a triple, but Hudson somehow saw him come off the bag and called him out. As Keith and Gary pointed out on air, neither Reyes nor Collins were thrown out despite vociferous arguing, a sign that Hudson knew he blew it.

Murphy was the next guy up, and he battled Tyler Clippard in an eight-pitch at-bat that ended when Murphy blasted a 3-2 changeup for a home run that should have given the Mets the lead; instead, the game was tied, 2-2.

The Reyes call was the kind of play that would have doomed the Mets two weeks ago. The fact that they bounced back showed guts. The fact that they had to bounce back again — after giving up a run in the bottom of the eighth after a failed diving catch by Bay, Murphy failing to cover second, and a passed ball by Thole — and succeeded proved that this team knows how to fight and win.

Give Murphy credit again, making up for his defensive lapse by ripping a two-run double that gave the Mets a three-run lead in the top of the ninth. But it was only part of a huge inning that saw a leadoff hit by Bay, a bloop single by Davis, a bunt single by Harris and then a pinch-hit sac fly to deep right by Chin-lung Hu.

So many contributors. Igarashi with another huge inning out of the pen. K-Rod closing it out. Beato getting the win and pitching well again despite the hard luck in the eighth.

But the biggest thing was seeing the passion of Reyes and the will of Murphy lead to a Mets win, their first after trailing in the ninth inning since Sept. 25, 2009. The Mets never win those games, right?

They do now.

These are the times that try men's souls

At baseball practice Wednesday afternoon, my son announced that he would be going to the Mets game Thursday night.

One of the other dads, an interlocking 'NY' prominent on the collar of his Yankees mock turtleneck, remarked, "Watch the OTHER team."

Snickers followed from a couple of the other kids and parents, but then my son did me proud by replying with a smile, "I'll be sure to do the opposite of that."

Well, son, the man may have a point.

Last night's loss brought to mind the question, is it better to lose by a run than to get blown out? You lose by a run — five of the Mets' last eight losses have been by two runs or less — you're in the game but frustrated by the outcome. You get blown out, you write it off as an anomaly and forget it.

I'd rather be blown out.

So much good stuff undone by yet another mind-boggling and awful end. Four hits and two steals by Jose Reyes, three hits each by Daniel Murphy and Carlos Beltran, solid defense with three double plays, including some nice turns by Murphy, whose two-run homer in the sixth tied the score at 3-3 and made you think that perhaps the game, and the early season, could turn on one swing.

The game turned back on another swing, this one a homer by Hunter Pence, in the eighth, which regained Houston its one-run lead.

And then the disaster, as if on cue. First and third and one out in the eighth, Justin Turner comes up to pinch hit. He strikes out, the ball gets away, and while Keith and Gary didn't mind Angel Pagan trying to score on the short passed ball, it was pretty risky. Then again, when things are going bad, players try and make things happen, and had Pagan's cleat not caught the ground and kicked his foot up over the plate, maybe the game gets tied and we laud Pagan for his hustle.

Instead, double play, end of the inning.

Then Reyes leads off the ninth with his fourth hit, and for the fourth time in the game, Josh Thole makes an out. But this one was extra special, as he failed to get the bunt down and popped it up to the pitcher, Lyon. He catches it, then doubles Reyes off first. Reyes may have hesitated thinking Lyon would let it drop to try and force Reyes, the faster runner, at second base, not realizing Downs had crept in behind him from second base. The hesitation cost him and the team dearly.

Dickey pitched OK after allowing the Astros to go up 3-0, but the Pence homer was a killer. The Mets also loaded the bases with one out in the first and scored zero, another common theme so far this season.

The Mets now have the worst record in baseball, and are 1-8 at home.

But it's only April. There are five months of baseball left.

Is that good or bad?

Fundamentally unsound

Keith Hernandez loves to talk about the "fundys," but on Monday night, the Mets didn't exactly put on a clinic in a 7-6 loss to the Rockies, the first of a four-game set at Citi Field.

The biggest mistakes were made by the bullpen, and involved throwing and catching. First, recent callup Ryota Igarashi walked the leadoff batter, and then later blew a potential 1-2-3 double play by throwing wide to catcher Josh Thole. The inning continued and sure enough, a broken bat single past a diving Jose Reyes scored two and allowed Colorado to tie the score at 4-4.

Then it was Bobby Parnell's turn to screw up. He allowed a leadoff single in the eighth to Fowler, then a wild pitch with one out moved the runner to third. He got Carlos Gonzalez to hit a comebacker, but his throw home to get Fowler was wild as well. The meltdown was complete when the next batter, Troy Tulowitzki, hit a two-run homer. (Tulo also made a terrific play on a Daniel Murphy grounder in the seventh, stealing a hit that would have given the Mets a 5-4 lead.)

Of course, the Mets, down three, rallied for two. Wright homered, Beltran doubled and Ike "Mr. RBI" Davis singled to cut the gap to one with nobody out. But the Rockies retired the next 6 batters and that was that.

Good things: Wright's homer, Reyes with two triples, a two-run double by Willie Harris. You like to see the team continue to battle. And Mike Pelfrey was good, if not great. He settled down, but there were still too many pitches; he didn't make it through the sixth.

The bullpen has been bad so far and has already cost the team a couple of games. Doesn't mean it's going to be this way all season. Igarashi has plenty of talent. Parnell, though, is a bit of a concern. He's thought of highly, espeically by fans, but all he's really proven is that he can throw hard. He's also shown he's not ready to be the closer, or even the eighth-inning guy.

Production matters. Votes of confidence don't

"That's baseball."

Sabermetricians hate those two words. They'd like to think they can measure, infer, interpret, calculate and estimate every aspect of baseball so that the game makes sense.

Then you have Tuesday's game against the Cardinals, where the ice-cold Mets went up against a red-hot Adam Wainwright, who was having one of the best months of July in the history of the game.

The Mets were reeling, shut out four times on an 11-game road trip. They couldn't hit the broad side of Jessica Simpson. Jerry Manuel and his coaching staff, especially hitting coach Howard Johnson, were the subject of all kinds of media speculation. The Phillies passed them in the standings. They were falling further behind in the division and wild card standings. Things looked bleak.

So what happens? The Mets bang out six runs in five innings off of Wainwright and roll to an 8-2 win.

That's baseball.

The only thing that makes sense is that the game was at Citi Field, and at this point we should just enjoy the home wins and not question why the Mets are so good at home and so awful on the road.

Home runs by Francoeur and Reyes helped, as did two hits each by Beltran and Castillo. Jon Niese also chipped in with six innings of one-run ball for his seventh win of the season.

Whether the win jump-starts a Mets resurgance remains to be seen, but one thing it did prove is that performance counts.

Not media speculation, not votes of confidence from the front office, not coaching changes.

The talent must produce. That's what matters most.

That, and getting another starter (Ted Lilly or Brett Myers would be just fine, thanks) so that Takahashi can move to the bullpen.

Because if we're asking the talent to produce, we'd like to see the GM and ownership produce as well.

Don't mess with the Johan

Jerry Manuel made Joe Benigno a happy man Tuesday night.

Benigno, who often rails about how pitchers aren't allowed to finish games, and who has often wondered why Johan Santana has been removed from games in the latter innings, must have been thrilled when Manuel came out to the mound in the top of the ninth after Jason Bay dropped an easy fly ball to put runners on first and second with one out, only to return to the dugout, leaving Santana in to shut the Reds down.

It took Santana just two pitches to clean up the mess, and he ended up with the complete-game shutout, a three-hit gem that also saw him hit a solo homer on a remarkable 12-pitch at-bat in the third inning with two outs.

That Santana battled Matt Maloney that hard, that early in the game tells you all you need to know about the ultra-competitive Santana, who has pitched brilliantly in his most recent starts and has Mets fans believing he has worked out his issues and is ready to dominate in the second half, which he has done throughout his career.

Maybe he'll hit some more bombs, too. Santana yanked the 12th pitch from Maloney down the right field line and off the foul pole for a 1-0 Mets lead. It stayed that way until the sixth, when resurgent Jason Bay singled in two runs.

You couldn't have blamed Manuel if he went by the book and brought in K-Rod to face the righties coming up in the ninth. But given K-Rod's recent woes (his 12-pitch save on Sunday notwithstanding), and Santana's many no-decisions this season, it was fantastic to see Manuel leave Santana in, to the thunderous applause of the fans.

Of course, Santana delivered.

Jose Reyes returned to the lineup, batting righthanded against the lefty Maloney, and had two hits and a run scored.

Jon Niese looks to win the series on Wednesday, followed by a well-deserved day off before the Braves come to town, led by All-Star OMAR INFANTE!

Subway Series: Just as it was foreseen

The Mets took two of three from the Yankees at Citi Field, and the Yankees returned the favor at Yankee Stadium this weekend, a series split that gave the Mets a 7-2 road trip that vaulted the club into the Wild Card lead and within three games of first place in the NL East.

That gap was as close as a half game, but the Braves swept the Kansas City Royals while the Mets lost twice in the Bronx. Is there a catchy nickname for when the Braves and Royals face off? Didn't think so.

The Mets didn't manage a win with their top two starters on the mound, as Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana were out-dueled by Phil Hughes and C.C. Sabathia. But having won eight in a row, it's tough to get too down on them.

Pelfrey just didn't have his rhythm against the Yankees, which I imagine would be a problem for most National League pitchers, seeing as how the Yankees take a particularly leisurely approach to the plate. And it's not just the Yankees: American League baseball, with the DH and short fences, looks like slow-pitch softball sometimes compared to the National League, characterized by bigger fields and more of an emphasis on pitching, speed and defense.

Did you see the grand slam by Mark Texeira? A fly out at Citi Field. Sire, Jose Reyes took advantage for two home runs on Saturday, but as the home team the Yankees have many more opportunities to capitalize on the embarrassing dimensions of their ballpark. Jorge Posada recently hit two grand slams — at least one would have landed in an outfielder's glove in Flushing.

As for Santana, he didn't lose the game as much as Sabathia won, shutting down the Mets lineup. You had to feel for Santana, allowing a runner to load the bases on a fielding mishap covering a bunt, only to allow the cheapie slam to Texeira a batter later. Other than that, Santana was good, not great.

Maybe he was good enough to win on another day, but then again, Santana has been great enough to win a few times this season only to come away without the 'W.'

More amusing than the games themselves was the nonsense concerning Reyes and his celebrating, or the comments made by Keith Hernandez about Cervelli's futile attempts to deke runners on base by feigning passed balls.

It's apples and oranges. Reyes celebrates when he does something well, or when his team succeeds. Lots of players do to different degrees. Yankees fans who complain about Reyes should pay attention to themselves when Joba pumps his fist or when Nick Swisher styles.

Cervelli's antics are about deception and what is and is not acceptable. The hidden ball trick works rarely, and is tried rarely. Imagine if you saw that every game. It would become extremely tiresome. Aren't we all professionals here?

What Cervelli does is akin to the hidden ball trick, and perhaps that's what offended Hernandez's sensibilities as a former MLB player. Try it once, okay. Try it again, and again, and it's like, are you kidding me with that? Leave it at the schoolyard. This isn't Little League.

More interleague nonsense coming up this week as the Tigers and Twins visit Citi Field. Meanwhile, the Mets lead the Wild Card standings, when just a couple of weeks ago they were on the fringes of the group. That's progress.

This win was worth the (extra long) wait

Note to self: When DVRing any game involving the Yankees, make sure you set the record time for more than four hours.

Here's when I ran out of recording time for Friday night's game at Yankee Stadium: Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, one out, two strikes on Derek Jeter.

Aaaaaaaaaauuuuugh!

A 4-0 game that was humming along nicely while Hisanori Takahashi and Javier Vasquez were dealing slowed to an absolute crawl. Seriously? You can't get a 4-0 game — one that featured 8 hits for each team — in under four hours? Joe West was right. That is ridiculous.

Equally insane is the preset recording time for Mets games on SNY (on Cablevision; I wonder if it's the same on other systems): 2 1/2 hours. I know the Mets are in the National League, but how many games really get in under 2:30? Not a lot.

So I added one to the hours column to make it 10, then clicked up two on the first digit of the minutes section to 5, which set the recording time to end at 10:50 p.m. I almost always watch the games late, and when the recording stopped with Jeter at the plate the time in the real world was 12:15 a.m. Saturday. The game had been over by about an hour.

So I had to go online to find out how it ended, fearing that I would see 5-4 Yankees or something equally horrific, like a Jeter grand slam off of Frankie Rodriguez.

Thankfully, it was just strikeout Jeter, foul out on Swisher caught by David Wright and the Mets win their eighth straight, their ninth shutout (wow) of the season. Niiiiiiiiice.

Takahashi was brilliant, shutting down the Yankees again, as was Pedro Feliciano. Wright made a great slide to score the first run, Angel Pagan came up huge with a two-run double in the eighth, and Jose Reyes tacked on an RBI in the ninth.

Texeira, A-Rod and Cano? A combined 1-for-11.

Fantastic for the Mets to win the first game of the series, with two great showdowns coming up Saturday and Sunday. This is going to be a fun weekend.

Going off the rails on a crazy train

The Mets are the hottest team in baseball, winners of seven straight — the last six on the road — and nine of their last 10, a juggernaut that is 12-2 in the month of June.

The runaway train pulls into New Yankee Stadium just a half-game behind the Braves for first place in the NL East, while the Yankees begin in a flat-footed tie for first in the AL East.

The Yanks might be in first place all by their lonesome had they not lost two of three to the Phillies, but hey — who's counting?

R.A. Dickey improved to 5-0 with a win Thursday, as the Mets went 6-0 against the feeble Orioles and Indians. Mets fans would have taken 4-2 in a heartbeat, but there's no denying this team lately.

Dickey has been so good — the Mets are 5-1 in his starts — that my 8-year-old son wants to learn the knuckleball. I think he actually tried to throw one the other night in his Little League game, except the palm of his hand somehow ended up facing him, and he looked like he was flicking a playing card into a hat. The batter swung and missed, though, so maybe he's on to something.

You loved seeing Reyes clap his hands together after legging out a triple that gave the Mets a two-run lead in the eighth, and this time there was little drama with K-Rod for the save.

Expect that to change in the Yankees series, where I can't say I'd complain too much if the Mets won just one. The pitching matchups look fantastic: Takahashi vs. Vasquez is a mere appetizer followed by Pelfrey vs. Hughes in a battle of the future aces, and then Santana vs. Sabathia on Father's Day.

I know where I'll be.