Well it has certainly been an interesting few weeks for us Mets fans. We thought we picked up steam in the middle of the month after winning 6 of 7 from the lowly Nationals and Pirates. We all thought that momentum continued after showing some good heart against the Padres and Dodgers by splitting those 6 important games. But then that momentum has come crashing down.

The 4 games in Philly this week were critical to both the Mets and the Phillies. The Mets had a great chance to put the Phillies away and balloon their lead to 7 or 8 games. Sure enough that didn’t happen. The Mets made it out of Philadelphia alive, but barely. Now only with a 2 game lead, the Mets have opened the door for a pennant race down to the wire with the Phillies. It is especially hard because this weekend the Mets go into their “house of horrors”, Turner Field where statistically the Mets don’t win all too much.

If there is a silver lining in these 4 losses it could be that we have seen this before and had the Mets recover. If you think back to 1999, the Mets lost 7 games in a row from the 21st to the 28th against the Braves and the Phillies. Coming out of that late season swoon, the Mets were 1 ½ games out of the Wild card with 5 games to play. We all know what happened that season, with a little thanks to the Pirates, Rick Reed, and Brad Clontz.

So now its 2007, August 31st, and the Mets have a 2 game lead up on the Phillies. They have lost 5 games in a row and heading into a series where if they lose all 3 they could end up out of first place on Monday morning. However, I have more confidence in this team than in the 1999 team. Why? Because this is a very similar team to last year, and I feel our team is better than the 1999 team. That team certainly had some great veterans on it, but this team has more pizzazz in my opinion.

With this being said, its important that we do not lose faith in this team. Paul Lo Duca said it best on WFAN while on the radio show with Joe Beningo and Evan Roberts yesterday, ““You two guys, (laughing) you should be Philadelphia Phillies fans…You guys are the biggest pessimists I have ever seen. Why do you root for this team, why are you Mets fans if you don’t believe in us (laughing), you’re unbelievable (laughing). You lose two games in the season and your season is over…Believe in your team, guys… “

Paulie says it best. Ya Gotta Believe