The Best Team in the National League

I got so used to saying it last year: The Mets are the best team in the National League. It was such a bizarre thing to say. For a Mets fan my age it was unprecedented, at least as far back as I could remember.

But it was glorious too. We came of age in the early 90s, back when we were young enough to get all worked up about Jose Vizcaino, Tim Bogar, and players of that ilk.

Just as the Mets were beginning to turn around nearly a decade's worth of disappointment, the Yankees started winning everything. No matter how discouraging our own failures were, they were resoundingly worse for the fact that the Yankees were all of a sudden the best team ever.

A few years into the Yankee dynasty the Mets were legit again, but with the Yankees on the back page and the Braves atop of the standings, the Mets weren't the biggest fish in the pond.

An Art Howe, Jim Duquette and Scott Kazmir later, the Mets were finally reborn with the Next Year Is Now Mets, but that was just a prelude to the wonderful The Team. The Time. The Debilitating Playoff Exit. Mets.

All year long we romped through the National League. It was miracle finish after miracle finish. Beltran, Reyes, Wright, Delgado -- all of them were superb. Role players like Jose Valentin shined. It was a special season, and pretty much from the get-go we were the best the Senior Circuit had to offer.

I'll let you in on a little secret: I still think the Mets are the best team in the National League. But hold on a minute, how about these Brewers? Entering play on May 11, it's the Brewers -- not the Mets, not the Red Sox, not the Yankees (is it even worth listing them anymore?) -- who own the best record in baseball.

Entering play tonight, it's the Brewers who are the best team in the National League, at least record-wise. Say what you want about run differentials, potential, etc., but the Brewers have themselves the best record with one fifth of the season in the books. The Mets would have to sweep this series to end play on Sunday with a better record.

It's the surest sign yet that we're not in 2006 anymore. As much as we already knew that (hello Atlanta keeping pace), it's kind of upsetting for me to confront the fact as directly as we all have to today. The mantle of being the best at anything is yours until somebody takes it away, and right now, through 34 games, the Brew Crew has done just that.

Now in fairness, it's taken a 9-1 homestand against the shitty Cardinals, the shitty Pirates and the shitty Nationals to produce the vaunted 24-10 mark that Milwaukee brings to Shea tonight. But give credit where it's due: good teams beat up on lesser opposition.

All that said, I'm not ready to let the Brewers run with that whole "best team in the NL" mantle. I'm excited to see what the next three days will bring. We know the pitching matchups don't exactly favor the Mets, but hey, there's a lot on the line here, not the least of which is pride.

I'll bet this Mets team still feels like it's the best the NL has to offer, and I'll bet it feels like it's time to start putting on a better show for the crowd at Shea. This series gives us the team an opportunity to make a statement to the National League in front of the Shea faithful.

Here's hoping they make good on that chance.

- A.F.O.M.G.