Ninety-Nine (Flash the Message)

We've waited 99 games. It's been a while since the Mets had a game with this much riding on it. Sure, the series in Philly a week or two ago was big, but it was big for a different reason. The Mets were playing to give themselves a reason to believe, and to save their season.

They passed that test with flying colors. The test they face tonight is different.

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The Mets haven't been a first place team since the Phillies took that from them late last year. The big ticket question coming in to 2008 was how would the Mets respond to the embarrassment of last September? Would there be a hangover?

I don't know the answer to that question exactly. The Mets played poorly in the first half of the season, but was it because of a psychological hangover, or was it because of Carlos Delgado's anemic production, or was it because Willie Randolph lost the clubhouse?

I don't know. What I do know, and what's important, is that the Mets are finally playing ball the way we thought they would coming into the year.

Tonight they have the chance to reward themselves by vaulting into sole possession of first place. They have a chance, with their ace on the hill, to end Joe Blanton's honeymoon before it even starts.

More than anything, they have a chance to send the message to the Phillies that they can take them down in a big game. They have a chance to show that this time they won't wilt when the pressure's on.

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The Mets have won 7 of 10 against the Phillies so far this year.

Throw that out the window. The Mets won 6 of the first 10 against Philly last year, and didn't win another game from there.

The fall began with a loss to the Phillies in July, a makeup game following a rain out earlier in the year. It all snowballed from there.

If the Mets are going to be winners in 2008, they have to start now. The 10 game winning streak was nice, saving their season was a necessary first step, but it's first place that counts.

Tonight they have their chance.

- A.F.O.M.G.