Ghosts of Septembers Past, Present & Future

All season long this series loomed on the schedule like the Ghost of Septembers Past, a bleak, discouraging reminder of all that came undone last fall.

There was no telling where we or the Phillies would be in the standings come September 5, no guaranteeing it would even be relevant to a pennant chase. But as we looked at the schedule, I think we all hoped it would come to this, Mets-Phillies, 1-2 in a tight race in the NL East.

I think we all hoped for a chance at a redemption.

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To Mets fans of a certain vintage, the series starting tonight is the one we've been waiting for our whole baseball-loving lives.

For the last 22 years, the Mets have knocked on the door without ever bursting through. In all those years and through all the rivalries, not once have we managed to best our adversaries in a truly meaningful way.

We never beat the Braves.

We lost to the Yankees in 5.

And last year, we let it slip away against the upstart "team to beat".

For much of this season it appeared we wouldn't have the chance to make a statement in September, but ever since Jerry Manuel took over, the Mets have been on a collision course with Philly that's brought us to this point.

This is the moment we've been waiting for since last September, the chance to stick it to the Phillies and exorcise the demons.

How do we do that? Well, not to succumb to the tyranny of low expectations or anything, but I don't need the Mets to sweep this series to be satisfied. We just need to win it. We can't lose it. And we certainly can't get swept.

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Baseball's a funny game. Anybody who's followed the game has seen how teams and fanbases can, over time, make certain outcomes almost self-fulfilling prophecies.

For ages it was understood on both sides of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry that the Red Sox would eventually fail and the Yankees would come out on top.

We saw a similar dynamic for years whenever the Mets played the Braves. Mets fans, and players too it seemed, expect to lose when we played the Braves, especially down at Turner Field.

My big worry this September is that if we fail, that dynamic will establish itself for the Mets with the Philies.

It's already taken hold to some extent. After the "7 up with 17 to play" fiasco last year, each late-inning come-from-behind triumph for the Phillies serves as a reminder of missed opportunities past and present.

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And so it is that starting tonight we battle not only the Ghosts of Septembers past and present, but also the Ghost of Septembers yet to come.

Sweeping the Brewers was great. Going 6-2 on the road trip was great. But September starts tonight.

Starting tonight we face the tyranny of last year head on. Starting tonight we have the chance to script a better present in 2008. Starting tonight, we can strike a blow for Septembers still to come by rewriting the dynamics of our rivalry with the Phillies.

All of it's on the line starting tonight, and we'll see if the Mets can rise to the challenge.

- A.F.O.M.G.