When the Braves last visited Queens, they came bearing gifts that helped give life to the Mets' season. They brought errors both mental and physical, mediocre pitching and listless at-bats during a three-game sweep that helped save Jerry Manuel's job and gave us our first hints that the Mets might not be as bad as expected this year.
Fitting, then, that they'd come back to town at another crossroads in the 2010 campaign. The All-Star break, our articificial midway point, comes at the end of this weekend's series. It's a time to take stock of what's happened so far and make plans for the stretch run. On both fronts, the Mets are a bit conflicted.
They've probably seen the Cliff Lee ship sail away from them. He's not going to a NL contender, which is good, but missing out on him could really sting if he does go to the Yankees and pitches them to October glory when the Mets come up just short. Lee was the big fish and the Mets could have really used them to tighten the screws on the Braves. The ocean is by no means empty but there aren't any other sure things out there. Omar Minaya will need to be a bit more aggressive now to make sure the team reels in someone with some meat on his bones.
Looking backward is mostly positive but there are some storm clouds on the horizon. It hasn't gotten much notice because the Mets have remained close to the Braves and because the Phillies have kept getting hurt, but the Mets are only 8-10 since shutting out the Yankees in the Friday game of their series at the Stadium. They've lost their lead in the Wild Card race, the Dodgers and Rockies have drawn even with them and their mojo, for lack of a better word, seems more subdued in the last couple of weeks.
Nothing like the Braves to snap you out of the doldrums. They hit rock bottom during that April weekend and things have been nothing but peaches and cream since then. Slapping them down would enable the Mets to end the first half on a good note, not to mention put a sweet little finish on what's been a pleasantly surprising first half. With Carlos Beltran actually returning soon and Johan Santana back on track, you'd have to like your chances once the games resume.
Losing the series wouldn't portend disaster, not by a long shot. It would certainly make people ask more questions about the team's fitness over the long haul, however, and raise the temperature around the team before the pennant race was truly underway.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
