And A Rag-Tag Crew Shall Lead Them - Shades of Last Season

In 2006, everything was going right for the Mets when either the bottom of the order (often led by Jose Valentin) or the bench were able to take over for the heart of the order when Wright, Delgado and Beltran weren't at their best. For long patches this season, both the bench and the bottom of the order were AWOL for long stretches.

After today's 6-2 win against the Cubbies (over hopeful Mets' starter in 2008, Mr. Carlos Zambrano), and on the heals of winning 2 out of 3 from the Brew-Crew, one thing is evident - both the bench and the bottom of the order are back!!!

Marlon Anderson (CF) (playing for Lastings Milledge, who himself is playing for the injured Beltran), Ramon Castro (C) (playing for Paul Lo Duca) and Ruben Gotay (2B) (playing for the injured Jose Valentin and instead of recent acquisition, Luis Castillo) all played major roles in today's victory.

Ramon Castro has been on fire recently, and is making Omar's job harder next year when he has to decide whether to extend an offer to free agent-to-be, PLD, or give Castro a shot at starting. He is batting an even .300, with 9 homers and 27 RBI's in only 115 at-bats, over 40 games (exactly as many as he played in all of 2006!) with another homer to help during today's victory! His defense as usual is excellent, and with the possibility of Pedro coming back soon, his personal catcher may soon be the entire rotation's personal catcher!

Marlon Anderson has been a revelation in his second go-round with the Mets, making us wonder why we ever let him go the first time. I watched him play a major role in last season's stretch-run for the Dodgers, and was ecstatic when Omar acquired him recently. He was a beloved role player and pinch-hitter during his short stretch in L.A., and he is a far better addition to our bench then Mr. Franco ever was (you know- the man who was dropped by the Braves 2 weeks after they signed him - again!)

Ruben Gotay continues to pound the ball, hitting an obscene .352 for the season in 128 at-bats, with 45 hits, 4 homers, 20 RBI's and 65 total bases with a .508 slugging percentage. I am still glad we acquired Castillo, since we gave up nothing to get him and he can platoon with Gotay in a way that almost reminds me of the days of Backman and Teufel!

Tomorrow, we might be writing about the heroics of Lastings Milledge, Damion Easley or David Newhan (okay, probably NOT Newhan, but you get the picture!) When things are going well for the Mets, their bench and bullpen play major roles, and that's EXACTLY what they did today.

With a healthy Pedro perhaps 2-3 weeks away, Perez and Maine showing that they are for real, Wagner showing his usual dominant stuff, Reyes and Wright playing like Reyes and Wright, and a slew of players waiting to return to health (Beltran, Gomez, Chavez and Sanchez, to name a few), AND with a 4+ lead over the Phils and Braves, we're poised to become the dominant team we all felt and hoped we'd be before the season started.

We've all said we weren't worried about the Braves getting Texiera or whomever the Phils might acquire- we know that if we play like we know we can, the only thing we have to worry about is remaining healthy to win the Division and the Pennant...if Pedro comes back, and we get some of our DLed players healthy soon and back up to speed, we just might be peaking at the right time of the year for the World Series run we all believe is within our team's grasp...keep believin'!!!