Can the Mets at least satisfy modest hopes?

Before the 2010 season, I allowed that I would be happy if the Mets just improved on their miserable performance the previous year, and finished no worse than third in their division. It was not to be. This year I expressed no such hope, though I inwardly clung to it. As I write this, the Mets are in third place by the narrowest of possible margins, a half game ahead of the Nationals. The Mets are where they are by dint of having won a series in Atlanta from their arch-nemeses, the Braves. This, however, came after they were swept in three by the Nats, dropping them from third to fourth. Such have been the Mets this year, playing well against good teams and poorly against mediocre ones. They've provided moments of satisfaction and, at times, excitement. They have nine games left. The best they can do is hang on to third. Let's go, Mets.

Mets cap image courtesy of Filipino Nurses, whose services the injury-plagued Mets could have used this season.