a little prayer for baseball

If there were ever a time to believe, it would be now. Unlike the end of last season, the sad start of an improbably baseball-less fall for us Mets fans, this is a beginning. The beginning after the end. A resurrection, of course.

After a 2-1 series victory over the Marlins last week and 0-2 series loss to Atlanta, we’re in a spot here, Mets fans: It’s time to believe or not. Ok, so we’ve already lost Pedro from our pitching line-up, but Santana is as amazing as promised, and other new Mets (Church, Schneider, Pagan etc.) are looking spry. It’s the last season at Shea Stadium, the crape myrtles are just about to bloom. Even the father at St. Mary Star of the Sea, the massive old red brick church behind our apartment building, is in the spirit. Me, I think I’m getting religion too.

So here’s a little prayer, lofted to the gods of baseball: Give these guys another chance…Give us another chance. We all deserve it. All baseball fans (even Yankees fans) think they are long-suffering. But our suffering is fresh. We need to believe again, and with the quickness.

I think the Mets are making it easy to believe again. How quickly we forgive them for their massive implosion, their inexplicable going-away. Or maybe it’s the nature of baseball; for a new fan, it’s a little too soon to tell. But I know that it’s good; it’s a lesson: Let go of the past…Believe in today, because it’s all we truly have.