Tale of Three Teams

Picture, if you will, three teams. All three are on the cusp of a three-game sweep of a divisional foe.

The first team is looking to sweep out a team with the highest payroll in baseball, facing a pitcher who had been 17-1 (no joke) when his team was looking to avoid a three-game sweep.

The second team is looking to complete a tough sweep on the road against a first-place team who had come into the series with the best record in baseball.

The third team is looking to finish a sweep at home, in front of a sell-out crowd, against a rookie pitcher and an absolute joke of an opponent, by far and away the worst team in baseball.

Well, you know that first team? They fought back from yet another early deficit - as they had done all weekend long - to neatly polish off their opponent. Oh, let's not forget their straight steal of home, and the fact that a certain HGH-ingesting Texan is now 17-2 when his team is facing a sweep. In short, it has become clear that the Boston Red Sox would crawl over broken glass to win a baseball game right now.

And that second team? Well, they didn't even give their opponent a chance to get off the decks, scoring 2 in the first and tacking on continuously after that for a 13-2 victory. No fuss, no muss, sweep completed. It's what championship teams do, I guess.

Now, if the Red Sox could sweep a talent-packed team like the Yankees, if the Phillies could go down to Florida and crush the first-place Marlins for the third straight game, then surely the third team we've been discussing would cruise into a relaxing victory against a pathetic opponent, right?

Well, we didn't get a straight steal of home like we saw up in Boston, we didn't get a dozen tack-on runs against a team ripe to be swept down in Florida, and we didn't get a team that would crawl over broken glass to finish off an opponent.

Rather, we got a team that strolls casually to second base and gets tagged out.

Ladies and gents, your 2009 New York Mets.