Chapter 67.3: Choke!

They're done. So here's what I think we're looking at for over the off-season:

I don't know the contract status of all the guys, but I believe that many current players will be gone. For example, Paul LoDuca is in the final year of his contract, and unless he's willing to take a shorter-term contract than I suspet he wants, I'd say it's time to wish him well. And keep Ramon Castro.

Carlos Delgado looks done to me. His bat's slower and he just doesn't look right. Perhaps we'll learn he was hurt all year or something, but I fear he's simply on the downside of his career.

Luis Castillo: keep him -- or if necessary, re-sign him. He's been a solid pickup, and I'd like to see what he can do in a full season.

Jose Reyes: There's something going on. I don't know what it is, but his mind is not on baseball. He's still an electrifying player. But something went wrong and the Mets need him to be on his game again.

David Wright: More and more, he's become THE star of the team. He obviously remains and I believe he'll improve.

OF: Moises, the Mets have an option for $7.5 million, take it and sign him. Beltran, another quiet but successful season. Milledge: trade him. Get some pitching. His attitude and histrionics are a problem. But he has value. Get some pitching.

Pitching is the problem. Pedro is still worth keeping, Glavine is a big question mark. It's up to him whether he plays, but I think he's only going to be a Met. If he chooses to, then he's worth some amount as a back-end starter. But I think it's time for him to retire. John Maine is still a valuable player, I'm not sure about Oliver Perez, but he's probably ok. El Duque is done. He's unable to sustain himself for a full season. Mike Pelfrey, I just don't know. If he gets packaged in a deal for a front-line pitcher, I'd not complain. Philip Humber, he's got potential and I'd like to see what he can do.

The bullpen, however, is where wholesale changes must occur. Billy Wagner is still the closer. Aaron Heilman I think I'd trade. He wants to be a starter, trade him for a starter or a couple decent middle relievers (or maybe a first baseman). Pedro Feliciano? What happened?! I'd keep him, but my leash isn't long for him. Joe Smith. Who cares? Frankly, at this point. Now that those last outs have occurred, I'm not sure which of them I care about. The 2007 Mets have earned their spot in history -- as the biggest chokers of all time!

Chapter 67.25: Thanks, John!

I'm amazed at how much calmer I feel right now. John Maine pitched the best game of any Mets pitcher all year -- allowing only one hit in 7 and two-thirds innings. He struck out 14 batters and the one hit was a dinker. Had Maine gotten him out, he'd have faced bedlam in the ninth, since no pitcher has ever thrown a no-hitter for the Mets.

As I type, the Nationals and Phillies are playing. The Phils already removed their starting pitcher, who'd allowed half of the batters he faced to get on base. The Nationals should have scored more than they did.

Whether the Phillies lose today remains to be seen, but regardless, the Mets must win tomorrow in order to have any chance to make the playoffs. Lets Go Mets!

Chapter 67.2: That Kind of Weekend

So many beers, so little time. Nice piece on Maine beers in the New York Times.

Chapter 67.15: Why We'll Advance to the Playoffs

Ok, I have to remain positive. The Mets haven't been eliminated -- we're not the Braves, after all. I've got a few reasons to list why the Mets will take the National League East division.

* They're 10-5 against this weekend's competition, the Florida Marlins, who looked awful last weekend against a truly miserable Mets team (Whoops, I said I'd be positive.)

* The Phillies are playing the Nationals, who have been quite scrappy in the second half and have started to gel under manager Manny Acta (who was a Mets coach last year -- a little karma thing going, you see?)

* The Mets have Oliver Perez (pictured on right), John Maine, and Tom Glavine going in these final three games. Perez has become a big-game pitcher, one of those guys who seems to do better when there's a lot of pressure on him. This may explain why he was awful in Pittsburgh. Maine's been sketchy at best during the second half, but these are the Marlins. (I know, not a strong argument at all.) And Tom Glavine has been strong most of the year and in what could be his final game ever, he's not going to stink up Shea and earn the wrath of fans who have finally started to warm to him.

* I've already spent nearly $300 on playoff tickets for a game that might not take place, regardless of whether the Mets are in the post-season. (Perhaps this last point is a bit personal, and it may even point to why they won't make the playoffs.)

I'm a frustrated Mets fan, and I know enough of the team's history to realize that this will be an interesting and excruciating weekend. I've not been this nervous since Kenny Rogers was on the mound during the 1999 NLCS.

Chapter 67.1: Jeez, They Suck!

What's going on with the Mets? No, no. I can't watch. Please tell me they'll sweep the next three and the Nationals will take care of the Phillies. Good God! I'm praying that Washington can come through for me!

Chapter 67: The Rest Is Academic

Yes, that title line is supposed to be a joke. I finished the book earlier today, though I have discovered in some skimming that I still have a bunch of smaller tweaks to make still. Tomorrow, after a hearty jog, I'll devote as much of the day as possible to reading it full through. I know there'll be some word changes to make, and I want to make sure my town names remain consistent (aside from Hoboken and New York City, I decided to fictionalize the other towns I mention, though they're based on places I know -- some of the cities have been combined for the sake of convenience.)

Of course, I still don't have an agent, much less a publisher. I'm confident that the right opportunities will arise.

Chapter 66.9: Close to 'The End'

I'm on vacation and taking a break from my novel, which is only about 30 pages away from "re-completion." I anticipate adding some more description in one of the last chapters; I was never pleased with it. But I believe that I'll have it done by dinner time tomorrow -- if not sooner. I've already started letting those few "early readers" know that they will be receiving copies soon. It's not quite like how I felt when I first typed "The End" a couple years ago, but I believe this time the book will be better than it was then. The next entry will acknowledge another goal reached!

Chapter 66.8: Aliens for Richardson

No, I don't mean the aliens that are probably streaming across the New Mexico border, but rather the ones that streak across the sky (maybe that's what was lighting up the sky the other night.)

Yes, even an august publication like the Washington Post is trying to determine the how extraterrestrials will influence the 2008 election. I think this story was supposed to run next April -- as in April first, a day for fools. What the heck is Dana Milbank doing? The article's funny, yes, but does the Post pay him to report on whether Dennis Kucinich is a closet UFOlogist? And Bill Richardson's only chance to get elected to higher office is if ET and his buddies land and get suffrage before November 2008. Oh yeah, and they'd have to spread out across the country, because if they're only in New Mexico, he'd only win that one state -- and even then, he'd probably have a tough time in that swing state. Something tells me Richardson's only help from above is God, not aliens.

I enjoyed the sense of humor displayed by Hillary Clinton's spokesperson, who responded to Milbank's question by saying, "Let me check in with the mother ship." I'm not sure how the senator would take that, however.

If nothing else, we can be thankful that there are spokespeople who aren't afraid to tell a reporter to stuff it. Take this from Kucinich's spokesperson:

"If you have a serious question, just ask me," Kucinich spokeswoman Natalie Laber replied when told of the UFO crowd's hopes for her boss. "If not, then just keep your silly comments to yourself."

For the record, while I'm ok with people trying legally to make a better life for themselves in the United States, I don't think ET should be fast-tracked to get a vote, whether they're Republicans, Democrats, or independents.

Chapter 66.7: Look, Up in the Sky!

I didn't see it, but the other night something bright streaked across the sky above New Mexico. According to SpaceWeather.com, some folks in New Mexico witnessed and filmed the disintegration of what must have been some massive piece of space junk. (Or was it a crashing UFO? How far away from Santa Fe is Roswell? Can the Northern Lights be viewed in New Mexico?) The description of the object being four times brighter than the moon is startling.

It reminded me of the day the spaceshuttle Columbia broke up in the skies above Texas. (Is it really four years ago already!) It was during the weekend, and for some reason I awoke very early needing to use the bathroom. I didn't have my glasses on and was startled by a brief burst of light in the night. Hours later, when I learned of the Columbia's tragic demise, I wondered if I might have inadvertently witnessed the after effects of the destruction, but the timelines don't match. Just a random burst of light, I suppose.

Either way, things like that keep me scanning the starry skies, waiting patiently for something fascinating to occur.

Chapter 66.65: A Different Kind of Monument

Although I love Dublin, it's been more than a decade since I last visited. In my absence, the city has erected a monument on O'Connell Street, which is the main drag of the capital city, and a road I walked almost daily when I went to school at Trinity.

I didn't know about the monument until I read the piece in Slate. But now I have one more reason to return. It sounds very interesting and is essentially nothing at the same time -- like a Beckett play. Has anyone out there seen the Dublin Spire? Please share your thoughts. Cool? Overhyped? Mysterious? Stupid? What say you?

Chapter 66.6: Six Years Later

When I got on the train this morning, I was still groggy, fixated on the rain and humidity, not paying attention to the day. Even after I'd sat down and folded my sports page as per train etiquette, I wasn't thinking about the date. But I overheard a man say "six years" and I remembered.

I was shocked that it had floated past me. It's not as though I've completely forgotten. I assigned pieces related to 9/11 and we have a story that I held for posting till today. Indeed, 9/11 was on my mind a lot over the past weekend. But this Tuesday morning, it wasn't there.

I reflected briefly on how different this Tuesday, September 11 is from the previous Tuesday, September 11 six years ago. That day was beautiful, blue skies and pleasant temperatures. Today is disgusting. Rain and humidity, grey and dismal. A 180 degree difference.

While it is probably different around the country, we still talk about 9/11 a lot in the New York/New Jersey area. It remains a significant point of demarcation: "Was that pre-9/11?" ... "I switched jobs after 9/11" ... "I started working from home after 9/11" ... etc. And pass by a restaurant table and you might hear smatterings of words "North Tower" ... "second plane" ... and you know exactly what is being discussed. For the forseeable future and beyond, it will always be this way. It should be. We move on, but we never forget.

Chapter 66.4: Cracks in the Facade

It has begun. The conservatives and Republicans are starting to part from each other. What surprises me is that the Republicans in this story are becoming Democrats. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. While I think a third party may eventually emerge in American politics, it will only happen if there's a realistic chance for a candidate for president to take electoral votes -- i.e. to win a state. It's been a long time since that happened (George Wallace in 1968).

That's the main reason I don't think Michael Bloomberg will run; while he might be able to inject some interesting debate in the race, I don't think he can be a big enough spoiler to push the race into the House of Representatives.

But now we are seeing Republicans becoming Democrats in states where they have little support -- Missouri and Kansas. What does all this have to do with the 2008 presidential election? Probably nothing. But I think it will make the congressional races more interesting -- both in 2008 and 2010. And if we start to see more independents in Congress, then we might start seeing some interesting political highlights. Who knows, maybe C-SPAN would create a highlights show a la ESPN. Now that may be a sure sign of a coming apocalypse.

Chapter 66.3: 30 Years of Voyager

I've been a self-proclaimed "spaceophile" for many years, though my interest was rekindled in the mid 1990s by the film Apollo 13 and gained root with From the Earth to the Moon on HBO.

I like to call July 20 Moon Day, because it is the date on which we first set foot there. Less well known, however, are the adventures of the Voyager probes. And now we are celebrating thirty years since their launch. Today is the thirtieth anniversary of Voyager 2's launch, and its sister ship, Voyager 1, was launched just a couple weeks before that on August 20, 1977.

Both are now past the heliosphere, still sending messages and data all these years later. I believe there will be stories to tell about these ships to the generations that have been born since.

Of course, several films have already used the Voyager ships to lead into tales -- the first Star Trek movie and Carl Sagan's Contact to name just a couple -- so I'm not venturing too far afield when I say that, but I believe there's more out there. Whether I tell those tales or not, I don't know, but it's comforting to know that there's knowledge to be gained beyond our solar system. Happy Anniversary, Voyager.