Benjamin Grimm

W L Pct3 Avg W Avg L Champions Wild Card Playoffs 1D Change 7D Change Mets 86 67 .547 90.9 71.1 51.78453 35.69591 87.48045 14.84209 -2.75969 Phillies 86 68 .533 90.7 71.3 47.96093 39.43007 87.39101 -1.45506 64.23895 Marlins 81 72 .498 85.4 76.6 .25453 .86703 1.12156 .40139 .97577 Brewers 84 70 .530 88.6 73.4 .00535 23.11895 23.12430 -14.17302 -52.06451 Astros 81 72 .468 85.8 76.2 .00000 .77322 .77322 .32702 -8.88744As a courtesy to the Astros, who won yesterday, they'll remain part of the daily update. The Mets, as we know, had a great day yesterday, gaining 14.84209 playoff points, almost entirely at the expense of the Brewers. It's looking extremely likely that both the Mets and Phillies will make the playoffs and that the Marlins surge will probably be too little too late. (But it would be nice if they kept it going for at least two more games.) Mets Magic Numbers: Over the Phillies: 9; Brewers: 7; Marlins and Astros: 5. Phillies magic number over the Brewers: 7. Over the Marlins and Astros: 5. NHOP Update: Mets over Phillies: 52.9% (9 out of 17) Mets over Brewers: 41.2% (7 out of 17) Mets over Astros and Marlins: 27.8% (5 out of 18). Of course, the NHOP for the Marlins is a bit more complicated, as they have two remaining games against the Phillies. The happier outcome, by far, in each of those two games would be a Marlins victory. Personally, I'm not yet at a point where I want to root for the Brewers to win, but to have them overtake the Phillies, but not the Mets, would be sweet. Meanwhile, the Cubs have clinched a tie for the NL Central, and have a magic number of 1. With the Mets back in first place, the projected NLDS matchups are Cubs-Phillies and Mets-Dodgers. Cubs and Mets would have home-field advantage. The Yankees are still barely alive, with .00003% for the AL East and .01529 for the Wild Card. Diamondback playoff hopes are down to 1.97640. Other teams still alive, but with their hopes down below 1 point are St. Louis and Toronto.

A perfect day. Let's do it again today!

Perez 2.5 Feliciano 0.5 Heilman 0.5 Stokes 1 Murphy 2.6 Evans 0.7 Reyes 1 Wright 0.4 Beltran 0.4 Delgado 0.4

As I've said, I'm beyond the point where a Mets loss will put me in a bad mood. But a day like yesterday can sure put me in a good mood. I watched the last four innings on TiVo-delay this morning, and the sun seems to be shining a little brighter than usual today.

You know, Nick Evans seems like a nice young player, but I'd like to see Daniel Murphy get some starts against lefties.

Well, that's good news, I guess. Another game that I hope isn't necessary, but if there has to be a one-game playoff on September 29, I'd rather it was at Shea against the Brewers than at Citizens Bank Park against the Phillies. I'm also in favor of anything that extends the life of Shea Stadium, even if it's only for a day.

The air that Derek Jeter breathes would cure the sick and heal the lame.

When are we going to get to see dcbatgirl in her Batgirl costume?

Actually, that's not correct. I'm looking at the standings from September 21, and the Phillies are 84-70, while the Wild Card-leading Padres are 85-68, the identical record that the Mets have at this point. The Phillies are 1.5 back in the Wild Card and the Rockies are next, at 82-72, 3� games behind the Padres and 2 behind the Phillies. The Rockies, of course, with their incredible late-season surge, are largely what kept the Mets from having the Wild Card as a fallback option.

Frayed Knot wrote: Phils, btw, hold a 2-game lead in the WC race at this point meaning that we supposedly have a bigger cushion than needed. Wow, I don't remember that part of it at all. If the Phillies were 2 up on the Wild Card then the Mets were 3� up. They blew a 3�-game wild card lead with 9 to play? Yikes.

VOTING FOR THIS GAME IS NOW CLOSED Totals for September 16, 2008 (10 votes) Washington Nationals 1, New York Mets 0 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceMike Pelfrey44.704.47(L) 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO.Joe Smith6.400.641.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.Ramon Castro0.850.081-1.Robinson Cancel0.850.081-1.David Wright0.100.011-4, 2 SO.Brian Schneider0.100.011-2.

I'm glad. (I would have been equally happy with Syracuse.) I like the trend that's developed where teams try to get their affiliates as close to home base as possible. Any word on the fate of the Zephyrs? The Mets' stay in New Orleans (two years) is their shortest Triple A affiliation since they spent one year in Syracuse in 1962. (And that team was shared with the Senators.) The other short stints were three years in Buffalo (1963 through 1965) and Jacksonville (1966 through 1968). Useless fun fact: Three of the Mets AAA cities were, or would become NFL cities. (Buffalo, Jacksonville, New Orleans)

It's very much Phillies country. Last year my daughter was sent to the principal's office for wearing a Mets shirt! It was all in fun, of course. The principal gasped in horror and then sent her back to her class.

...at my kids' elementary school. And they both decided to go in wearing their Mets t-shirts and caps. I couldn't be more proud!

Well, the other thing is, what if David has to come out of the game in the NLDS or beyond? At that point, you won't (I don't think) have Argenis Reyes or Ramon Martinez on the roster. I guess it would have to be Murphy or Castillo. But then again, Castillo is their only second baseman if Argenis doesn't make the post-season roster. Hopefully Easley will be healthy... otherwise we might very well see Argenis in October.* * As always, should we be so fortunate to qualify for postseason play.

Yeah, that's what got me thinking about who his backup is.

I think part of it is that the Phillies have a softer schedule. (Remember, 4 of the Mets remaining 10 games are against the Cubs.) Also, Baseball Prospectus doesn't do tie-breakers. If the Mets end up tied with the Phillies, they give half the points to the Mets and half to the Phillies, rather than all points to the Mets. Here's how they explain it: ]Champions is how often, in percentage terms, this team won the championship of their division. Ties are not broken, but credited as 0.5 championships apiece (for a two-way tie), .333 apiece for a three-way tie, .25 for four-way, etc. This is why the final decimal place is not an error!

Two guys named AReyes would really complicate my Schaefer tallying, so I guess it's just as well.

Kingsport goes on and on and on...

W L Pct3 Avg W Avg L Champions Wild Card Playoffs 1D Change 7D Change Phillies 86 67 .535 91.2 70.8 65.70010 23.14596 88.84606 7.24891 66.21829 Mets 85 67 .544 90.3 71.7 34.09700 38.54137 72.63837 9.98358 -17.55688 Brewers 84 69 .535 89.2 72.8 .02105 37.27627 37.29732 -16.51440 -36.93337 Marlins 80 72 .496 84.9 77.1 .20290 .51727 .72017 .12309 .60574 Astros 80 72 .468 85.4 76.6 .00000 .44620 .44620 -0.87456 -8.89261Yesterday was one of the better days that the Mets have had in a while with a win over the Nationals and a heart-breaking loss that the Brewers suffered to the Cubs. The day was only marred by yet another win by the Phillies, their seventh in a row. The Mets wild card lead expands to 1.5 games, and their deficit to the Phillies remains at a half game. Mets Tragic Number for the NL East: 10 Mets Magic Number for the Wild Card: 9 Mets NHOP with the Phillies: 57.9% (11 out of 19) Mets NHOP with the Brewers: 47.4% (9 out of 19) The Astros continue to fade away. If they don't gain ground in today's action, I expect that this will be the last time they'll be listed in these updates. Meanwhile, the Marlins pop back in to the picture. Their record is the same as Houston's, but BP has their odds a bit higher. Let's hope this inspires them to smack the Phillies around a bit this weekend. Mets magic number over both Houston and Florida, who have identical records: 6 Mets NHOP with Florida and Houston: 30% each. (6 happy outcomes in 20 games.) This weekend the three teams we care most about are all on the road: Mets in Atlanta, Phillies in Miami, and the Brewers will be in Cincinnati. And the team that we're losing interest in, the Astros, is also on the road, in Pittsburgh. In other news from around the major leagues, the Dodgers now have playoff odds of 97.80655%, and the Diamondbacks have dropped all the way down to 2.19345%. Both numbers are NL West odds; they're both at 0 for the Wild Card. In the AL East, as we've known for a while, the Rays and Red Sox are both extremely likely to make the playoffs, but the identity of the division champ is still to be determined. The Rays are currently at 72.75650% and the Red Sox at 27.24350%. And there's only one remaining division race that's still competitive that doesn't have the Wild Card berth as a safety cushion. That's in the AL Central, where the White Sox have a 77.89580% for the division and the Twins are at 22.10420%.

Voting for Wednesday night's tension-packed 9-7 win over the Nationals will close on some time over the weekend. Please be sure to vote! Participation is beginning to lag a little bit, but with only a few more games to go let's all try to hang in there! There's a pretty tight race for Player of the Year honors, with four different players still in the running for the ultimate honor. Schaefer POTG 9/17/08 - Mets 9, Nationals 7

Santana 4.5 Church 1 Reyes 1 Murphy 1 Schneider 1.5 Beltran 1

You know, I just realized that Tatis was pretty much David Wright's backup at third base. And I would suppose that Easley was next on the depth chart. So, now what? If David needs a rest, or gets ejected from a game, or something like that, who do we put at third base?

Oh, yeah, these Brewers games are vital. Mets magic number for the consolation prize drops to 10. And tonight, we find ourselves rooting for old friend... Mike Hampton!

That was fantastic. Hope remains alive for a three-happy-outcome day. Around here, we used to call that Triple Happiness.