This guy reads like he's Lupica...that's something I have noticed ,a bunch of these writers for local papers seem a lot like him.]Mets bring fun to NY baseball 1 of 1 New York Mets outfielder Endy Chavez makes a diving catch for an out on a ball hit by St. Louis Cardinals batter Ronnie Belliard during the fifth inning of Game 1 of baseball's National League Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006, at Shea Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)APOctober 13, 2006 New York � They have the town to themselves, finally, which means New York becomes a little less arrogant, a lot more loveable to the rest of the baseball world.There they were all over Shea Stadium last night, the bubbly, bouncy Mets commanding center stage, knocking the bloated Bronx Bombers from the spotlight � and, more importantly, taking Game 1 of the NLCS from the Cardinals, 2-0.With the Mets the only game in town and around the league last night, the rest of the country could see what we have all these months in New York:A team that gains fans seemingly by the play, that celebrates each teammate as much as it does any win.A team that is just flat-out fun.So the folks used to tuning into another edition of the Yankees soap opera in October saw something quite different from their neighbors over in Queens.Instead of seeing one more shot of Alex Rodriguez's frown, they saw David Wright laugh."I love it, I love it," Wright said, his eyes growing wide, when he finally let his game-face guard down for a moment after the cameras left. "This is what you dream of. You can't be scared of this. Can't shy away from it."No, the Mets embrace all of this now and with them you see fun replace work, teamwork erase tension.The Mets finally take over for the Yankees now, take over all of New York for the first time since 1986.But this is so unlike that year, when a cocky band of players prompted their fans to love them, but everyone else to hate them. Eventually, that team would sink into the abyss of turmoil off the field, unmet expectations on it and an overall sense of dread and disappointment that left fans disillusioned.This is so unlike that year, these Mets so confident in the brightness of their present � of this puppy dog-cuddly team � they could finally ignore the darkness of their past.Darryl Strawberry was free to savor a big spot with the Mets after years of unspoken separation, sending the crowd off to the right start by throwing out the first pitch.So the celebration began, a 20-year wait to take the town back taking a few extra days, thanks first to the Joe Torre chaos, then the sobering news of Cory Lidle's death.These Mets are the perfect team for this time as they have promised all season, a marketing gimmick becoming more true than even the person who dreamt it up could imagine.So now they took their spot in the middle of everything and the folks who have learned to hate New York for its boldness might have started weakening along with all those teeny-boppers' hearts at the sight of Wright."This team is fun, man!" one out-of-town writer said, a rare touch of enthusiasm in a field known more for robotic observation.They all could see that last night.They saw it in Willie Randolph nodding his head to the cheers at his introduction, savoring a moment in the stadium of the team he rooted for as he grew up.They saw Cliff Floyd grimace his way around first, then limp his way out of the game � later lamenting his choice to stay on the roster, wondering if he had hurt his team.They saw Floyd's replacement in left, Endy Chavez, come racing in to make a diving catch � his uninhibited joy almost as exciting to watch as the play itself. They saw Carlos Beltran � who would only win the game with a home run � come running over to shake his teammate's hand."He's been doing it all year," Wright said. "Endy, (Chris) Woodward, the guys on the bench, they want to be a part of this. It elevates their game."These Mets were making more and more people want to be a part of it now, taking over the town from the Yankees, showing how fun and light a game can be when it's not played with a series of soap opera subplots.And across a baseball nation, the folks who had tired of the same old storylines from the Yankees, were surely glad to meet these Mets.Dave Buscema's column appears regularly. Contact him at buscema@hotmail.com.http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/SPORTS/610130334