Psychologically Eliminated

The Medical Examiner will put the time of death officially at the 7th inning August 13, 2014.  The murder weapon was a fork, stuck into the Mets playoff hopes.  Forensic analysis confirmed multiple prints belonging to the Nationals who took possession of the Mets from the Braves who are losing their grip on everything these days.

I foolishly held out hope that the Mets might find a way to rally last night.  My first instinct was to post during the 7th inning stretch.  Statisticians and devout fans will tell you that it ain't over till it's over.  Well, even Yogi would call this one over.  There might be some sound and fury over the final 40 games, but it will signify nothing.

Right before the All Star Break, the Mets had a great Comeback win against the Braves.  It was a game they used to lose.  They still lose them only now they lose them to the Nats.  And when the Nats stuck that fork in them last night, it went right through the heart.  Until then, there were things to hope for.

The Mets will not catch the Nats for the East title.  They will not catch the wild card teams.  They will not even catch a .500 record.  If they were trailing a cold in the standings, they would not catch it.

Those Pesky 5 Games

So, here we are.  Forty-five games to go and we are still 5 games under .500.  It's like a dieter who complains about those 5 pounds that just won't seem to go away.  Last week, I mocked the New York Times for saying that the Mets were creeping towards .500 when they reached the lofty perch of 4 games under. At the time, they had played the 11 games since the All Star break at a 6-5 pace.  They proceeded to play the next 11 at 5-6.

I still thought that the Met's achieve that Monument to Mediocrity.  25-20 doesn't sound like too lofty a goal.  However, that translates to a winning percentage of .556 (actually .5555555 continuous 5's as far as the eye can see and then some).  That also doesn't sound too hard.  However, the East leading National's winning percentage is currently only .544.

That being said, if the Met's win 6 games during any stretch of 7 the rest of the way, then they only need to play .500 ball for the other games.  That really is one way to make it sound doable.  I will make 1 promise.  Unless there is a rain out, the Mets will NOT finish 5 games under .500.  There are no ties in baseball and 2x + 5 cannot total 162.