There, but for the grace of God, go we.

This morning at my weekly softball game, I was surrounded by kindred spirits longing for a gift from the baseball gods.

"The Mets can still pull this off, right?" they asked me pleadingly.

I didn't know what to tell them.

I've been following the unprecedented collapse of the 2007 New York Mets with some interest over the past several weeks. On September 13, the Red Sox were 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees in the East. On that same date, the Mets were 6.5 games up on the Phillies.

Less than three weeks later, the Sox have the best record in the bigs and are preparing to host the Angels at home. The Mets, on the other hand, are simply going home.

Others in the national media mocked the cautious optimism of Red Sox Nation, who almost to a man refused to accept victory until it was mathematically assured. We do this because we have been burned before. Just as the Mets were this year.

If the tide had been turned for three more games, that could have been us.

So enjoy, Sox fans. Mets fans here are miserable, compounded by the agony of having obnoxious Yankee fans rubbing the injury in their face on an hourly basis. And in their time of need, I'm not sure what to offer them.

Don't take these playoff games for granted, friends. What befell the Mets could have easily befallen us. Hopefully the Sox will make the most of the playoff opportunity.