Mets postseason race can still be thrilling even if its not an old-school pennant sprint

Some days, it’s still hard to get used to the New Order of a baseball pennant race.The Mets bopped the Phillies in the first game of a three-game series last weekend in Citizens Bank Park.

That nudged the Mets to within seven games of the Phils, with 15 to go.Then they lost bookend heartbreakers Saturday and Sunday.

Nine out, 13 to play.In the baseball arithmetic that prevailed for a hundred years, that translated to one word: over.And yes, we have had wild card baseball in our lives for almost 30 years now.We are used to second-place teams making a run.

We have had enough years now of three-wild-cards-get-in to the point even that has become a way of life.Still, if you talk to fans of a certain age, whenever you talk about wild cards in baseball, there is almost a sense of apology that goes along with it.Well, we’re still alive … but it’s for the WILD CARD …Eye roll follows.As with most things, we hold baseball to a higher standard.

It was that way with steroids; it was pretty clear football players used them for decades, but when PEDs elbowed their way into baseball, it was like eating popcorn in church.Every January, I brace for the inevitable slings and arrows from across the country when I reveal my Hall of Fame ballot.(True story: Last winter, when I left Todd Helton off my ballot, I received a lot of hate mail from the Denver area, and much of it was so obscene that it even made my generally-not-offendable ears tingle.

But the one I remember was a guy who said this in one simple, profanity-free sentence: “You should be arrested.”)Does anyone act that way toward the folks who vote for the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Hoops? Hockey? No.Just baseball.Same with playoffs.

The NFL ushered in wild cards starting in 1970 — and they were late to the party compared to the NBA and the NHL, where second-place teams had always been welcome.But when you think about baseball, there are still many who bemoan wild cards.

And that’s strange because, for ...