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The Twins are astonishing. Red Sox were swept by them earlier this season - when most of the Sox players were healthy, and the Sox were #1 in the AL East for several weeks running, if memory serves me right.

The Red Sox lost last night and tonight to the Twins at Fenway (we were at last night's game). Tomorrow's matchup is the amazing Johan Santana vs. Josh Beckett, the pitcher with the recurring "blister problem". I want the Red Sox to win, but if I were betting, I'd bet on the Twins to win tomorrow night.

We went to ONE Mets game this year at Shea... Saturday, July 22. Saw El Duque vs. Brandon Backe (Houston Astros). Nice game... Mets won 4-3! ;-)

A few things about the Mets worry me. First is the starting pitching. If they are going to win then Pedro must pitch like Pedro, and right now things aren't looking that great as far as that goes. Trachsel is unreliable, but he somehow managed to win 16 games (so far) this season despite having an ERA around 5. Who the hell knows how he is going to respond in the postseason. El Duque is solid, should be no worries there. Glavine, who knows? He has been a bit shaky but I have the feeling that his experience and savvy will come through big. The bullpen is excellent so there are no worries there.

Second is their lineup. They do have a stacked lineup that can score runs in bunches almost at will. However, it is extremely right handed heavy. There is no left handed hitting threat to be found. They have had very big struggles against even mediocre left handed pitching this season - and every other postseason team knows it. Going up against a team with a couple of decent lefty starters, and lefty relievers could be a huge obstacle, especially in a short series.

Don't get me wrong, I think that they have as good a shot as any to win it all this year. They have proven over the course of the regular season that they are certainly capable of big things. I'm just trying to be as realistic as I can be as a Met fan. I said at the beginning of the year that this years team will be very good and make the playoffs as either a wild card or division winner, but that they are still a year away from being a no doubt championship caliber team. That being said, they are already much better than I thought they would be at this point and have already shown that they know how to win tight, playoff type games. The scary thing for the rest of the league is that if the Mets do win it this year that they will in all likelihood be even better, much better, next year after they pick up another pitcher and a couple of lefty bats.

LET'S GO METS!!!!