It’s why they are called the Amazin’ Mets. The team from Flushing does not have the championships the one across the river has. They don’t have the amount of players in the Hall of Fame the team across the river has either. But for some reason, the Mets have cornered the market in New York when it comes to amazing baseball. And last night was no exception. They say the great thing about baseball is that you will see something new every day. How could anyone argue considering last night’s bottom of the 12th inning.

In case you were asleep, the Mets trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the 12th sent up Jose Reyes to lead off against San Francisco closer Armando (can’t get the third out in game 1 of the 2000 World Series against the Yankees) Benitez. Armando committed the cardinal sin of walking Reyes. Benitez then balked Reyes to second before Chevez bunted him over to third. With the infield in, Beltran grounded out leaving Reyes at third. Delgado came up with two out and while he was at the plate, Benitez balked in Reyes from third to tie the game. Three pitches later Delgado hit his second homer of the night just underneath the right field scoreboard. Mets win. Amazin’, truly amazin’.

This season which looked like it would be a dog fight with the Braves is starting to turn into something special. As well as the Mets have played this season, they seem to be getting even better by the game. Do not discount what Carlos Delgado’s recent surge means to this team. If he continues to hit homeruns like he has done lately, the Mets could really pull away in a hurry. As it is the Mets now have a 5 game lead on a good Atlanta team. Last year after 50 games, the Mets were 31-19 and in first place by 4.5 games over Atlanta. So far this year the Mets have actually improved on that record slightly with a record of 33-17 and 5 games over Atlanta. Obviously it’s still a long way to go but consider how well the Mets have played in spite of Jose Valentin being gone for almost a month with an ACL tear. Orlando Hernandez missed a few starts with shoulder tendonitis, Alou has been out with a pulled quad muscle and now Shawn Green has a broken bone in his right foot. But yet, the Mets train keeps on chugging.

It’s truly scary to think what this team would do if everyone was healthy and hot at the same time. But maybe that’s not how it works. That’s why it’s important to have a strong bench and good players at triple A so that when players are hurt or slumping, someone else can provide a lift. The karma is strong right now and the Mets are truly a fun bunch to watch and root for. With Willie pulling the right strings and patting the boys on the back, this is shaping up to be a fun summer at Shea.