I believe if the Mets had beaten the Cardinals in the 2006 NLCS, then they would have beaten the Tigers in the 2006 World Series.

Mike Lupica outdoes himself, making predictions of past events that never happened:

"It doesn't matter how they got here, the terrible history that has been written since the night in October of 2006 when Carlos Beltran took a called third strike from with the pennant on the bases and the Cardinals went to the World Series, which they won, and not the Mets."

Okay, it doesn't matter how they got here. It doesn't matter how they got here. It doesn't matter.

The only reason Lupica would even suggest it doesn't matter is because an honest analysis would require a takedown of Randolph and Minaya.


"The chain reaction, at least on the field, started then. If the Mets had won that 2006 Series from the Tigers - which I believe they would have, the Tigers took all that time off after they won the American League pennant and never recovered against the Cardinals - then maybe they don't collapse in September of 2007."

Unbelievable.


If the Mets had beaten the Cardinals (which they didn't) ...

Then the Mets would have beaten the Tigers (which they didn't) ...

And if the Mets had beaten the Tigers (which they didn't) ...

Then the Mets wouldn't have collapsed in 2007.


Using this reasoning, I say anything would have happened.


"If they don't collapse that September maybe it doesn't happen again the next September."

We can extend this endlessly and you end up the Mets winning five World Series in a row.


"But it did."

Yeah.

It did.

Join the rest of the world in discussing what actually happened rather than discussing what maybe would not have happened.


"Terrible relief pitching. No Santana to start the season, no Bay, Beltran still looking like a shell of what he once was. Pedro Martinez long gone. It is the short list of Omar Minaya's All-Stars."

Beltran is playing well. Not a shell of what he once was. .286, 3 HRs, just for the record.


"I thought he was the best guy at the time to run the Mets, a good man and a great story out of the neighborhood in Flushing. Only now he is gone and the Mets are where they are."

That's almost Lupica admitting he was wrong about Minaya.


"And please understand that Minaya didn't act alone. Fred and Jeff Wilpon stood right there and watched him make the deals he did and spend their money the way he did and never stoped [sic] him."

No, Minaya acted alone. The owners stood right there and watched. That's the same thing as doing nothing. Which means Minaya acted alone.


"Maybe this doesn't seem nearly as hopeless if some of the relievers had gotten some big outs, and if stars like David Wright had over-performed instead of under-performed so far. There was the one series against the Rockies when the Mets had two-run leads in all four games and lost them all. There are all those teams who came into Thursday with 9-9 records in the National League Central. Give the Mets just a few more wins this season and they look like one more mediocre team trying to make its way through the first month of the baseball season."

Right.

Give the Mets a few more losses and they're the worst team in baseball history.

Lupica, you're going to be great on the radio.