Hey gang. I recently visited the offices of MLB.com during WalkaboutNYC (as organized by the company I work for — Harvest) and as a part of the sack of stuff they gave out, there was a ball. "Oh cool!," I thought. "A major league baseball! Neato!" And I opened the box and omg — there are signatures on this ball!

My assumption is that this ball was signed by the folks who work at MLB.com, as a lark, but then again... who knows? Are these major leaguer signatures? I have no idea. You, you red reporters, are my connection to the rest of baseball. Do you recognize any of these signatures?

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Friends! On the 27th of this month, I shall be returning to my ancestral homeland for a Midsummer's FestiVole to engage in shenanigans including, but not limited to:

• Baseball
• An Amusement Park
• Baseball
• Gooning around with a bunch of weirdos from the internet
• Baseball

I have created this thread so that we can organize ourselves and spread the Good News to all interested parties. 

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Oh, where to begin with the beleaguered 2010 Mets club?  How about a bit of history?

A BIT OF HISTORY

2007: After having a 7-game lead in the NL East, the Mets commit one of the worst collapses in MLB (if not sporting) history and lose 12 of their last 17 games to miss the postseason. 88-74

2008: On the last day of the regular season, the Mets screw the pooch again and manage to completely miss the postseason. 89-73

2009: After two years of near-perfect collapse, the Mets decide to give their fans a break and let them enjoy the amenities of the new Citi Field by not giving them a reason to watch any of the baseball being played.  70-92

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2010

Seriously?  Not a whole lot.  More of the same, really.  More of the same team that finished 70-92 last year.  The only major acquisition to speak of was former Pirate Jason Bay from the Red Sox.   He's pretty good at playing baseball, unlike the rest of the team.  He's one of the few things the Mets have to show for their $150 million payroll this year.  That's right - $150 million.  They've got over twice the payroll of the Reds, and roughly half the team.  Let the smack-talk begin!

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When have the Bengals played their best this year? Against weak teams asking to get crushed? Of course not. They play their best football in high-pressure situations against strong opponents. Drives late in the fourth quarter gave us the "cardiac cats" - a nickname that would still be around had they won the San Diego game. We also saw losses that left us all shaking our heads ("The Raiders? Really?) Week in, week out we saw them play up (and down) to their opponents based on the pressure of the situation and this week was no different.

What pressure, exactly, was on the team? The only thing they had to play for was to determine their seed and opponent. They're going to the playoffs no matter what. They're playing the first round at home no matter what. As soon as they decided to sit Benson (and questionable starters coming off of injuries) the coaching staff made their intentions loud and clear. A win was not important to them. If that weren't enough, the playcalling supplimented the message. Minimal blitzes. No unbalanced lines in front of the run. They were holding back and the players knew it.

I'm not saying the players dogged it or threw the game - no self-respecting football player would want to be embarrassed the way they were last night - but the 2009 Cincinnati Bengals respond to one motivation and one motivation alone: Pressure. Last night, playing in a virtually meaningless game, they had none. And they played that way.

This weekend, however, the tables are turned. Sure, every team has pressure to win in the playoffs, but throw in the embarassment of last night into the mix and the Bengals are going to respond accordingly. Currently, Vegas has the Bengals winning by 2 1/2 - not quite an underdog, but I'll take it. Nobody - not even their fans - expect the Bengals to go deep into the playoffs, which is one of the reasons why it's a real possibility.