The Mets took three out of four from a quality Cardinals team last week, and then followed that up by losing five out of six to the Yankees and Milwaukee. They gut out wins, and then at the drop of a hat absolutely fall apart and look like a T-ball team doing it. Their up-and-down play is driving me so crazy I’m having arguments with myself. I almost beat myself up on the way to work this morning with this conversation I had while walking up 8th Avenue.

Me: With all that’s happened to the Mets this year, they’re still only two games out of first place. Ya gotta believe.

Me: The only reason they’re close is because the Phillies are struggling, but Raul Ibanez will be back and you know those guys will get themselves together. And even the Marlins have passed the Mets now. The Mets have been playing like buffoons all season. They’ve lost so many games that had nothing to do with injuries. The …

Ranger great Brian Leetch was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame today (along with other first-time-eligible players Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille). And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer, classier guy. Leetch played parts of 17 seasons for the Blueshirts, serving as captain from 1997-2000, and finished his career with Toronto and Boston (we don’t need to get into that now). He was one of the best American-born hockey players ever to play the game, and was also one of the greatest defensemen ever to lace up the skates in the NHL.

His list of awards and accomplishments is long: Of course he’s a Stanley Cup winner, Conn Smythe Trophy winner (first and still only American to win that award), two-time Norris Trophy winner (’92 & ‘97), Calder Trophy winner (’89), two-time First Team NHL All-Star (’92 & ‘97), three-time Second Team NHL All-Star and he played in nine All-Star games. He is one of only five defensemen in NHL history to record over 100 points …

In the blink of an eye the Mets bullpen went from the best in the National League to a weakness on a team that is filled with weaknesses. The rotation has had trouble staying healthy, and each starter has traded turns being hot and cold. Fernando Nieve is now their best starter (ok, it’s really still Johan Santana, but it sound more dramatic the other way). The Mets’ punchless offense can’t rely on Brian Schneider to hit a three-run homer every game. And the team’s fielding has been horrible all season. The bullpen had been their one saving grace. But not anymore.

J.J. Putz was not effective at all before going on the DL, but since he’s been gone, Bobby Parnell has completely fallen apart. Parnell taking over the eighth-inning role seemed like an upgrade at the time, but it hasn’t exactly worked out like that, to put it mildly. What happened to him? He’s a one-pitch pitcher who’s struggling with that one pitch I guess is the answer. His …

Earlier in the season, when talking about injuries, Jerry Manuel said he wouldn’t worry about who’s not on the team but instead would only concentrate on who they have on the roster at the moment. We’ll just have to go to battle with who we have, he seemingly said. He wasn’t going to sit around waiting for Carlos Delgado to get back, because who knows if the first baseman will even return or what shape he’ll be in if he does. And last season, with the all the injuries the Mets had (granted, not as many as this year), Manuel and the rest of the team rarely ever brought it up or used the depleted roster as an excuse. But somewhere along the line, Manuel has changed. He brings up the injuries after almost every game and constantly references all the players on the disabled list and how the team is hoping and waiting for their return. It’s time for him to stop making excuses and mentioning the injured players day after …

What’s more humiliating: Losing a game on a dropped pop-up, losing 15-0 or losing two out of three to the 2009 Washington Nationals? After the apocalypse of facing the Red Sox and the Phillies, the Yankees and Mets turned to the apocalypse of facing each other, and it wasn’t pretty.  Both teams were awful on Friday, the Yanks had no answer for Fernando Nieve (Fernando Nieve?) on Saturday and the Mets got completely embarrasssed on Sunday. They both got a break in the schedule (and the drama) with the Nationals and Orioles. Or so they thought. When the dust settled it was one bad week for both teams. How many Luis Castillo drops, 15-0 games, blown saves and losing to last place teams can one fan take? With a week like this, how can we have a Player of the Week? So here’s another all-Schmuck edition.

Winner

Luis Castillo: Who else could it be? We’re obligated to put Castillo here. What went from one of the most boring, unmemorable, poorly played games turned into …

It would be unbelievable if it wasn’t so believable. When Luis Castillo dropped that pop-up on Friday, I was as stunned as every other Met fan. And when Johan Santana got completely hammered today, I may have been just as stunned (well, not really – do we need to start worrying about him now?). And listening to Tim McCarver sing on Saturday may have been the most stunning moment of all. If you thought the Phillies series was bad, that was a walk in the park compared to this weekend.

But when you’re a Mets fan that’s what you signed up for – dropped pop-ups to lose a game, players missing bases to lose games – losing in any way that is remotely possible. It’s the Washington Nationals who are on pace to be the worst team in baseball history and the Chicago Cubs who’ve gone over 100 years without winning a World Series, but it’s the Mets who are the perceived laughingstock of the league. From Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game to …

The Mets and Yankees warmed up for their rivalry games by winning two of three from other teams in their divisions. Before heading to Boston, the Yanks continued their comeback-kid identity, beating Tampa Bay two out of three. While the Mets took two of three from Washington. The Nationals refuse to acknowledge their Montreal Expos past, and they’re now so bad they may refuse to acknowledge their own present. A great moment in Met history occured on Saturday, when David Wright flew out to right for the second out of the fifth inning, which meant the Mets wouldn’t hit into five double plays in a row. But they still found other ways to embarrass themselves that night. Ryan Church made history of his own on Tuesday when he hit the first home run to fall into the apple at Citi Field. After the game he said, “I was so excited to be the first one to do that, I think I missed third base.” But when the …

The Mets are 4-3 vs. the Phillies this season and 15-10 against them going back to last year. But it doesn’t really seem like it, does it? Why does it feel like the Phillies win every game against the Mets? Maybe it’s because the Mets have had the lead in just about every one of those contests.

The Mets won a thriller in the opening game of the series (as usual, all the games were nail-biters), but it turned out just to be a tease. The Mets are really, really good at teasing us, aren’t they? They blasted three home runs in the game, but that was just a tease also. Johan Santana wasn’t great, but boy was he tough. He drove in a run, started an impressive double play and picked up his eighth win of the year.

His attitude may even be catching on little by little. After Jimmy Rollins took out Alex Cora with a great slide, I thought if one of the sliding-challenged …

When Emil Brown passed Luis Castillo on the basepaths on Saturday night, I was ready to turn off the TV and contemplate doing something worthwhile with my time – like helping others, giving back to the community, taking part in selfless adult activities -  but of course I couldn’t. No matter how many home runs John Maine gave up or how many times the Mets resembled little leaguers, I kept watching. The Mets are like a car wreck – you can’t help but watch. And you never know what’s going to happen next. The 2009 Mets are just full of surprises. They’re usually not good surprises, like a surprise party thrown in your honor with all your friends and family around you and copious amounts of beer flowing. The Mets’ surprises are usually bad - like getting a letter from the IRS saying you owe them $20,000. That kind of surprise.

You never know what type of antics and high jinks this team will pull next. Baseball historians have to scramble during just about …

The Yankees’ major league record of 18 straight errorless games came to an end this week. They also lost a game started by Carl Pavano, whose record of four straight years of stealing the Yankees’ money came to a halt this year (I haven’t seen somebody do less in that amount of time since the four years I spent in junior high school). There was a revolving door on the local teams’ pitching staffs the last few days: Chien-Ming Wang is back in the rotation (do they want a do-over on that decision?), with Phil Hughes heading out to the bullpen (he wasn’t demoted, though, he was just “relocated”); J.J. Putz, on the other hand, was demoted to the seventh inning (but now may be out for the season; who knew that the crown jewel of the Seattle trade would turn out to be Jeremy Reed?), and Bobby Parnell will work the eighth. And more roster moves were needed by the Mets, as the injuries continued to pile …

In their series against Pittsburgh, the Mets looked like the pirates: A team filled with players who had peg legs, wore eyepatches and had hooks for hands. Every aspect of the team had a hand in the crushing sweep. The bullpen blew the first game, the offense was the culprit in the second one and the starting pitching was at fault in the third.

I settled in front of the TV for game one, the Mets jumped out to a 5-0 lead, and I had visions of a sweep dancing in my head. That’s exactly how the series should have started, but unfortunately that was the high point of the three games. Pittsburgh chipped away at the lead, but Livan Hernandez (after maybe being pulled too early) left the game in the capable hands of the best bullpen in baseball with a two-run lead. Bobby Parnell did his job in the sixth, Pedro Feliciano took over in the seventh and I sat back thinking, this bullpen doesn’t …

The Mets are playing like the Baltimore Orioles. Not the slugging Boog Powell/Frank Robinson Baltimore Orioles, but the 1890s Baltimore Orioles – the one with Wee Willie Keeler in right, John McGraw at third, Hughie Jennings at short and Kid Gleason at second. In 1895, that team finished in first place in the National League (beating out the Cleveland Spiders by three games), hitting 89 triples with only 25 home runs, stealing 310 bases and had a .324 team batting average. The Mets aren’t going to hit .324 or steal 310 bases, but they’re not going to blast their way to the top of the standings either.

The Mets are 14th in the National League with 33 home runs. And while Citi Field is no home run hitter’s paradise, the team has actually hit more dingers at home (18) than on the road (15). The absence of Carlos Delgado along with David Wright’s lack of long ball success this season probably have more to do with it than …