It's 3:49 PM EST on a rainy Saturday afternoon in NY and I'm watching the Mets play the Marlins on CW11 live from Port St. Lucie, Florida. Got to see Pelfey throw a couple of good innings and get smacked around in another. Saw Damion Easley and Endy Chavez take a few hacks and more importantly, make it to first base without noticeably limping. Watched Brian Schneider use his healthier hamstring to smack a wind-aided homer. Caught Easley's most definitely wind-aided opposite field shot and marveled at the bomb hit by Argenis Reyes that didn't need any wind. First home-runs by the Mets this spring, in case anyone's counting. Saw Jorge Cantu pound Mets pitching like it was September 30th, 2007 all over again (and he wasn't even a Marlin then). Observed Duaner Sanchez throw a good inning and we don't have to wait another week before he throws again. We hope.

Game just ended, Mets downed 12-4. Announcer Kevin Burkhardt might have went a wee bit overboard with the game-ending comment, "The Mets' 6-game winning streak just went up in flames." Might be a tad early to be analogizing the Mets '07 collapse with a spring training loss. We hope.

Who cares about the outcome. In winning 6 in a row, NY has only proven they can win with all their minor-leaguers and players who won't even make the team. Doesn't mean much, except that if Angel Pagan continues to rake, he will be in the Mets clubhouse come March 31st. What we really are concerned with is that the remainder of the M*A*S*H* unit slowly returns to action, gets some time in between the Tradition Field lines and makes it to Shea before April Fool's Day. I suppose if all these injuries would have occurred in late March, there would be much wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Wait, didn't we do that already?) But its still March 8th. Enough time to heal. Enough time to look at the first week of March as a prank played on the Mets by the baseball gods, an aberration, a bump on the way to bigger and better things. 'Cause in the grand scheme of things, these injuries don't count. We hope.

The only serious injury has been suffered by Moises Alou, who won't return to action until mid-May at the earliest. In Delgado, we can only hope his hip holds up and he gives us something better than '07. In between now and then we just need to know that Beltran knees will carry him up Tal's Hill, that Endy's ankle will allow him to jump tall buildings in a single bound again, that Duaner will drive himself and that Castillo's knees will be grateful for real grass. We hope.

It's said that spring is a time of baseball hope, that hope floats for every team, that hope springs eternal, that it's a time for renewal of hope and faith.

We hope.