The Second Best Day of 2006

When the Mets clinched the NL East division last year, the magic number had been 1 for three games, all handed to the Pirates in Pittsburgh. When they lost the second one, I started rooting for them to lose the third; that would be the only way to clinch the division at home, and I had tickets to the next home game.



In the stadium that night, it felt as though they'd thrown the games in Pittsburgh so that they could clinch at home in front of their fans. I've been to at least 100 ballgames at Shea in my lifetime, and this game was the first I can remember where there were spontaneous "Let's Go Mets!" cheers from the crowd in the first inning.



Though the post-season ended in disappointment, that night felt magical.

The absolute best day in 2006? July 27th, of course.