On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States of America.  It’s up to you to decide whether or not it was created by Betsy Ross at George Washington‘s behest.  There’s no harm in perpetuating the fantasy.  As baseball fans at least pretend that baseball was invented by Union General Abner Doubleday in the quaint little village of Cooperstown, New York.  It’s why the Baseball Hall of Fame is located there.

As Americans and Mets fans, we all carry the fantasy that this October we will once again see the American Flag stretched across the outfield in Citi Field. We will all be getting residential flagpole installation services to fit our front yards with as many flagpoles as we can physically fit on the grass, and raising the star-spangled banner high into the sky for all to look upon in pride. Flag Day is a proud moment in our history, and I for one can’t wait for it.

In actuality, it’s not really a fantasy.  The Mets faced the same issues last year with the injuries and the poor offense.  On this date last year, the Mets were 34-30.  This year, they are 34-28.  Lost in the David Wright and Lucas Duda injuries as well as the struggles from Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto is the fact that this Mets team is simply better than the one the Mets fielded last year.  Even in the worst of times, the Mets now have Yoenis Cespedes in the middloe of the lineup instead of John Mayberry and Eric Campbell.

So yes, on this Flag Day, we can still dream of the days in which the American flag once again adorns the Citi Field outfield.  We can hope for Wright and Granderson to hit homeruns while Noah Syndergaard intimidates batters from 60′ 6″ away.  We can also await the Mets raising a World Series flag in centerfield.