If you suddenly see a bunch of folks walking around with black and blue marks on their body, not to worry.

It’s not some sadistic ritual.

Well, maybe it is.

They’re just Mets fans, like myself, doing a reality check.

You see, we keep pinching ourselves, hoping what we’re watching is really happening: That these not-so-laughable losers of just a few months back have suddenly become the gems of the baseball diamond.

As opposed to waking up to find it’s all been some perverse nightmare, and that Judge and Soto have returned to lead the Yankees into yet another fall classic. Nooooooooooo!

Bizarre?

Not any more out of the realm of possibility than what we’ve seen these last few weeks. Actually, these last few months.

Coming off a dismal 9-19 May, the Mets started June with a 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks, slipping to a season-worst 11 games under .500. That low point put them on pace for 96 losses and gave them just a 7.9 percent chance of making the postseason. Coming off a disappointing 87-loss campaign in 2023, these new depths raised some troubling questions for the organization. Was this current core in need of breaking up? Would franchise stalwart and pending free agent Pete Alonso be moved at the deadline? Would a sell-off undertaken by lead decision-maker David Stearns run even deeper than that?

As Mets fans, we were bracing ourselves for yet another long summer of losing baseball. 

But to quote former catcher and TV personality Joe Garagiola, “Baseball is a funny game.”

Since June 1, the Mets have a 63-37 record, the best in all of baseball. The Mets’ current odds of making the playoffs is over 80 percent. 

“Is this really happening?” I wondered Sunday night, pinching myself, again, watching Mets players celebrate after winning three out of four from the first-place Phillies.

I’m telling you, folks, the Mets aren’t just going to the playoffs. I say they’re gonna play in the World Series.

This is the year.

Of course, we say that every year. And we believe it.

For we are fans.

Gullible, passionate, impatient, relentless, blind-to-the truth and true to the belief that while guys like Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and J.D. Martinez were barely able to hit their weight, the unknown Mets of a few months ago, Jose Iglesias, Tyrone Taylor and Luisangel Acuna are now poised to become the next Murderers’ Row. 

Who knew that Francisco Lindor would be in the MVP discussion, Sean Manaea would develop into the next Seaver and Edwin Diaz down the stretch would play like his old all-star self.

Happens all the time?

Not for the Mets.

For more than half a century I’ve started every spring with the most unrealistic of expectations: The Mets win the World Series. Not get into the World Series. Not make the playoffs. We win the World Series.

Since I am two years older than the Mets, I can say with authority that throughout most of my life, the losses have easily outnumbered the wins. While I’m lucky enough to have seen them win two world championships, my son Dustin, now 36, is still waiting for the Mets Messiah to arrive.

Well, he’s knocking.

Yankee fans like my brother Jason don’t get any of this stuff. He’ll even root for the Mets to do well:

“If the Yanks aren’t in it - then let’s go Mets!”

That’s because they hardly ever need to say that.

You think Mets fans would ever cheer on the Yankees?

Now we don’t care. Let Justice hit 60 homers. Doesn’t matter. 

Sure, Atlanta is making it close. But Lindor is back. We control our destiny, just a few wins from the postseason. 

Ouch!

Just making sure.

Barry Lewis is a longtime journalist and author who lives with his wife Bonnie in the Town of Neversink. He can be reached at      barrylewisscdemocrat@gmail.com.