Whatever bad comments you hear about baseball superstitions, don’t believe it…they exist.

Because for every fan there is a lucky jersey, hat, pair of socks, shirt, underwear or shoes that have given their team fortune.

Just like hockey teams ready for that Stanley Cup run grow their hockey beards, baseball fans pull out all of the stops when the game is on the line.

Sure, some of those superstitions run into good old-fashioned luck. But for the most part, we can all trace a great win or championship of our favorite team to a moment when we were wearing something special, or in a perfect location to watch the event.

Take a look at Andrew Vazzano’s plight from last night’s horrible Mets loss to the Nationals. It nearly cost him his lucky helmet.

And if you don’t think people care about those type of things, they do. The ‘Ropolitans’ post was front page news on Deadspin today, as well as Yahoo’s Big League Stew.

So here’s my thing: Every year the Mets contended for a playoff spot, I would always sit down with a pad of paper and work out how many games the Mets needed to win to clinch.

The last time I did it: 2006. The Mets obviously didn’t win the World Series, but that’s not the superstition. The fact that I didn’t do it make me wonder why.

There was no breakdown to be found in 2007. So that’s why they lost. I’ll caulk it up to my superstition. So there really was no collapse that I can see.

So right here, right now, I’m going to give you the final 2008 baseball season breakdown:

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Current NL East Standings: Phillies 84-67, Mets 83-67, Marlins 78-72, Braves 67-84, Nationals 58-93

NL Wild Card: Mets 83-67, Brewers 83-68, Astros 80-70

(In my “run the table” scenario, I assume that the team or teams chasing the Mets will win all of their remaining games (which is impossible). But, for the sake of understanding the race, I do this.)

–If the Phillies won their 11 remaining games, they would be 95-67…the Mets would need finish 12-0 to tie

–If the Marlins won their 12 remaining games, they would be 90-72…the Mets would need to finish 8-4 to pass the Fish.

–The Mets are already ahead of the Braves and Nationals this season.

–If the Brewers won their final 11 games, they would be 94-68…the Mets would need to finish 12-0 to pass the Brewers.

(Again, this seems trite to the average person, but this is a long held superstition that I broke last year…let me continue)

Obviously this race is extremely close, and is very hard to even guess how this will all shake down. (In this case, you have to look deeper, into last year’s record…or two years ago.)

In 2006, the Phillies were 7-4 in their final 11 games. In 2007, the Phillies were 7-4 in their final 11 games.

In 2006, the Mets were 5-7 in their last 12 games. In 2007, the Mets were 5-7 in their last 12 games.

Okay so far?

If the Phillies repeat their last two years’ record, and go 7-4…the Mets would need to finish 8-4 to tie or 9-3 to win the division.

Very reasonable.

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So why did I put everyone through that agony? Because baseball superstitions will live forever as long as people believe in them.

We all do silly things that seem like nonsense to the average joe, but perfectly normal to the baseball fans in the room.

Tonight, I’m going to wear my best Mets jersey (that allowed them to win over the Yankees in June) and my favorite Mets hat in hopes that all of the bad karma the Mets are feeling will float away.

And for an added bonus, the Rally Cap might make a special appearance to seal the deal. Because this is what we do to root our teams on to victory because we care that much.