Sprinting from the gate

I don’t know that my mom is superstitious per se, but she’ll make a comment or joke about maintaining her routine during a baseball or football game if the Mets or Notre Dame have been playing well. “I don’t want to jinx it,” she’ll explain.

She’s been out of the country all week, touring Poland and Czechoslovakia — or maybe just the Czech Republic — as a chaperone on a school trip. While she’s been away, the Mets have gotten off to their first 4-0 start since 1985. “Guess I’ll just have to stay in Europe until November,” she’ll say.

The group flies home tomorrow — they’ll be in the air during the Mets’ 3:55 p.m. ET (thanks, Fox) matchup with the Braves. If Tom Glavine throws the first no-hitter in franchise history, she’ll probably think she has to fly during every one of their games this season.

I can hardly believe the 4-0 start myself. I was nervous on Sunday afternoon, eager for the season yet also wary. Would Tom Glavine show his age? (I’m sure he will at some point this season.) Can the lineup come together? (They hadn’t hit together but two or three times all spring.) Will the pitching hold up? (Clearly there are questions at the back of the rotation, but how would bullpen newcomers Joe Smith, Ambiorix Burgos and Aaron Sele fare?)

Um, I think those questions have been answered. Yes, it’s only four games — in a leisurely six days to boot. But the Mets have outscored the Cardinals (not a dominant lineup, but one with some huge threats in Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and even Chris Duncan) and Braves (coming off a season-opening sweep in Philadelphia, where they scored only four fewer runs than the Mets did in St. Louis) by a combined 31-3.

Thirty-one to three.

I’d say that’s a good start.