In April or May, rainouts are shrug-your-shoulders stuff, down payments on an unexpected doubleheader or on-again off-day at a point so much later in the season that the date seems like science fiction. We're gonna play Pittsburgh in ... August? Wow, August. Yawn ... wonder how we'll be doing then?

A September rainout, though, is a very different beast. Will the offday wreck our momentum? Doesn't this let the other guy line up his pitching rotation better? When on earth are we going to play? How many doubleheaders can we possibly have? And who the heck's gonna start? Will the lost game get played at the end of the season if needed? Will that "if needed" hurt us for the playoffs? Are we even gonna make the playoffs after all this? And so on -- you know you're coming down the pennant-race stretch when not watching baseball is every bit as nerve-wracking as watching it.

And that's not even mentioning that Emily and I are going to a wedding scheduled to begin around the fith inning of today's Game 1 and go into the night. So I'll be That Guy, the one with the radio who keeps darting outside to huddle with the smokers for a listen, a listen that becomes extended because it's a really pivotal inning or just because his nerves are shot and he's convinced the team will lose if he abandons his post. (The bride is both salt of the earth and a longtime Met fan, so I'm crossing my fingers that she'll be forgiving.)

If you've also got nervous time on your hands (WE HAVEN'T PLAYED SINCE 11 PM WEDNESDAY -- WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE THE 4 O'CLOCK GAME???!!!), why not check us out on Facebook? We've recently set up a page for Faith and Fear, and we'd be honored if you'd visit and maybe even become a fan. Or come drop by my personal page, or Greg's.

To tell the truth, we're not 100% sure where we're going with our Facebook presence, but we're trying it out, just as we always look for new ways to get Faith and Fear on aggregators, RSS services, and anything else that might reach people who love the Mets and like to read. If you've got any ideas about how we ought to do that, leave us a comment or drop us a line. And thanks as always for reading -- we can't know if September will be glorious or gory, but either way we're looking forward to chronicling it not just as writers but as part of a larger community with all of you.

"May I help you?"
"Is this where I can buy Mets tickets?"
"Yes it is."
"Great. I'd like two for Friday night, September 12 against the Braves."
"We have those."
"Say, if it rains, can I come anyway?"
"Absolutely."
"And can I sit and wait for a couple of hours?"
"We encourage it."
"If there's no realistic chance the game will be played, can I wait around for a good long time anyhow?"
"We're set up to accommodate that."
"And can you make me think there's the slightest chance they'll play — like, can you make an announcement once or twice to that effect?"
"We'll do it in such a way that you'll think we're looking at a radar of Tahiti as opposed to Flushing."
"Oh, and after you show an old highlight film or two, can you just slap some corporate logo up on DiamondVision so there's nothing to watch amid the tedium?"
"That's standard operating procedure."
"And you're sure I can just sit as if a game is going to start soon even though the tarp is on the field and the rain is coming down and I have a lousy cold and I should be in bed?"
"Sir, the New York Mets assure you they'll almost never not do that in bad weather."
"Great, I'll take two."
"Here you go. Enjoy your long pointless evening at Shea Stadium."