Baseball: Keeping Up with Jones

Among New York's baseball fans, who have had little solace since the decline of the Yankees began four years ago, a quiet hysteria was developing last week. Before their unbelieving eyes, the tanglefoot New York Mets were turning into a team of superlatives. As they beat San Diego 5 to 3, at week's end the Mets were riding an eight-game winning streak, longest in their eight-year history. Their 26th victory against only 23 losses raised their percentage to .531, their highest ever.* The streak also propelled the Mets into second place...