By David Diamond

We all knew it was inevitable. Ever since that 9-1 road trip in June, the National League East was a virtual lock for the Mets, head and shoulders above every team in the senior circuit. But even with nearly three months of common knowledge, the champagne was still sweet at Shea on Monday night, simply because the magic had finally returned to Flushing.All at once we got those tingling feelings as we watched the Mets mob each other on the field after Cliff Floyd caught the clinching line drive. A rush of memories ran through our minds that fans can’t soon forget. We all grabbed our quick snapshots of new memories. Of Jose Valentin’s two home runs. Of Floyd’s final catch. Of Steve Trachsel’s performance, who had endured five mediocre seasons in New York.Some of us even recorded the game on VHS. On a personal note, this night was captured over an old episode of “Band of Brothers.” How fitting is that?Monday’s celebration could not have been possible if this team did not come together as a family, with Willie Randolph at the head of the dinner table. You could realize just from watching the jubilant smiles and hugs from the players that they truly love the guys they play with and the team they play for. Did Roberto Alomar love New York? How about Art Howe?Why bring up such infamous names from the past during a joyous present? We owe it to ourselves as Met fans and to the Mets themselves. When a team wins a division well before the season is over, people will say it was easy. Well, it wasn’t easy. It has been a six-year struggle culminating in relief.We should remember the bum arms of Jeff D’Amico and Pedro Astacio, and Shawn Estes’ embarrassing attempt at beaning Roger Clemens’ large hide. Remember Grant Roberts and the pot-smoking scandal? And watching the breakdown of our franchise in Mike Piazza? Mo Vaughn. Kaz Matsui. The list goes on and on.Things almost got worse in 2004 when 20-year old phenom Jose Reyes couldn’t stay healthy and was moved to second base. That same year the Mets traded young, left-handed flamethrower Scott Kazmir to Tampa Bay for “quick-fix” Victor Zambrano. The one bright spot was midseason call-up David Wright’s first career homer in…Montreal? My, how quickly things changed.When the Wilpon’s decided to stop playing Steinbrenner and hired Omar Minaya to make the personnel decisions, it was O.K. to be a Met fan again. Pedro Martinez brought the fans back and Randolph talked everybody off of the proverbial roof after an 0-5 start last season. Somebody reminded Tom Glavine he was a Hall-Of-Fame pitcher after the All-Star break last year; perhaps it was the same person that got to MVP-candidate Carlos Beltran this season.We should also thank Minaya for seeing Billy Wagner and Paul Lo Duca embrace as the winning battery, the closer and backstop we could only dream about a year ago. I think it was Al Leiter that convinced Carlos Delgado to sign with Florida before 2005 because the Mets were spiraling downward. Where is Al now?Remember Met fans, whether the final margin of victory in the N.L. East is 14 ½ or over 20, this achievement was not attained easily. It took years of missteps and mistakes, and learning from them slowly. So take a breather, do your mock tomahawk chops and reflect on a fabulous regular season, but remember the big prize is there for the taking. What else is there to say but “ya gotta believe?”