FanHouse Brian Stokes

Football forever altered the course of Brian Stokes' life, but not until after he had served two tours in Iraq as a Marine.

His military experience also forever altered the course of his life, but not until long after football had already kicked Stokes to the curb.

NEW YORK – Now batting cleanup for the Mets: faith. Hitting fifth: hope. But how many runs can they drive in?

"You have to believe that somebody is going to catch fire and hopefully pick up some slack," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said Monday after the team placed center fielder Carlos Beltran on the disabled list.

"There is no doubt that this is going to be very challenging for us."

To recap: the Mets are without Beltran (fourth in the NL with a .336 average), first baseman Carlos Delgado and shortstop Jose Reyes.

That's three of the top five hitters from the Opening Day lineup and three guys who combined to score more than 40 percent of the team's runs in 2008.