Blue State Losers: Mets Head Home After Lead Turns to Colossal Collapse

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Mets Head Home After Lead Turns to Colossal Collapse

Monday, October 01, 2007

NEW YORK - Tom Glavine walked out of the New York Mets' quiet clubhouse,

stopping for a few handshakes as several teammates packed their belongings.

If this was the final start of his brilliant career, the memory will be

miserable.

The Mets are headed home early this year following a colossal collapse --

and it will be an especially troubling winter. After blowing a big September

lead in the NL East, they missed the playoffs Sunday when Glavine was tagged

for seven runs during the first inning of a season-ending 8-1 loss to the

Florida Marlins.

"It's something that's going to take a while for us to get over," Glavine

said.

New York's defeat coupled with Philadelphia's 6-1 win over Washington gave

the division title to the Phillies and left the stunned Mets wondering how

they squandered a seven-game cushion over the final 18 days of an

excruciating season.

Now, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez and the rest of this

talented team will forever be remembered alongside the 1964 Phillies and

other famous failures for skidding to one of baseball's most monumental

collapses.

"It's tough because you don't get too many of these opportunities and you

can't let them slip away," Carlos Delgado said, a cast already on his left

hand after it was broken when he was hit by a pitch from Dontrelle Willis in

the first inning.

No major league team had owned a lead of seven games or more with 17 to play

and failed to finish in first place. New York, which had that margin on

Sept. 12, matched the largest lead blown in September. The 1934 New York

Giants (Sept. 6) and 1938 Pittsburgh Pirates (Sept. 1) also led by seven

games in the final month.

"I know I don't want to experience it again," Wright said. "It's going to be

a long offseason."

A win Sunday not only would have kept the Mets even with Philadelphia and

forced a one-game playoff for the division title, it would have tied them

with Colorado and San Diego for the wild card. So they would have had two

ways to reach the postseason.

Instead, the Mets are out after going 1-6 on their season-ending homestand.

"Everyone's definitely numb," Shawn Green said. "To say disappointed would

be the understatement of the year."

Philadelphia swept a three-game series at Shea Stadium from Sept. 14-16,

giving the Phillies wins in the final eight meetings between the teams. That

started a slide from which the Mets never recovered.

Doomed by inadequate starting pitching and a leaky, exhausted bullpen, New

York dropped 12 of its last 17 games, committing 21 errors in the process.

The Mets' ERA during the slide was 5.96, third-worst in the majors over that

span.

"The harder we pushed, the worse it got," closer Billy Wagner said as he

packed a bag at his locker.

When Luis Castillo struck out and ended New York's latest lackluster defeat

against a second-division club, it prompted one last round of boos at Shea

Stadium.

Moments later, the final in Philadelphia was posted on the out-of-town

scoreboard and Mets fans shuffled toward the exits, quietly muttering to

themselves.

"We're devastated, also," manager Willie Randolph said. "It's just a tough

life lesson in baseball."

It was one of the darkest days for a franchise that prided itself on

late-season comebacks in 1969, 1973 and in the 1986 World Series against

Boston. Last year, the Mets advanced to Game 7 of the NL championship series

before losing to St. Louis.

With this season on the line, Glavine put the Mets in a huge hole Sunday.

The 300-game winner was chased after getting only one out, charged with all

seven of Florida's early runs. He made a throwing error and hit Willis with

a pitch with the bases loaded, mistakes that symbolized the Mets' late

meltdown.

"It's going to be a sad day for everybody at Shea," said Florida's Cody

Ross, who hit a two-run double.

The seven runs matched the most Glavine (13-8) allowed in an inning during

his 21 years in the majors, the Elias Sports Bureau said. He also gave up

seven to Colorado in 1996. It also was the second-shortest start of his

career -- and perhaps his last.

The 41-year-old left-hander is contemplating retirement, or he might choose

to pitch elsewhere next season. Glavine, also roughed up in a 10-9 loss to

Washington last Tuesday, has a $13 million player option for next year with

a $3 million buyout.

"I want to go home and figure out what I want to do," he said. "I'm

disappointed. It's not the way I wanted to pitch."