In the final week of the season, playing every game at home, the Mets lost five of six to the Nationals and Marlins, two teams that were mathematically eliminated in spring training. And they lost a makeup game to the Cardinals, who had zero interest in being in Queens last Thursday. In the losses to the Nats and Fish, the Mets gave up 47 runs. If you are going to blow it, you might as well do it in such grand fashion that your place in baseball lore is ensured forever.
Shea it isn't so: Glavine, Mets fall apart
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Mets general manager Omar Minaya looked south rather than in the mirror.
"Yes, we did not win, but those guys [the Phillies], you've got to give them credit," he said. "They've been through this, come close and come up short. As much as you hate it, you had to really admire the way those guys went after it."
A sellout crowd (54,453) was at Shea yesterday. For the year, the Mets set a team record with 3,853,955 fans. All will deny they were part of this. A few that stayed to the end could be heard halfheartedly yelling "Fire Willie."
The Mets lost at 4:31 p.m. Four minutes later, a final Brett Myers curveball bent another pair of legs. The Mets had lost everything.
As the crowd dispersed down one ramp, a young fan had a white bag over his head. On the front, it read: "The Team, The Time, The Choke." He was walking a few paces behind a young fan with a Chase Utley jersey. *
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