How big is the collapse by the Mets?

[bthurley19]

I can't think of a bigger collapse by a team in recent memory. Lost a 7 game lead in 17 days. They were in first place since May, I believe. Is this one of the biggest collapses in baseball history? Maybe some of our stats junkies can pull together some information.

[crewcrazy]

On August 11, 1951 the Brooklyn Dodgers had a 13 1/2 game lead on the New York Giants before losing the 3-game tiebreaker series to the Giants that ended with Bobby Thompson's HR. In 1964, the Phillies blew a 6 1/2 game lead with 10 games to play, ending up tied with Cincinnati in 2nd place behind St. Louis. In 1978, the Red Sox led the Yankees by 14 games in late July (and the Brewers by 9 games) before the Yankees came charging back and ultimately won the division in the Bucky Dent game.

 

While the Mets' collapse isn't the biggest ever in terms of games, I think it might be when you factor in their monstrous payroll and the fact that they're arguably the most talented team in the National League. I actually wouldn't be surprised if Willie Randolph was fired tomorrow...that's just the way New York works.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

BP did an article about this recently . . .

 

#2 all time behind the '95 Angels.

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6764

 

it's free

[RU Rah Rah]

The Brewers' finish is positively upbeat compared to that of the Mets. Yikes.

[sbrylski]

I almost wish I was a Phillies fan right now, I'd be going nuts.

[bthurley19]

1. 1995 California Angels

Peak Playoff Probability: 99.988% after games of August 20th

Odds of Collapse at Peak: 8,332-to-1 against

Record at Peak: 66-41, 9.5 games ahead of the Rangers and 12.5 Games ahead of the Mariners in the AL West; 12.0 games ahead of the Yankees for the Wild Card

Record after Peak: 12-26

 

Wow

[brewizard]

The Brewers' finish is positively upbeat compared to that of the Mets. Yikes.

 

Hey! Save that for the 'Silver Lining' thread.

[dadofandrew]

All that matters is how many games you win out of 162. Doesn't matter if you got off to a slow start like the Phillies, or a slow finish like the Mets. Basically, it's something for the media to use cliches about.

[lumberrule]

I dont know if its quite that simplisic. Yeah, in the end its how many you win out of 162, but with a 7.5 game lead with 2 1/2 weeks to play, you can't blow that lead. You just can't. You almost really have to try hard to lose.

 

Its hard to fault Willie Randolph, too. Tom Glavine goes out today and gives up 7 earned runs in 2/3 of an inning. Hard to blame the manager for a future HOF stinking it up in what really was a playoff game for New York.

[1992casey]

Basically, it's something for the media to use cliches about.

It's also something people should be telling their grandchildren about. Russ Hodges' call, for instance, is absolutely classic:

There's a long drive, it's gonna be, I believe...THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! Bobby Thomson hits into the lower deck of the left-field stands! The Giants win the pennant and they're going crazy, they're going crazy! Ohhhhh-oh!!!''

[Patrick425]

The Cubs collapse of 1969 still strikes me as unbelievable. It wasn't the greatest collapse in terms of game ahead they were at some point in the season. However, I'm shocked at how far back they ended up. They were up 9 games on August 16th and finished the season 8 games in back of the Mets. That's a 17 game swing in 45 days.

[hawing]

Yeah, my SO was 12 in 1969 and his team was the Cubs. (Remember, there was no Milwaukee team then.)

 

Today, thirty-eight years later, he took considerable delight in that early seven-spot the Marlins put up.

[brewmann04]

well that one NY tream down that i don"t have to hera froml

[SeriesFinale]

I'd actually take the Mets over the Phils in the playoffs in terms of fanbases, but how can you not root for the #2 collapse of all time to occur?

[T B0NE 10]

i think the steve bartman collapse, and the NYY-BOS series when they came back from 3 down is bigger

[laserbomb]

Quantifiables aside, my opinion is our own collapse this year was worse. It dragged out over a long stretch, and while Philadelphia was charging hard, the Cubs left it out there for the taking.

 

Plus our relievers were probably worse, and that added to the agony and made the collapse feel worse. Our top 3 relievers (in terms of IP) were a lot less effective than the Mets'. They might have been better in terms of things like K:IP, but they were worse in terms of results.

[1992casey]

The Cubs collapse of 1969 still strikes me as unbelievable. It wasn't the greatest collapse in terms of game ahead they were at some point in the season. However, I'm shocked at how far back they ended up. They were up 9 games on August 16th and finished the season 8 games in back of the Mets. That's a 17 game swing in 45 days.

I think the huge part of that particular story was the rise of the Mets. They had never finished better than ninth place before that season, and they went on to win the World Series.

[mothershipconnection]

It really takes two to make a memorable collapse. One team just sucking really bad isn't as dramatic as one team sucking while another just explodes out of nowhere to win it. Our collapse isn't as big in my mind since we played bad, while the Cubs had one hot streak but didn't exactly turn it up to make up a huge margin at the very end of the season like the Phillies did.

[Fatter than Joey]

It really takes two to make a memorable collapse.

 

I know what you mean the "race" for the 2007 NL Central pennant was more along the lines of "let's see who can suck the least".

 

Charlie Manuel probably should have bought stock in pacemakers as redefined the meaning of "roller-coaster season"

 

I like that Philly team though, glad to see them in as opposed to the NYM.

[valpocrewsader]

Sweet, the Brewers had the 40th worst collapse of all-time in Major League history? That's pretty impressive. The year that should've been....

[dadofandrew]

I was surprised to see the Mets went 5-12 in that stretch. I'm pretty sure every team in MLB had at least one 17 game stretch (out of 145) that they won only 5 games. Streaks happen.

[TheBwaz]

Wait, does this mean Wes Helms is in the playoffs?

 

BBTN said that only 2 other teams in the history of MLB have blown this much of a lead oever 17 games, so, yeah, I think the collapse was pretty big.

 

Good on the Phillies.

[falling off]

So the Mets even sent an email out to their fans apologizing for the season. Heres a couple of quotes from it.

 

"All of us a bitterly dissapointed in failing to achieve are collective goal of building upon last years sucsess."

"We did not meet our orginzations expectations-or yours."

 

I am not sure whether to all this a classy move by the organization or some sort of cruel joke. EDIT: spelling

[hawing]

Wait, does this mean Wes Helms is in the playoffs?

 

Oh, criminy, I didn't even think of that. No No No No No.

 

I can accept Sharpie in the postseason, and I was relieved to get closure last night on the Brady Clark issue. But Big Wes? Geez.

[logan82]

Wait, does this mean Wes Helms is in the playoffs?

Well crap. Now I can't cheer for the Phillies in the playoffs.