There’s an inherent danger when a national baseball writer or broadcaster talks about a team.  These people don’t have the intimate knowledge the local media or the fans. What’s frustrating when it comes to the Mets is the national media usually treats the Yankees as the Mets biggest rival or acts like those games are bigger than any others. 

Yes, there is more juice to Mets-Yankees games than a Mets-Padres game. However, the national media makes these games to be much bigger than what they are. Case in point – of all the years you were a Mets fan, what was the single worst regular season loss you experienced?  

For me, it was the last game of the 2007 season. The Mets had unfinished business from the 2006 season. They were amongst the World Series favorites. They pretty much had the division locked up being seven up with 17 to play. No one had ever blew that kind of lead. Well, the Mets did, but they still had a chance to either win the division or force a one game playoff against the Phillies to win the NL East. 

It didn’t happen. The Mets lost to the Marlins. It was over in the first inning when Tom Glavine allowed seven runs in 0.1 innings. One of the runs scored when Glavine just threw the ball into left field while trying to throw out a runner at third base. Not only did the Mets lose, but the Phillies won. No postseason for the Mets. To make matters worse, Glavine spoke after the game and said that he wasn’t devastated by the loss or his performance. 

You may have your own moments. There is certainly the Final Game at Shea. There was the Mel Rojas game in 1998. There was Armando Benitez blowing the save against the Braves in late September 2001 thereby taking away any hope that the Mets could win the division.  I’m assuming there were games before my time, or games I’m just not remembering right now. For example, I know many people talk about how close the Mets came to winning the division in 1985 with a brutal September loss to the Cardinals. Point is, there are many valid answers. Apparently, we’re wrong. 

The Sporting News picked the game where Luis Castillo dropped an Alex Rodriguez pop up with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Derek Jeter and a hustling Mark Teixeira would score giving the Yankees a 9-8 win. Brutal loss. Absolutely brutal. However, there is no way it’s the worst regular season loss in Mets history. This is the type of mistake a national writer makes when they over-emphasize the Mets-Yankee rivalry, and they don’t pay attention to the losses that actually matter. 

In any event, my guess was closer than yours. The Sporting News listed the 2007 loss as an honorable mention. In retrospect, that’s worse because they were aware it happened.