The collapse is complete. When the New York Mets needed a big game, Tom Glavine pitched one of his worst.
After blowing a big September lead in the NL East, the Mets 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.
New York's loss coupled with Philadelphia's 6-1 win over Washington gave the division title to the Phillies and sent the stunned Mets home for the winter 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. To make it worse, start slugger Carlos Delgado broke a hand in the first inning when he was hit by a pitch.
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 1938 Pittsburgh Pirates (Sept. 1) and 1934 New York Giants (Sept. 6) also led by seven games in the final month only to tailspin.
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