A Brutal Finish...

The New York Mets completed their historic collapse by throwing out a horrendously uninspired performance today against the Florida Marlins. Tom Glavine served as the principal instigator in the latest episode, lasting 1/3 of an inning and being charged with seven earned runs. With speculation surrounding his future in New York, he likely precluded a return to the team next year with a performance that was wholly uncharacteristic of his likely Hall of Fame career. Quickly finding themselves in a deep hole and fighting to avoid going down in the annals of baseball history as one of the all time cautionary tales, they compounded their situation by not taking advantage of the gifts that Marlins' starting pitcher, Dontrelle Willis, tried to give them. The Mets left 8 men on base in the first three innings, a result that could not be wholly unexpected based on their performance over their last seventeen games.

The talent of this Mets' team was overcome by their startling lack of leadership and heart, in stark contrast to the inspired, joyful, and fiery performance of the NL East champion Phillies. Omar Minaya will be faced with an offseason of difficult decisions and unexpected choices. As ESPN.com's Buster Olney discussed in his blog Saturday, Minaya will hopefully accept his commensurate share of the blame in this situation and stand by manager Willie Randolph. In this sports world that demands attribution and seeks to find a party to blame for lesser collapses than this, Randolph may find himself following Glavine on his way out of the Big Apple.