Padres Editorial: An Alternative Future for the End of 2015

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The 2007 New York Mets collapsed quickly. (UPI Photo/John Angelillo)

2007 New York Mets

Ah, the 2007 New York Mets are largely considered one of the largest disappointments – EVER. While a couple of these examples on this list you could see cracks, or perhaps good teams that just fell short, this one is different.

The Mets were the BEST team in baseball and never in baseball history had or has a team with over a 7 game lead as of September 12th and lost it! Hall of Fame starter Tom Glavine got the start on the final day of the season. He was a man known for being a stopper – who comes through when needed- and indeed had pitched one of the best games of his life in Game 6 of the 2005 World Series to bring the one championship to the Atlanta Braves.

Yet on that final day those were just memories as he retired one batter against nine faced and the Phillies completed their amazing comeback in the division later in the day. The Mets lost 12 of their final 17 games, and the pitching and offense that had carried them all year came crashing down.

This is relevant as right now as we speak the New York Mets have a 7.5 game lead over the Washington Nationals. David Wright remains from that 2007 team, but this year’s group features fearsome youth in the pitching staff and Bartolo Colon whose every at-bat is primer for those who say baseball players aren’t athletes.

Yes, I was hoping the Dodgers would suffer a similar fate this season, but it looks like that won’t happen. Baseball’s history provides stories that keep us captivated all season long, and for now we can only watch the Padres play hard until the end and seek to fight for a .500 record. After all, over in the American League wild card race would only leave them about 3.5 out of the second wild card spot.

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