Mets jinx Sal Licata strikes again by prematurely declaring the NL Wild Card race over

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. WFAN host Sal Licata seems to have forgotten what made him famous for all of the wrong reasons back in 2022 when he declared the NL East race to be over. A proclamation made on May 31 with the New York Mets at 34-17 holding a 10.5 game lead over the 23-27 Atlanta Braves, Licata is toying with the baseball gods.

The tweet was sent out on Friday probably around the time the Mets were pummeling the Braves with a 7-run inning but right before Kodai Senga went down with a season-ending injury. The win pushed the Mets ahead of the Braves for the night. Less than 24 hours later, the Braves held the Mets scoreless to retake the lead. They pushed 1.5 games in front with another win on Sunday.

Mets fans aren’t happy with Sal Licata’s premature exclamation

This is a good way to win over Braves fans and lose Mets fan followers. A half-game lead over the Braves is nothing with more than two months to go. Licata should have known better than to put himself in such a strange spot where callers will have no choice but to destroy him for this jinx.

Licata doubled down. His growing fanbase in Atlanta has some company a little closer in Philadelphia.

The face palm emoji was created for reactions to tweets like these. The season is young and if anyone knows better than to get cocky in the National League, it should be those who’ve followed the Mets. They’re a team prone to collapsing in some fashion.

A split against the Braves this weekend isn’t the worst outcome. That sick feeling in your stomach is more about the trend of winning the first two and failing to show up for the next half. Tylor Megill and David Peterson practically mimicked each other with strong starts that quickly faded. The offense was practically a no-show on Saturday and Sunday. Let’s not forget how in Thursday’s win they only had two hits, too.

Mission accomplished? Not even close for the Mets who now sit in the third Wild Card spot with three teams right behind at 2 games or less.

The NL Wild Card race isn’t over. If the Mets fail to secure a spot, we know who to blame: a radio personality doing a bit who doesn't care about sports as much as he used to because he's a father and knows ratings will get his daughter through college, not Mets World Series victories. Touche, Sal.

Licata later defended himself on SNY, claiming he was more tongue-in-cheek than serious with the tweet.

The bear was still poked. The merciless baseball gods wasted no time punishing us all.