5 Mets players remembered for letting the team down when it mattered most

Every sports fan gets let down by their team. It’s an all-too-common part of cheering on the New York Mets whose franchise legacy includes plenty of collapses on the opposite side of two miraculous World Series victories.

Through the years, plenty of players have let the team down. It’s these five who seem to stand out most as the ones who caved when it mattered most.

First, an honorable mention to Carlos Beltran whose strike three call in Game 7 of the NLCS didn’t make the cut. One at-bat wasn’t enough to land him on this list. He had enough success with the team. It wouldn’t be fair. These other five Mets stayed for a much shorter time and when the season was on the line they let us down.

1) NY Mets pitcher Kenny Rogers let us down in 1999

We’re going chronologically so if anyone before 1999 let you down, he didn’t make the cut. Tom Seaver coming up short in the 1973 World Series is probably the best argument anyone can make. Again, this isn’t about a single moment. Seaver is The Franchise.

Kenny Rogers, on the other hand, was a veteran mercenary the team added at the 1999 trade deadline. He made a dozen starts in the regular season, finishing 5-1 with a 4.03 ERA. His postseason career is one of the more fascinating. He got knocked around in 1996 with the New York Yankees in every series he pitched. Results were no better for the Mets in 1999. Thereafter, in a relief appearance and three more starts, Rogers was 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA.

Mets fans don’t much care about what Rogers did at age 41 with the 2006 Detroit Tigers. It was one particular pitch in the bottom of the 11th versus the Atlanta Braves. Rogers allowed a leadoff double to Gerald Williams and after a sacrifice bunt to move him over to third, Bobby Valentine made the decision to issue free passes to Chipper Jones and Brian Jordan.

Based juiced with Andruw Jones at the plate, Rogers allowed the game-winning run to cross home after the third walk of the inning. It ended the season and gave Rogers his third loss of the 1999 postseason.