5 most disappointing Mets season endings ranked after the 2022 whimper

The 2022 New York Mets didn’t quite collapse. No, there must be a different word to describe what happened.

Whatever it is you choose to describe it as, the Mets season ended with great disappointment. It’s something Mets fans are all-too-familiar with. An older generation wants to remind the younger ones about past finales as Mets fans of a fresher generation continue to struggle to get through what just happened in the 2022 Wild Card Series.

Factoring in the team’s regular season performance, what was ultimately achieved in the postseason (or not), plus what lies ahead for the franchise, this is an unbiased look at the five most disappointing Mets seasons rank after the 2022 campaign.

5) NY Mets most disappointing season ending: 1988

Only two years removed from winning a World Series, the 1988 Mets saw their hopes crushed by Mike Scioscia and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team was actually ahead 2-1 in the series and until the Dodgers tied it up in the ninth in Game 4, New York was close to taking a 3-1 lead.

While referenced often, the team did just win a championship. Fans were hopeful they would be back to the postseason again the following year. While the Mets remained good for a few more seasons, this was their last trip to the postseason until 1999.

4) NY Mets most disappointing season ending: 2008

The 2008 Mets collapse was pretty awful. But because it was a repeat of what had happened the previous season in a lighter way, it doesn’t quite sneak into the top 3 of disappointments.

The team had only a 3.5 game lead in the NL East with 17 games left to go. It wasn’t the biggest. Much bigger ones were blown—even by them.

3) NY Mets most disappointing season ending: 2022

Here we go. The 2022 Mets. Things weren’t supposed to end after three Wild Card games. That’s how the ball rolls.

The 101 regular season wins were wasted by this team. Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt didn’t do their job on the mound. In Game 3, the offense had only a single hit. That Game 3 will specifically stand out as one of the worst in franchise history to end a year.

2) NY Mets most disappointing season ending: 2007

Maybe the only single game to end a year that is worse than Game 3 of the 2022 NLWC is the finale of the 2007 season. This year, the Mets had a 7 game lead with 17 left. They blew it and did so on the final game of the season.

It was Tom Glavine on the mound for the Mets against the Florida Marlins when this became a notorious game and season for the franchise. The Marlins scored 7 runs against Glavine in the first inning and the future Hall of Famer exited after recording only a single out. This one was over before the Mets even stepped up to the plate.

1) NY Mets most disappointing season ending: 2006

There were many other disappointing endings in Mets history but it’s the 2006 conclusion that stands out the most. A single pitch represented the frustration, too. The Mets’ best hitter, Carlos Beltran, was caught at the plate looking at strike three as the St. Louis Cardinals took the pennant in a Game 7.

This game had all of the makings to become a Mets classic. Instead, it was the closest to a championship they would get until 2015 which had its own disappointments. If we only knew 2006 was the first of three disappointing conclusions, we might have appreciated this one more.