Worst NY Mets loss from every completed decade in franchise history

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Losing is something no one likes to do. The New York Mets have experienced their share of losses. Some were far more painful than others.

It’s only natural for a 162-game schedule to include some brutal losses. However, it hurts most when your team does actually win a lot in the regular season and then suffers defeat in the playoffs.

With plenty of autumn heartache, these are the worst Mets losses in each decade.

Worst NY Mets loss of the 1960s: All 120 from 1962

How do you pick one loss from the 1960s? There were so many to choose from. All 120 were pretty bad.

This inaugural Mets gave up 948 runs while scoring only 617 times. The massive run differential was highlighted by several beatings from the opponent. There were 120 times when Mets fans left the ballpark or turned off their radio in a foul mood.

Want a more specific game? How about the final one before the All-Star Break. The Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 15-1 on July 8? The 17-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 14 wasn’t much better.

The 1960s were rough on the Mets until the very end.

Worst NY Mets loss of the 1970s: Game 7 of the 1973 World Series

Game 7s always have one team leaving happy and the other making offseason plans. The first Game 7 in Mets history took place in the 1973 World Series. After losing Game 6 when they could have closed it out, the Mets went into Game 7 on even-footing with the Oakland Athletics.

Sadly, a rough third inning was all it took to seal the fate of the Mets. The Athletics scored four earned runs against Jon Matlack who failed to even get out of the inning. The offense was only able to muster up a pair of runs in what would become a 5-2 victory for Oakland.

For sure, the loss hurt. Fans would feel the pain linger as the team failed to even make it back to the postseason again until 1986.

Worst NY Mets loss of the 1980s: Game 7 of the 1988 NLCS

The 1986 championship was a nice chaser to help alleviate some of the pain of how the 1988 NLCS ended. Yet another Game 7 for the team, this one wouldn’t end as well as the 1986 World Series finale that saw the Mets take down the Boston Red Sox.

Against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets were looking to come back from down 3-2 and win the series. The pitching matchup was Ron Darling versus Orel Hershiser. A sacrifice fly in the first inning got the scoring started for Los Angeles and before the second inning was through, Darling was gone and Dwight Gooden had entered.

The Mets came unraveled in the second inning. They allowed 5 more runs to score with the two errors contributing to it.

The New York bats had no response as they went on to lose this game 6-0.

Worst NY Mets loss of the 1990s: Game 6 of the 1999 NLCS

The 1999 season was the first trip back to the postseason for the Mets after blowing it in 1988. Would they have better luck this time? No.

Against the rival Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, they managed to go into extra innings in Game 6. With the Braves already ahead 3-2 in the series, it would take two more victories for the Mets to come away as the winners. They wouldn’t get a chance to win because they lost Game 6 on, of all things, a bases loaded walk.

Kenny Rogers, after two intentional walks to load the bases, issued an unintentional free pass to Andruw Jones.

And like that, the season was over.

Worst NY Mets loss of the 2000s: Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS

Losing in the 2000 World Series was deflating but it wasn’t the worst of the 2000s. There’s even an argument to make that a regular season loss in 2007 or 2008 was more painful. Out of all of those bad moments, one particular pitch stands out.

There’s something about Game 7s that hurt more. It was in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS when the Mets faced the St. Louis Cardinals that we got a memorably bad moment. You remember the situation perfectly, still, and see it in your nightmares. Adam Wainwright freezes Carlos Beltran with a curveball. Strike three is called.

What made this loss especially painful was how good this Mets team was. They had a serious shot to win a championship. Instead, the Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers.

Worst NY Mets loss of the 2010s: Game 1 of the 2015 World Series

The run to the 2015 World Series was spectacular for the Mets. The World Series itself wasn’t so wonderful. That’s because the Kansas City Royals were the victors.

The worst loss of the series came in Game 1. A fight that took over five hours and lasted into the 14th inning was right there for the Mets to win. An Alex Gordon home run in the bottom of the ninth with one out tied things up. The game dragged on and in the bottom of the 14th, the Mets saw themselves fall behind in the series.

An error, a single, and an intentional walk loaded the bases. With nowhere for pitcher Bartolo Colon to put Eric Hosmer, the Royals first baseman hit a flyball into right field deep enough to knock in the winning run.

This game was a sign of things to come. Errors, blown saves, and extra inning losses were too common for the Mets that autumn.

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Worst Mets loss from every completed decade in franchise history