A Historic Collapse: The Mets held a seven-game lead with 17 to play and were caught looking ahead to the playoffs. What followed was among the worst collapses in history and one that revealed the weaknesses of the players, the manager and the general manager. Jose Reyes and his questionable -- and downright poor -- play summed up the the performance on the field. Manager Willie Randolph's mismanagement of the bullpen came to light......

After two seasons of constant trade speculation, the Mets finally have moved Lastings Milledge in a deal this afternoon to the division rival Washington Nationals. In return, the Mets receive Outfielder Ryan Church and Catcher Brian Schneider. Milledge was not always a model citizen as a Met, either on the field or of the field, but nonetheless had been long touted by the organization and the media by a top tier outfield prospect. While he......

For a team used to making miracles, conjuring up a disaster had an especially bitter taste. With a sloppily played 8-1 loss to Florida and the Phillies' 6-1 win against the Nationals, the Mets' season ended about a month too early. The loss capped an agonizing stretch of two and a half weeks in which the Mets played some of the worst teams in the National League and still played their worst baseball of......

A few months ago, a more unlikely scenario could not be imagined. The Yankees are barreling into the playoffs after recovering from one of the team's worst season starts in franchise history. The Mets, on the other hand, are staggering towards the end of the season having lost five straight and 11 of their last 15 games. A seemingly insurmountable lead in their division has been whittled to second place behind the Phillies, and the......

It took the Mets a little more than two weeks, but they've somehow managed to squander a seven-game lead in the National League East. Since September 12th, the lead has slowly gotten smaller and is now zero, zilch, zip, nadda, nil. With three games left in the regular season, the Mets are tied with the Phillies for first in the NL East. The last time the Mets weren't in sole possession of first place......

From last place to the playoffs, the Yankees have taken their fans on a trip, but they will play October baseball once again. The same cannot yet be said about the Mets. Wednesday night the Yankees completed a remarkable reversal, recovering from a 21-29 start to clinch their 13th-straight playoff spot with a 12-4 win. While it isn’t a definite, chances are they will be the Wild Card team and open the playoffs in......

Nationals 10, Mets 9: Willie Randolph better be queuing up a tape of the 2006 Cardinals' September. Back then, they didn' t pitch, lost a ton of games down the stretch, and looked dead entering the playoffs. This year's Mets can identify. They can't seem to do anything right. Even with a six-run ninth-inning rally, the Mets came up one run short. At least Philadelphia lost to Atlanta -- still feels weird to root for......

You probably won't catch any Mets fans or anyone associated with the club purchasing these yet, but MLB.com already has the New York Mets 2007 NL East Division Champions Roster T-Shirt up for sale on its website. Talk about counting your eggs way before they're hatched. The shirts aren't even available for pre-sale only, but are "in stock and ready to leave the warehouse" in 4-6 business days! Hmm...in 4-6 days, the NL East......

Toronto 4 Yankees 1: You would have thought that the news that AJ Burnett was scratched from his start in favor of Jesse Litsch would have been good for the Yankees, it wasn’t. Litsch did a great imitation of Burnett, dominating the Yankees for almost eight innings and when Andy Pettitte struggled in the second, Toronto had all the offense they needed. The loss drops New York two full games behind Boston with only......

Mets 8 Nationals 4: Boy did they need this one. With the division lead down to 1-1/2 games, the Mets could not afford to get swept by Washington and they showed some fight Wednesday night, by getting a game they had to have. And, perhaps best of all, the Phillies lost in extra innings, putting the division lead back at 2-1/2 games. Moises Alou shook off an injury and provided three hits and a......

Nationals 9, Mets 8: If a four-run lead can't stand up against the Nationals, against whom will it last? The Mets are hoping what was a seven-game lead as recently as Sept. 12 stands up, but they're not helping their fans maintain regular heartbeats. John Maine hit before he threw a pitch and still couldn't get out of the fifth. That's against a team that's last in the Major Leagues in runs scored and playing......

While Matt Murphy claimed that he was going to keep it if possible, does it surprise anyone that the ball from Barry Bonds' 756th home run is going on sale? The 21 year-old Murphy, a Queens resident and Mets fan, caught the record-breaking ball earlier this month in San Francisco (while on the way to Australia), says that he's selling the ball for tax purposes. "It wasn't hard. It was simple math. I'm upset by......

Mets 8, Nationals 2: After fooling around with some of the National League's weaker teams, the Mets finished a sweep in Washington with this drubbing. Carlos Beltran led the way with two homers. His trip to the disabled list seems to have helped him out of his slump. Orlando Hernandez, who said his team had "good offense" and "good defense," won his fourth straight decision. He hasn't lost since July 4. Yankees 9, Tigers 3:......

Red Bulls 5, Galaxy 4: Giants Stadium fills up for plenty of events, but Red Bulls games don't usually rank among those. Saturday's did, if only because David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy was in town. Those fans, who were there for Beckham and not the Galaxy, found another rare treat: goals in a Major League Soccer game. Soccer doesn't need frequent scores to be exciting, but the rare 5-4 game never hurt anyone. Not......

Yankees 6 Tigers 1: In desperate need of starting pitching the Yankees turned to a reliable source. Andy Pettitte threw eight innings of five-hit ball shutting down the Tigers’ offense and giving his team a chance to win. And, the offense responded with Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi and Andy Phillips providing big hits. With Boston splitting a doubleheader, the Yankees gained a ½-game in the standings. But, they will have to keep their......

What are the chances? Matt Murphy, a Queens-native and Mets fan, was on his way to Australia when he bought a ticket to last night's Giants-Nationals game at AT&T Park in San Francisco for a chance to watch history. He didn't just watch history, he happened to catch it. Or grab it, at least. Murphy, wearing a Mets jersey and t-shirt, and a buddy (wearing Yankees gear) bought a pair of tickets from a......

Mets 5, Nationals 0 (5 innings): John Maine lasted five innings. Normally that wouldn't that be that good, but then the rains came, the game was called 90 minutes later and Maine had a complete-game one-hitter. Don't look past Maine's battery-mate, Ramon Castro, who went 2-for-2 with a home run and has looked great when he's seen the time. Would the Mets be a better team with him as the regular catcher and Paul......

Yankees 8, Orioles 7: Way back on June 28th, the game between the Yankees and Orioles was suspended in the 8th inning with New York up 8-6. Last night, the two teams continued the June game with Mariano Rivera allowing one Baltimore run to make things exciting in the 9th before picking up what is officially his 10th save of the season. Orioles 4, Yankees 2: In the regularly scheduled game last night, the Yankees......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

Senators 3, Devils 2: The good news is that the Devils scored. When that qualifies as a positive development, things probably aren't going well. They didn't score enough, and now they are facing elimination and a 3-1 series deficit. The pivotal play came when Dany Heatley took a shot from the right boards and knocked it into the net off Martin Brodeur's skate, giving Ottawa a 2-1 lead at the time. Hot goalies often win......

Devils 3, Senators 2 (2OT): Things appeared to be going according to plan for the Devils. They jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in a game they needed to avoid an 0-2 deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinals. That plan got broken when Dany Heatley tied the game with 26.4 seconds left. The first overtime was ripe with chances -- tired skaters lead to open shots -- but the Devils needed to the......

Red Sox 11 Yankees 4: Just how bad is it going to get in Yankeeland? Not only are they in last place, five games under .500 and losers of seven-straight, but also there are reports that the Dolans are trying to buy the team. Their starting pitching is completely broken and Mariano Rivera can’t get an out. The offense is now slumping and the bullpen imploding from overuse. Steinbrenner is reportedly ready to fire Joe......

Rangers 2 Thrashers 1: New York took a commanding lead in their playoff series thanks to an incredibly lucky bounce and a beautiful goal from Brenadan Shanahan. The Rangers head home with a 2-0 lead in the series. Islanders 3 Sabres 2: Rick DiPietro returned and stopped 32-of-34 shots to lead the Islanders to victory. Marc-Andre Bergeron scored a power-play goal in the third period to give New York the victory. Lightning 3 Devils 2:......

Nets 100, Knicks 86: Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson combined to put the Nets in the playoffs while putting the Knicks in the realm of the draft lottery. No team that can't finish the season above .500 should be that proud of its year, but the Nets can take solace in knowing they'll get to play in the second season. On the other hand, no Knicks player should be happy his team improved from last......

What does a Stuyvesant High grad who won the Siemens Competition prize for outstanding high school science project do these days? Study worms of course. Yin Li won the $100,000 scholarship in 2003 for his study of how certain proteins in the brain "might control the capacity of nerve cells to undergo local protein synthesis". Such a mechanism might be related to memory and learning. According to the Daily News Li is now a junior......

The NYPD and FBI shut down a $3.3 billion Internet gambling ring, arresting 27 people and seizing $7 million in cash and assets worth $500 million, including four Manhattan condos. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly called shutting down website Playwithal.com "the largest illegal gambling operation this department has ever encountered." Here's how it worked, according to the Daily News:Traditional bookies would give bettors a secret code to use the Internet gambling site, authorities said. Bets......

-Blue Jays 7, Yankees 5: No one cared about the score, but Derek Jeter's 1-for-5 performance cost him a chance at the American League batting crown. Minnesota's Joe Mauer took it home. As overrated a baseball statistic as batting average is -- on-base percentage is a better indicator of a player's value -- Jeter surely wanted the title. This has been the best season of his career -- in large part because of his on-base......

-Devil Rays 11, Yankees 4: Manager Joe Torre's history makes clear that he doesn't care too much about home-field advantage in the playoffs. Last year, he started a second-class lineup against Boston when a win would have given the Yankees the edge in their first-round series against the Angels. This year, his team will go down to the wire battling the Tigers for the American League's best record, but Torre's lineups won't reflect it. Mike......

- Mets 12, Nationals 6: What's left for the Mets this season? All they have to do is rest their regulars, fine tune their starting pitching (no crying in baseball, right?), and figure out who their first round opponent. Last night, potential fourth starter, John Maine took the mound and didn't look all that impressive - not the best way to earn a spot in the starting rotation. Maine allowed four runs over five......

-Yankees 4 Tampa Bay 1: While New York spent most of September marching toward another division championship, there was one thought in the back of their minds. When will Mariano come back? Rivera had been sidelined since the end of August with a forearm strain and everyone knows that he is truly the indispensable Yankee come October. While we won’t know for sure until tomorrow, his return seems on track. Rivera struck out the side......