The team. The time. The collapse.

Said Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN The Magazine:

No team in major league history had held a seven-game lead with 17 games to play and not made the playoffs. On Sept. 12, the day the Mets led the National League East by seven games, Baseball Prospectus, the noted statistical Web site, rated New York's chances of missing the playoffs at 500-1. On Sunday, the Mets hit the infamous jackpot.

Comedic.

P.S. I was just about to hit publish, but my heart wasn't in going for uncited plagiarism. You have to thank Mike Francesa for the post's title.