Brad Penner – USATODAY Sports
With the announcement this week that Tom Glavine was one of three players selected to join the Baseball Hall of Fame, New York Mets’ fans should be celebrating and rejoicing while feeling grateful that Glavine spent five years of his Hall of Fame career as a member of the Mets.
Instead, all they do is gripe about Glavine’s last act as a member of the Mets: his infamous meltdown on the final day of the 2007 season that eliminated the team from playoff contention followed by his equally infamous quote that he was “disappointed” but not “devastated” at how he performed. More than six years later, here are some words of wisdom for the Mets’ fans who haven’t forgotten that game and won’t let Glavine for it either: Get over it.
It was one game. We all have our bad days, and that includes Hall of Famers like Glavine. Glavine only pitched in a few of the final 17 games of the 2007 season during which the Mets blew a seven-game lead in the NL East. Glavine has unfairly been made the scapegoat for the 2007 collapse when the blame should be widespread throughout the organization.
The Mets had spoiled their postseason chances long before Glavine took the mound that day, and with the way the team as a whole played down the stretch, Glavine was doomed to fail long before he threw his first pitch. It’s not his fault, so just let it go.
What Mets’ fans should remember about Glavine is having the privilege to watch a first ballot Hall of Famer up close for five years. They should remember how he pitched in 2006, how he helped them get to the postseason that year and how he began the 2006 postseason with 13 scoreless innings across two games, delivering two postseason wins for the Mets.
Obviously, it was “disappointing” when Glavine struggled in the final game of the 2007 season, and he’s never denied that. But he alone is not to blame for the collapse of that season, and enough time has passed for Mets’ fans to let him off the hook and celebrate the fact that a former member of the Mets has been elected to the Hall of Fame.
Bryan Zarpentine is a New York Mets writer at www.RantSports.com. Like him on Facebook, follow him on twitter @BZarp and add him on Google.
Related links:
5 Reasons Tom Glavine Belongs In The Hall of Fame
Greg Maddus, Frank Thomas, and Tom Glavine All Deserving of MLB Hall of Fame Honors
