It's Sept. 1, and as the sun begins to set on the summer, there is just one month left in the Major League Baseball season as the hunt for October playoff baseball continues.
For fans of most teams in pennant races right now, there is a feeling of excitement for what lies ahead, while there is also some caution based on past Septembers that weren't very warm to many franchises throughout the years.
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Unless of course, if you live in Kansas City or just root for the Royals, who own a more-than-comfortable 13-game lead atop the AL Central entering the final full month of the regular season.
While only a few weeks stand in between now and the MLB playoffs, many things can happen down the stretch. Entering September, here's a look at five of the worst pennant race collapses in MLB history. To view this article in slideshow form, CLICK START at the top right of this page.
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5) 2008 Mets
Unfortunately, this list won't be too kind to fans of the Amazin's, as their back-to-back collapses still haunt the Flushing faithful to this day (see below). In 2008, Shea Stadium was prepared to close with a bang, but instead the building had to be put out of its misery in what proved to be a whimper.
The Mets were 82-63 on Sept. 10 with a three-game lead over the rival Phillies atop the NL East. The team went 7-10 the rest of the way, slowly coughing up the lead to Philadelphia. New York finished with its last winning record to date at 89-73, but failed to make the postseason by falling to the Marlins on the final day of the season for the second straight year. The Phillies went on to win the World Series.
In 2015, New York owns a 6.5-game lead over Washington entering September and is on pace for its first winning record since that year and first postseason appearance since 2006. Now, the Mets just have to get through pesky September and some October regular-season action.
4) 2010 Padres
The 2007 Padres also could have made this list for coughing up a division lead and losing in a one-game playoff to the Rockies, but 2010 takes the cake. On Aug. 27, 2010, San Diego owned a 6.5-game lead over San Francisco, but ended up gagging it away in September and October.
On Sept. 26, the Padres had a half-game lead on the Giants, but they lost three of four to the Cubs, falling three games behind San Francisco. They won the first two games in a series against the Giants to get back within a game, but lost 3-0 on Oct. 3, causing them to miss the playoffs. San Francisco went on to win the World Series.
After an offseason makeover in 2015, the Padres don't have to worry about a collapse. San Diego is 9.5 games out of a playoff spot entering September.
3) 2009 Tigers
This Detroit team spent 146 days in first place in the 2009 season, but somehow managed to choke away a three-game lead with four games left, becoming the first team in MLB history to do so.
The Tigers fell in gut-wrenching fashion, losing 6-5 on a walk-off in the 12th inning to the Twins in the AL Central tiebreaker game on Oct. 6 to miss the postseason altogether.
Detroit has been a very disappointing team in 2015, sitting in last place in the AL Central and eight games out of the final wild-card spot in the AL.
2) 2011 Braves & Red Sox
These two teams get lumped together because of the sheer madness that led to their collapses -- on the very same night.
The Braves coasted into September with a 7.5-game lead over the Cardinals in the wild-card race. Atlanta finished 9-18 in the month of September, ending it on a sour note with a 4-3 loss to the Phillies, marking the Braves' fifth straight loss. It was the club's first season under Fredi Gonzalez, who took over for the retired Bobby Cox.
Atlanta then watched on as St. Louis went 18-9 in September and defeated the Astros, 8-0, on the final day to clinch the berth and eliminate the Braves. The Cardinals went on to win the World Series.
The 2011 season wasn't kind to the Red Sox either as their "chicken wings and beer" campaign came to a nightmarish conclusion. Boston led the Rays by 9.5 games in the wild-card race on Sept. 3. What followed was catastrophic. The BoSox lost 18 of their final 24 games and the final night of the season was an utter disaster after they opened the door for Tampa Bay.
The Yankees were up 7-0 on the Rays that final afternoon while the Red Sox had Jonathan Papelbon in for a save. Papelbon blew the opportunity and the Red Sox fell 4-3 to the Orioles while the Rays mounted a comeback and defeated New York in extra innings on an Evan Longoria walk-off homer to oust Boston from playoff contention.
The Braves and Red Sox are both out of the playoff picture in 2015.
1) 2007 Mets
Here they are again. After finishing 2006 a win shy of making it to the World Series, things were looking up for New York entering September 2007. The Mets had jumped out to a seven-game lead over the Phillies with 17 games left to play. New York dropped 12 of those final 17 contests and entered the last day of the season needing a win to advance.
Tom Glavine lasted 1/3 inning and yielded seven runs in that ballgame as the Mets fell to the Marlins, 8-1, on the final day of the season for the first of two straight years. Philadelphia dropped the Nationals that same day and rolled into the playoffs while New York began a playoff-less drought that has lasted the last eight seasons.
The 2007 Mets are forever known as the team with one of the worst collapses in MLB history.
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