On June 16, 2021, the New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs and moved to a season-high 11 games over .500. They were also sitting on a season-high five-and-a-half-game lead in the NL East, the only team even remotely living up to expectations in a muddled division division.
But in the course of that game, world-beating ace Jacob deGrom left the game with shoulder soreness.
We know how things proceeded from there. The Mets crashed back to the pack, the Atlanta Braves remade their outfield at the trade deadline. The Mets finished third in the division at 77-85, then fired manager Luis Rojas and eventually acting GM Zack Scott after a DUI charge (on which he was later found not guilty).