The Mets are the perfect illustration of the warp speed at which professional sports operates and in which credit expires almost immediately.
Their 2015 trip to the World Series might as well have happened in 1915, for all of its staying power. Instead of forming the foundation of an era of excellence, that season quickly has come to represent an oasis in the expansive desert of despair through which the franchise is doomed to wander.
One by one, they have gone down or gone elsewhere. Just seven players — Wilmer Flores, Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto, Jeurys Familia, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Saturday’s starting and losing pitcher, Steven Matz — had survived attrition and purge and remained on the active roster entering the 7-6 loss to the Yankees at the Stadium.