It’s deja vu all over again. A recurring nightmare Mets fans have carried for nearly two decades. The Marlins, a franchise New York doesn’t even respect enough to consider a rival, always seem to surface when it matters most, ready to spoil another season.
And, Friday night, they did it again.
In 2007, it was the Florida Marlins who stormed into Shea Stadium and dealt the fatal blow. Tom Glavine lasted just one-third of an inning in the season’s final game, an 8–1 loss that capped one of the worst collapses in baseball history. A team that led the division by seven games with 17 to play went home empty.
In 2008, it happened again.
On the final day of the regular season, the Marlins beat the Mets 4–2, eliminating them from postseason contention and closing Shea Stadium in heartbreak. Different year, same opponent, same spoiled dream.
Now, in 2025, the script feels eerily familiar.
Friday’s 6–2 loss to the Miami Marlins shoved the Mets into a tie with the Reds at 82–78, but because Cincinnati owns the tiebreaker, New York has effectively fallen behind in the race for the final NL Wild Card.
Arizona, just a game back, is waiting to pounce.
The parallels are impossible to ignore.
The Mets had their path laid out, only to let the Marlins seize the moment. Just as in 2007 and 2008, the opponent that fans barely think about in April has become the one they can’t stop thinking about in September.
The Mets’ margin for error is gone. They need to win out, hope for a Reds stumble, and pray Arizona doesn’t surge. But once again, their season no longer belongs entirely to them.
For the fans, the sting is sharper because the villain is so familiar, but also so unexpected. The Phillies or the Braves are the teams they fear in the division.
The Marlins don’t feel like rivals, but they’ve made a habit of ending the Mets’ hopes. Different decade, different ballpark, different uniforms, and yet, it’s the same result.
The Marlins, once again, are playing spoiler to the Mets’ dreams.
