Yankees, Mets Flirting With History as New York Teams Fight to Stay Out of Last Place
The New York Yankees and New York Mets are on the verge of making history, but not in the way they would have hoped.
The Yankees are sitting dead last in the AL East at 60-61, 3.0 games behind the fourth-place Boston Red Sox. The Mets, despite having a worse record at 56-66, are 1.0 game above the last-place Washington Nationals in the NL East standings.
Since the Mets became a franchise in 1962, the two clubs have never finished in last place in the same year.
The two crosstown rivals hadn't even occupied last place at the same time this late in the season until Sunday, when they did so for just over five hours, according to the New York Post.
The Nationals rallied from down 7-2 in the ninth to beat the Oakland Athletics on a walk-off, bumping the Mets into last place in the process. The Yankees were already in last place at the time, meaning they couldn't fall any further when they blew a 7-3 ninth-inning lead and lost the Miami Marlins.
A surprise Mets win over the first-place Atlanta Braves later that night dug them out of last, but the margin remains thin with over a month left before the season comes to a close.
Sub-.500 campaigns were not in the plans for either the Yankees or Mets, who were tied for the best odds to win the 2023 World Series back in February. The Mets also have the highest payroll in the league, with the Yankees coming in at No. 2.
The last time the Yankees finished last in their division was 1990. Their only other last-place seasons were in 1908, 1912 and 1966, the former two of which came when they were still known as the New York Highlanders.
While the Yankees are far and away the winningest franchise of the last century, the Mets have also largely avoided last place over the past few decades. The Mets have finished in last three times in the last 39 seasons – 1993, 2002 and 2003.
The Yankees have 41 games left this regular season, while the Mets have 40.
According to Tankathon, the Mets have the fourth-hardest remaining schedule in baseball. The Yankees, on the other hand, boast the 18th-hardest remaining schedule.
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