With a gut-wrenching farewell to Shea Stadium still up for chronological grabs, the Mets have attempted to bow out early by winning a measly five of their last 11 games. While magician David Blaine has spent an unreasonable number of hours hanging upside down in Central Park, similarly inspired Mets fans have been dangling by a thread for days.

Even though the Brewers have rallied to win their last four games, things haven't exactly been going swimmingly out in Milwaukee, either. With rent-an-ace lefty CC Sabathia doing a remarkable job of standing on his head, the Brew Crew is attempting to wrestle the wild-card invite (they're tied at post time) away from a Mets team that coughed up the NL East lead to Philly.

Before we examine the particulars, please note that the demonstrated ability to collapse is no fluke for the Mets or Brewers. One year ago, New York's NL representatives dazzled baseball observers by surrendering a seven-game NL East lead in only 17 working days.

The Brewers were riding high with an 8½-game lead in June of the 2007 NL Central race before crashing and crawling across the finish line with an 83-79 record and no playoff ticket.

Our deeper surge into the respective '08 calamities will begin in New York, where Willie Randolph survived last year's free fall and continued this season as manager of the allegedly renewed Metropolitans. While Willie was a key returnee, considerable optimism was generated by the addition of Johan Santana, who — after turning down an offer of $80 million over four years — was judged by the Minnesota Twins to be an extravagance they could not afford or allow to scoot in free agency.

And the glad tidings weren't over; the four-prospect price tag unloaded by the Mets did not include 19-year-old monster outfield prospect Fernando Martinez.

Unfortunately, Santana — who has been money (so to speak) down the stretch — and his new cronies were not good enough to boost the Mets to .500 by June 17. So, at 34-35 and with the team in Anaheim (or Los Angeles of Anaheim), general manager Omar Minaya bestowed a pink slip upon Randolph around midnight, Pacific Substandard time, at the team hotel. That's what we call turn-down service.

Successor Jerry Manuel has coaxed the highly paid Mets into a post-Willie mark of 54-36, with a huge debt of gratitude owed eventually sizzling first baseman Carlos Delgado. On June 17, Delgado was hitting .238 with nine taters and 32 RBI. Before Thursday's tilt, he checked in at .274/38/114. Wow, Randolph (and Santana) could have used that level of lineup support before his trip to Anaheim.

Anyway, despite an injury-underscored year for the rotation and uneven performances from big-ticket regulars Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, the Mets could have walked away with the NL East if their bullpen had risen to the lofty level of mediocre.

Going into the finishing weekend, New York relievers (now working without Billy Wagner for the rest of this year and maybe next) had blown 29 saves. Their 60 percent save-success rate is just 11th in the National League and the bullpen ERA is 12th at 4.22. The gloriously inept statistics could go on, but you get the grisly picture.

The wacky ride is no less compelling in Wisconsin, where the Brewers fired manager Ned Yost with two weeks left in the season. As the dugout architect of the 2007 catastrophe, team management decided Ned — who didn't seem to mind a dugout that included accessories like sunflower seeds, bubblegum and grappling teammates — had it coming.

Successor Dale Sveum, who moved from the third-base coaching box to the hot seat, said, "We're just trying to send a shock wave through this team and get them going for 12 days through the playoffs."

The shock wave was intended to follow a rip tide that featured a 3-10 record leading up to Yost's firing. The Brewers, who had been nose-to-nose with the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central around the time of Sabathia's arrival, were 83-67 — and way back in the rearview mirror — when Ned was canned. They're 5-4 with Sveum in charge.

Complicating the Brewers' march toward the playoffs for the first time since 1982 were three rotten efforts — a May sweep by the Boston Red Sox, a four-game June sweep by the Cubs in Milwaukee and a recent four-game slap from the Phillies.

For now, Milwaukee's magic number is 52 — the digits on the back of CC's jersey. With an enormous free-agent contract (that's not expected to come from the Brewers) on the line this winter, Sabathia has instructed his agent to pipe down while his valuable left arm works on just three-days' rest. The first time didn't go that well, but the 6-foot-7, 300-pound Clydesdale (sorry, wrong city) fanned 11 in a 107-pitch, seven-inning victory over the mighty Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.

Three more days and he'll threaten to come back Sunday.

While the Brewer bullpen behind CC has been blessedly mediocre, the rotation around him has struggled. Veteran Jeff Suppan has been a mess in September, with free-agent-to-be Ben Sheets going from All-Star Game starter to Guy With Elbow Twinge. Sveum is hoping Sheets can return for a start this weekend, but suggested a "small miracle" could be required.

With 26 years separating this franchise from being viable in October, there's no such thing as a small miracle in Milwaukee.