Yet, Shea had to move on in the name of progress. Although, not much to look at, the big blue bowl had to move into memory for the sake of wider concourses, club seats and the Shake Shack.

And the Mets seemed to have suffered for it. As Citi Field arose over the outfield fence, its primary tenant couldn’t get out of its own way, tossing away the 2007 and 2008 seasons on the last day of each season. Could it have been a sign?

More and more you have to wonder, as 2009 is quickly becoming the worst year in the history of the franchise. How can that be, you might say? The Mets have a history of bad clubs. From the 1962 Amazin’ Mets, to the Dr Roulet clubs of the late 1970s, and the “Worst Teams Money Could Buy” in the early 1990s, there have been some stinkers out there.

Yet, this year takes the cake. As the Mets – and the city – proceeded to wipe Shea off the map, the Wilpons were almost bankrupted by Bernie Madoff and Citi Field’s name sponsor had to be bailed out by the government.

Then Citi Field opened it’s doors, filled with obstructed views and devoid of Met history. It took the club four months to realize fans wanted to see memorabilia and the game on the field, and changes were made last week.

It’s probably too little too late, because the season isn’t just a lost cause, but an Edgar Allen Poe horror story. It took only a few weeks into 209 for the Red Death to visit the Met clubhouse and one by one they fell. Seven of the eight in the opening day lineup missed time due to injury. It got so bad that even the replacements started to go down, right down to Jeff Francoeur, who hurt his thumb on Sunday.

As for the starters, John Maine, Oliver Perez, and now Johan Santana have been hurt this season. Livan Hernandez was so bad he was released, and Mike Pelfrey took a huge step back. And much like the lineup, the fill-ins spent time on the DL as well with Fernando Nieve and Tim Redding on the shelf during various parts of the season.

The only thing missing is a ticking ebony clock in the Mets clubhouse which will stop when there are no more players left. With the way things are going, that will probably be next week.

And let’s not forget Omar Minaya, who went from baseball’s darling to almost not having a job after he put his foot in his mouth last month by slandering Daily News reporter Adam Rubin. This year has not been bad, but an embarrassment from top to bottom.

Is all of this bad luck? Maybe. Bad judgment? Perhaps. Yet, maybe the Mets angered some sort of baseball god by wiping Shea Stadium off the map. At least the Yankees had the good sense to keep their old ballpark standing as the Bombers adjusted to their new edifice.

Speaking of the Yankees, they were last team to celebrate a championship on Shea’s field. That type of sacrilege caused them to have a really bad decade. They lost the next World Series on the final pitch, allowed the Red Sox to break their curse and had a boat load of first round defeats. And now, with no more Shea, they are cruising to No. 27.

Maybe there’s nothing to this. But there’s no denying bad karma has hit the Mets hard this year. And all of this started to happen after the team demolished the field of two miracles.

Is it just a coincidence? Maybe or maybe not.

But Redding is a realist and knows returning to this club after his one year, $2.25 million contract expires after this season is suspect at best, so the next six or so starts are a tryout, not just for the Mets, but the rest of baseball as well.

“I don’t want to say this season is cashed in, but a lot of guys will get an opportunity to see if they get brought back,” said Redding who is now 1-6 with a 6.10 ERA on the season. “I would love to be back where I can play with the team that’s 100 percent healthy for all 162.

“But that remains to be seen and if these next six weeks are an audition so be it. I am just going out there trying to do what I did tonight and however long it lasts.”

The great performance tonight doesn’t exonerate Redding for his poor pitching up to this point. In fact, other than Bernie Madoff, no one has stolen more money this season than this tomato can.

For most of the year, he has been a batting practice pitcher, putting the ball down the middle of the plate and then turning his head as it screamed out of Citi Field. He pitched flat, with no sign of improving until the Mets moved in to the bullpen after his 5-run, 2.1 inning performance against Pittsburgh back on July 2nd.

But the ‘pen did something to the 31 year-old. Instead of continuing on down the road to oblivion, Redding improved because of he was able to get ready to pitch a lot quicker.

“Sometimes as a starter you try to be too fine too early,” he said. “What the bullpen allowed me to do is get ready quickly and not worry about it. Sometimes I gave up runs where I pitched well and there were times I gave up runs when the ball was right down the middle on a tee.

“But I found out I have four pitches to throw and I have all four. The situation I was in was for one inning and now that I am back as a starter wherever I might be, I have the confidence that I can throw four pitches as a starter.”

It remains to be seen if this fringe pitcher is in the Mets plans for next year. In fact, the Redding decision is down on the list. After all, they have to make a decision on the general manager, manager, catcher, first baseman, setup man and even Gary Sheffield before the Mets figure out what to do about their barely hanging on fifth starter, who was a Fernando Nieve injury reprieve away from being released.

Yet, for one night, Redding pitched up to his contract and if he can do it over his next six or so starts, he may figure his way back in the Mets plans.

If not, maybe another team will take him.

And Redding, being a smart man, know this.