Going, Going, Gone : Carter and Hernandez Have One Foot Out Door

A few minutes after Keith Hernandez made his last out of the season at Shea Stadium, reality started to set in.

Is that all there is?

New York’s season of unfulfilled promise ended in disappoinment Monday night when the Mets were eliminated. Wednesday’s finale at Shea was more a feeling of numbness.

The players -- young and old -- stared into the cool autumn night and considered the hard, cold facts.

“I think for the first time our fans were really disappointed in the effort of the team,” said Joe McIlvaine, the Mets’ vice president of operations. “We were coming on in 1984 and ‘85, and they sympathized with all the injuries in ’87. This year, we didn’t get the job done.”

Next season, the Mets will apparently try to get it done without Hernandez and Gary Carter.

Both players are at the end of multi-million dollar contracts and sources say Hernandez and Carter will not be asked to return.

The Mets, a woeful team in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, got Hernandez from St. Louis in 1983 and Carter was acquired from Montreal in 1985.

They provided leadership, clutch hitting, spirit and helped the Mets win the World Series in 1986 and the NL East title last season.

From 1984 through last season, the Mets won 90 or more games each year. “Those guys are the prime reasons why this organization has been successful in the last six years,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “They’re consummate professionals, and I always felt secure putting their names on the lineup card.”

And so often this year, Johnson wanted to put their names on that card but could not.

Hernandez and Carter, both 35, knew coming into this season they needed big years to survive.

But they were knocked out by leg injuries and never got going.

“I don’t think it’s fair to judge my performance on this year,” Carter said. “I came back too soon after my knee surgery because I knew what the circumstances were.”

For Carter and Hernandez, the circumstanes were difficult.

When they slumped the fans booed and wanted Johnson to use younger players.

But when it all came to an end Wednesday night, the fans’ pity seemed to strenghthen their forgotten loyalties.

Hernandez and Carter were cheered and they responed with a tip of the cap and a slight grin.

“I didn’t expect anything less than what I got from the crowd,” Hernandez said. “I gave New York the best years of my career. To see this team go from a bad team to a world champion was a great thrill, and I’m filled with a lot of great memories.”

Carter, who worked for many charities in the New York area, came to the Mets with an effervescent smile and leaves with some bitterness.

While Carter and Hernandez may not play with the Mets next season, they do intend to play.

“In my heart I know I can still play,” Carter said.