Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Kenny Rogers!

"The Gambler" took a golden opportunity on Tuesday night to display his extraordinary incompetence, choking on Gerald Williams's bat and spitting out a season-ending run after eleven innings--and an entire summer--of unforgettable baseball.

Because of Kenny, the New York Mets are dusting off their fishing rods and planning winter vacations to Bermuda instead of buying their MetroCards for a subway ride to the Bronx.

Because of Kenny, Mets fans are donning their Yankee caps to cheer on Bernie and Derek as they demolish the putrid Atlanta Braves.

And because of Kenny, a Yankee fan like me has a sly smile on his face this morning. See? Told you so.

"Everything you've done in the past they'll forget about and remember this," The Doctor of Choke told the press after the game.

Not exactly, Ken. I'm not going to forget everything else--I'm just going to add this to the top of my list: Top 100 Reasons Why Kenny Rogers Stinks.

As I watched the bottom of the eleventh unfold, I could see it coming a mile away. He'd done it to the Yanks about 8,000 times.