Breaking Bad: Breaking Mets Edition

It’s fabled for its baby-blue hues, left us perplexed on a weekly basis and mercifully came to an end last Sunday.

If you answered “Breaking Bad,” then you’re partially correct. We’d also have accepted “the New York Mets’ 2013 season” as a viable answer.

When it comes to killer instincts, the Mets are more Bob Heise than they are Heisenberg — Heise having hit .300 (3-10) with a run, 2B and 3 BB for the 1969 Miracle Metropolitans.

Sunday marked the series finale of the AMC’s smash hit Breaking Bad. In honor of the Emmy-winning drama, it seems like the perfect time to dig up the cards of a handful of Mets’ players who have appeared on both the diamond, as well as on the silver and small screens.

It was that or draw parallels between the infamous Walter White and former Mets who have notoriously “dabbled” in the illicit, recreational arts. And by Walter White, we mean the villainous Breaking Bad foil, rather than his minor-league shortstop namesake of the 1923 Rocky Mount Tarheels.

The Mets have had plenty of representation in the entertainment industry — and not just from Billy Crystal’s New York cap in the movie City Slickers.

To wit:

BUD HARRELSON: The aforementioned Bob Heise, a second baseman, turned 11 double plays during his six-year tenure in Queens, undoubtedly turning the majority of them with Mets’ shortstop Bud Harrelson.

Harrelson not only had the better career on the field, but also as an actor. The shortstop portrayed himself in the sitcoms Everyone Loves Raymond, The Odd Couple and even had a role in the 1980 film It’s My Turn, starring Michael Douglas and Charles Grodin.

In a simply twist of coincidence, Grodin is good friends with former Mets’ manager Bobby Valentine.

LEE MAZZILLI: If you’re going to pick a Mets’ player to play a wise guy, Lee Mazzilli would be the obvious choice. The Mets outfielder played a wise guy in the 1991 TV movie Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace. That filmed starred Tony Danza, who famously played ex-St. Louis Cardinal second baseman Tony Micelli in the sitcom Who’s The Boss?.

Mazzilli’s most notable role, however, was his portrayal of Tony (of course) in the off-Broadway version of Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding.

MIKE PIAZZA: The former Mets’ catcher’s acting resume is as impressive as his baseball career. No one is better than playing Mike Piazza than, well, Mike Piazza. Piazza has portrayed himself in television shows such as Baywatch, Married With Children and even took an animated role on What’s New, Scooby Doo.

His big screen-debut came in a romantic-comedy starring Sandra Bullock/Hugh Grant film called Two Weeks Notice. He even took a turn on Jeopardy and NBC’s The Apprentice.

BILLY BEANE: One of the most famous portrayals involving an ex-Met actually was done by an actor portraying a former Metropolitan. The Mets drafted Billy Beane with a first-round draft pick (23rd overall) of the 1980 draft. His playing career didn’t quite pan out, but Beane made a name for himself as a penny-pinching, result-producing general manager of the Oakland Athletics. His shrewdness and eye for new ways to win ballgames earned him a reputation that was displayed in the best-selling novel Moneyball. Eventually an award-winning movie of the same title ensued and Beane was portrayed by none other than Brad Pitt.

KEITH HERNANDEZ: It’s stated in the book “The Bad Guys Won” that when Keith Hernandez learned of his trade to New York, he tried to retire rather than play for the Mets. The thought of living in New York in 1980s paralyzed him with fear. When retiring wasn’t an option, he allegedly sat down and wept.

Flash forward a decade and Hernandez became not only a Big Apple icon for his exploits on the field, but on the small screen as well where he portrayed himself in the smash-hit sitcom Seinfeld.

The former first baseman played Elaine’s boyfriend and Jerry’s new friend. The two-part episode is allegedly comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s favorite among the 180 episodes they filmed.

RON DARLING: Most Mets have hit the entertainment scenes as themselves. One ex-Met, however, is as comfortable outside his comfort zone as he was comfortable in the strike zone. Of course, it helps to look like Ron Darling to break into Hollywood.

The Honolulu native depicted a Hawaiian news anchor in the motion picture The Day After Tomorrow, made a small cameo (as himself) on Saturday Night Live, and played himself in Bernie Mac’s Mr. 3,000.

But his best role, albeit a small one (at least in this author’s mind), was his brief appearance as Li’iBoy in the comedy film Shallow Hal. In it, Darling portrays the skinny version of the massive, but sweet-natured Pacific Islander.

Makes me laugh every time.