Queens native Ilan Grapel has been in an Egyptian jail for the last four and a half months. Grapel is a Mets’ fan from Queens. So what do you do to a guy who just served nearly five months in a foreign jail who has had no contact with the outside world? Apparently, if you’re Ilan’s mother, Irene, and Rep. Gary Ackerman, you tell him the Mets won the World Series.

He said it would be hard to express his deep appreciation to everyone who helped free him.

“There’s so many people to thank,” he said, “and after being cut off for the past five months …”

Ackerman quickly interjected, “We told him the Mets won the World Series.”

Grapel, a sports fan, shot Ackerman a big smile — only to quickly feel the let-down most Mets fans are all too familiar with when he quickly figured out that the team had tanked — again.

That seems a little harsh. Having said that, I hope the city of Chicago gets wrongfully locked up abroad. I want to be the one to greet them as they’re released.

“Hey! Theo did it! The Cubs won,” I’ll say.

“Hooray,” they’ll shout!

Then I’ll show them the Cubs actually finished in third place and it only cost them $150 million. They’ll still think that Epstein guy is a miracle worker.

[New York Post]