Goodbye Mickey ball and hello Mickey fall.

Mickey Callaway’s shaky two-year Mets tenure ended Thursday with a pink slip. The manager was fired by the team, allowing general manager Brodie Van Wagenen to pursue his own man for the job.

“This isn’t easy,” said Van Wagenen, who traveled to Florida with team COO Jeff Wilpon to fire Callaway in person. “Conversations like this are difficult, especially when people are putting their heart and souls into their work. We did feel like this move will give us the opportunity to continue our progression and ultimately get to us to where we want to go as a team and a franchise.”

Also ousted was bench coach Jim Riggleman, who was hired last offseason to help Callaway better navigate game situations.

Callaway, a former Indians pitching coach, went 163-161 in two seasons at the helm, missing the playoffs both years. Callaway’s contract runs through 2020, but withering front office support made it clear his job was in serious jeopardy as the season concluded. The Mets went 86-76 this season and finished third in the NL East after rallying from a brutal start to compete for a wild card.

One Mets pitcher indicated Callaway was generally well-liked, but expressed disappointment the manager wasn’t a bigger presence, after vowing early in his regime to spend time in the clubhouse communicating with players.

Callaway often isolated himself in the manager’s office and delegated responsibilities to his coaches. The pitcher also believed Callaway’s pitching background would translate into more hands-on instruction with the pitchers, but that seldom occurred.

A second Mets player said there was widespread belief in the clubhouse that Callaway was a prop for the front office (he was hired by previous general manager Sandy Alderson) and wielded little authority.

“That is probably why they hired him,” the player said.

For instance, multiple sources said the decision to limit Edwin Diaz’s usage early in the season was a direct order issued by Jeff Wilpon. In an effort to preserve Diaz, the reliever was prohibited from pitching beyond one inning and saved for the ninth. Callaway got skewered publicly on multiple occasions for failing to deploy Diaz as the bullpen imploded, but absorbed the criticism, according to a source. By the second half of the season the point was moot, as Diaz spiraled into an abyss and couldn’t be trusted in high-leverage situations.

Wilpon denied issuing the order on Diaz’s usage.

“I was part of the conversations that we had about Diaz,” Wilpon said. “I never made any edict and certainly didn’t tell anybody what to do with Edwin Diaz or certainly anybody else on the roster.”

A source said Callaway believed part of the job description was to serve as a human shield, taking heat for players on a regular basis. The source said starting pitchers were routinely protected by Callaway when there were questions as to why a starter had been removed from the game. Often, the source said, the pitcher had indicated a preference to be removed. The source pointed to a game in Atlanta in August in which cruising Steven Matz was removed after 79 pitches over six innings and the bullpen imploded. A witness said Callaway, Riggleman and interim pitching coach Phil Regan had approached the pitcher in the dugout and asked if he wanted to continue, and the left-hander’s facial expressions indicated he preferred removal.

Callaway avoided getting fired after a sluggish start to the season, but watched as pitching coach Dave Eiland and bullpen coach Chuck Hernandez were dumped in June . During that same series at Wrigley Field, the manager cursed out a Newsday reporter following an emotional loss. Pitcher Jason Vargas had to be restrained from the reporter after threatening him. Both Callaway and Vargas were fined $10,000 by the team for the incident. Callaway initially refused to apologize to the reporter, but was pressured into doing so by the organization.

The Mets rallied in the second half to contend for the wild card, but the hole was too deep from which to escape, preventing a postseason appearance that would have perhaps saved Callaway.

Van Wagenen, who arrived last October and inherited Callaway as manager, now will be charged with finding a replacement. The list of candidates could include accomplished names such as Joe Girardi, Buck Showalter and Joe Maddon. The organization’s top internal candidate might be quality control coach Luis Rojas, whose father, Felipe Alou, managed the Expos and Giants. Rojas’ brother, Moises Alou, played for the Mets. Other possibilities could include Mike Matheny, Bob Geren, Bryan Price and Brad Ausmus, all of whom have previous managerial experience.

Among those lacking managerial experience, Astros bench coach Joe Espada could receive a look.

“I think at the end of the day it’s less about any shortcomings from Mickey and more about the upside opportunities that we feel some of the other potential candidates may bring to us,” Van Wagenen said.