A look back at Carlos Beltran and why he's so awesome

by Kevin Power on Jul 22, 2011 10:31 AM EDT

We all know the situation with Carlos Beltran being in his last remaining days as a Met. We also know that Beltran is one of the most polarizing figures in Met history, he has taken a lot of crap from Met fans who's expectations were blown way out of proportion.

After Beltran had that amazing 2004 post season, Omar Minaya (shudder) went out and signed Beltran and when he struggled in 2005 (.266/.330/414 with 17 HRs and 78 RBI) fans immediately jumped down his throat, it also didn't help that Beltran broke Mike Cameron's face after the two collided in San Diego. But then something happened the next year in 2006, Beltran became awesome (.275/ .388/ .594 with 41 HRs and 116 RBI) he had big late inning hits and two great walk off homers against the Cardinals and the Phillies. Everyone was happy with Carlos, he seemed to win the the fans over as the team kept on winning.

However, in game 7 of the NLCS Carlos looked at strike three in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded. While that still stings, the pitch was quite possibly one of the best curve balls I have ever seen and if Carlos made contact he probably would have just rolled it over to Scott Rolen. No one will remember that he hit .296/.387/.667 during that series all that mattered was that he wasn't "clutch" fans forgetting the fact that if the Mets had both Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez both healthy, that series doesn't go to game 7. But I digress

The following two years were tough ones for Met fans, but Carlos still continued to rake and prove why he was one of the best in the game at his position. With the bullpen blowing game after game in 07 and with Carlos Delgado seemingly deteriorating in front of our eyes it was a very frustrating two years for Met fans.

One indelible Beltran memory from 2008 would be that he hit the last Met home run in Shea Stadium, in the bottom of the fifth inning Beltran belted a bomb to the bleachers to tie the game at 2, unfortunately we all know how that game ended.

The last three seasons have been riddled with injuries for Carlos, seeing the wear and tear that patrolling center field does to his knees, Carlos began to miss games and fans began to jump on him that he was "soft" and "selfish". Carlos was lumped into a group with Luis Castillo and Ollie Perez as "clubhouse cancers" providing a scapegoat as to why the team wasn't performing up to standard. It also didn't help that Carlos went to one of his charity functions instead of going to Walter Reed Army Hospital when the team was in Washington. That is when I feel the fans turned on him permanently and when Carlos went off to get knee surgery without telling the team the media began feeding the flames.

Now that Carlos is back, playing a full season healthy for the first time in three years Beltran is back to being awesome, but with his contract ending and the Mets in a rebuilding mode it seems the best move for the team would be to try and get some top line prospects to reload the system

Just for the sake of comparison after the jump I'm gonna add in the career Met totals of two notable Met outfielders one is Beltran, can you guess the other (hint, you probably will immediately)

Carlos Beltran: .280/ .368/ .501 with a .870 OPS and career 149 HRs and 554 RBI

Mystery Outfielder: .263/ .359/ .520 with a .878 OPS and career 252 HRs and 733 RBI

(All stats from Baseball References)

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Fact is, Beltran is the best CF the Mets have ever had

And he had one of the best seasons in Mets history.

And, looking at his 2005 numbers, I started chuckling- not many guys would be considered as ‘struggling’ putting up those numbers. If Jason Bay could ‘struggle’ like that, we’d be cooking with propane, I’ll tell ya what.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 453 posts (10/03/10)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jul 22, 2011 3:23 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs

Seriously

I don’t remember being annoyed with him for “struggling,” I remember cheering the long balls and the great catches

"I reject your reality and substitute my own"
-Adam Savage

by blueandorange4life on Jul 22, 2011 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions

I would guess most people

looked at a .330 OBP, 16 HRs, a huge drop in SBs, much lower walk rate and some defensive gaffes (like a ball he lost dropping right in front of him one sunny afternoon) and figured this guy was about to be a 7 year, $120 million dollar bust. Going from 5.4 – 5.6 – 6.8 – 6.6 – 2.7 WAR was a little worrisome. But damn, ’06 was crazy good!

I LIKE IKE!

by astromets on Jul 23, 2011 3:13 AM EDT up reply actions

Yup

and I was one of them at first. Knowing the Mets history with big free agent signings aside from Mike Piazza, basically, it just seemed during 2005 that he was destined to be a bust. While he wasn’t terrible that year, he certainly wasn’t great. His 2.7 fWAR is his lowest for a full season, so there certainly was some merit to the question of whether he would be a bust or not.

Of course, his 2006 season took care of those worries for me pretty quickly. He was a monster from start to finish and his coming back to the field 5 days after that collision in 2005 also gave me a lot of respect for the guy.

Chamption of the R.A. Dickey Face contest and "Cromulent Photoshopper Extraordinaire" of Amazin' Avenue!
You might know me as mistermet.

by Steve Schreiber on Jul 23, 2011 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions

I sell propane and propane accessories.

Chamption of the R.A. Dickey Face contest and "Cromulent Photoshopper Extraordinaire" of Amazin' Avenue!
You might know me as mistermet.

by Steve Schreiber on Jul 23, 2011 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions

So much better than the Cleveland Show, or Bob's Burger

FOX needs to get their priorities straight.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 453 posts (10/03/10)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jul 23, 2011 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed!!!!

One of the more underrated animated series. I’ve seen every episode so many times now too that I’d love for fox to extend king of the hill for some more seasons.

by MatthewM11 on Jul 23, 2011 11:45 PM EDT up reply actions

But they ended it so nicely.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.

by Ogre39666 on Jul 23, 2011 11:54 PM EDT up reply actions

So did Futurama. Multiple times. And this new season is very nice to have around

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 453 posts (10/03/10)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jul 24, 2011 10:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Did Futurama ever have a real planned last episode though?

Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.

by Ogre39666 on Jul 25, 2011 12:05 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm pretty sure the original finale was planned as such.

It certainly ends like one.

"And that's why anybody who invested with Lenny Dykstra should really call that number. Lawyers are standing by."

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jul 25, 2011 12:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Happen to know the title of the episode.

I can’t remember ever watching one that felt like a goodbye.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.

by Ogre39666 on Jul 25, 2011 1:08 AM EDT up reply actions

The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings.

It’s the one where Fry switches hands with the Robot Devil so he can master the holophoner and woo Leela. He winds up being commissioned by Hedonism Bot to write an opera. The ending really feels like they wanted to put a period on the show.

"And that's why anybody who invested with Lenny Dykstra should really call that number. Lawyers are standing by."

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jul 25, 2011 1:52 AM EDT up reply actions