This time the gap between post season appearances wasn't nearly as long as it had been in the past. After the 2000 season demolishing by the Yankees, a lot of things changed for the Mets from the manager to the roster to their way of playing the game. The 2006 team was brand new and firing on all cylinders.
The lineup they sported on Opening Day vs. the Washington Nationals was filled with very good players but most of them were brand new to the Shea Stadium environment.
Jose Reyes SS
Paul Lo Duca C
Carlos Beltran CF
Carlos Delgado 1B
David Wright 3B
Cliff Floyd LF
Xavier Nady RF
Anderson Hernandez 2B
Tom Glavine SP
At the time in 2006 this lineup that started the year pretty much was consistent throughout the season with the exception of Jose Valentin having a good comeback season at age 36 replacing Anderson Hernandez at 2B. The pair of 23 year olds in Reyes and Wright provided fans with plenty of excitement. Reyes hit .300 with 19 HRs, 81 RBIs and stole 64 bases. Wright hit .311 with 26 HRs and 116 RBIs while also adding 20 SBs.
They were dwarfed, however, by the exploits of the pair of Carlos hitters in the middle of the lineup. After his less than stellar start with the Mets, Carlos Beltran roared back while playing Gold Glove defense in center field while hitting .275 with 41 homers, 116 RBIs and 18 SBs. Big Carlos Delgado hit .265 while clubbing 38 over the fence to go along with 114 RBIs. Finally, don't overlook the solid .318 batting average achieved by volatile catcher Paul Lo Duca.
On the pitching side of the ledger the Mets were led by a pair of 15 game winners in Tom Glavine and (surprisingly) Steve Trachsel. They still had Pedro Martinez on the roster but he was relegated to partial totals due to injury. Rounding out the rotation were Orlando Hernandez and John Maine.
In the bullpen four of the top fiver hurlers sported ERAs under 3.00. They were led by the highly underrated Billy Wagner. He was supported in kind by Chad Bradford, Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez. The so-called weak link of the pen was Aaron Heilman whose 3.62 ERA nowadays would generate a chance at an eight figure contract.
Manager Willie Randolph was a big name having played across town for much of his career but he had little experience at the reins of running an entire team. After a rocky start in 2005, Randoph went on to manage what was a major league baseball tied best record with 97 wins which led to the 12 game lead and National League East championship for the Mets. He finished second to the Marlins' Joe Girardi for Manager of the Year and received a lucrative contract extension for his efforts.
As the Mets squared off against the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL Championship, the fight was indeed a tough one. No Mets fans will ever forget the sight of Carlos Beltran getting called out with the bat on his shoulder in the 9th inning of game seven against Adam Wainwright. It ended the Mets' quest for the World Series and put a damper on an otherwise wholly impressive season.
Nasty curve. Video reminded me he took a very hit table fastball for strike one.
ReplyDeleteThat was some team. Should have gone to the World Series.
Three years later, the Wilson’s opened Citi Canyon, and most of that offense evaporated. Dummies.
I always thought that Anderson Hernandez was going to be a great player.
ReplyDeleteBecause we lost the Endy catch is mostly forgotten. As for Citi Canyon what I remember was seeing a very frustrated D. Wright with his head down running to first as another HR to right center dies on the warning track. Just another brilliant Wilpon decision.
ReplyDeleteI RE bet A Rod laughing when he scorched a ball to the CF side of the great wall of Citi, and it hit right near the top corner and stayed in.his laugh said, “what a joke this is!”
ReplyDeleteGary it was partly Wrights fault. “ you build a park like this, I am leaving.”
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