Billy Wagner made the hall of fame this week. Carlos Beltran did not. Neither did David Wright.
Three great baseball players, all of whom wore a Mets uniform for at least part of their careers. The news broke Tuesday, and there were few surprises. In my opinion, Billy deserved it and should have gotten in last year. Let’s look at all three players.
He began his career in Houston, where he saved 225 games over nine seasons. He made the all-star team three times over that span. Although he has not yet announced which cap he will wear for his HOF bust, I would guess that it would be the Astros cap because that is where his star was born.
After leaving the Astros, Wagner had impactful seasons for the Phillies and the Mets. He gained all-star berths once in Philadelphia and twice more in New York.
As a Met, he delivered 101 saves in 118 opportunities in the 2006, 2007, and 2008 seasons when the team was very competitive and needed every one of those saves. For his career, he pitched to a 2.31 ERA with 1196 strikeouts in 903 innings pitched. His WHIP was 1.00. Amazing!
He was proof that you could throw hard without missing the strike zone as he had only 300 walks during that span. I am sure that many Mets fans will flock to Cooperstown this summer to watch his induction ceremony.
Carlos Beltran was one of the greatest switch hitters of his generation. He was a multi-tool player that could cover center field better than his peers. Beltran slammed 435 home runs and finished his career with a .836 OPS over 2,586 games. His fame spanned 20 years, mostly with Kansas City and the Mets, although he will also be remembered for his incredible playoff performance with the Astros in 2004.
Carlos Beltran was one of the greatest switch hitters of his generation. He was a multi-tool player that could cover center field better than his peers. Beltran slammed 435 home runs and finished his career with a .836 OPS over 2,586 games. His fame spanned 20 years, mostly with Kansas City and the Mets, although he will also be remembered for his incredible playoff performance with the Astros in 2004.
He also played for the Astros on their 2017 World Series championship team where unfortunately he was part of the cheating scandal that has caused the writers to pause before voting him into the hall of fame. He still has an opportunity to enter the Hall, and will be on next year’s ballot. Beltran has 149 homers and five selections to the NL All-Star team with the Mets.
He was a pivotal player in the Mets’ 2006 season, his finest as a Met. Despite a heroic season that saw him land fourth in the MVP voting, Carlos is unfairly remembered for being frozen at the plate on an Adam Wainwright 0-2 curveball with the bases loaded in the ninth inning of game 7 of the NLCS. I believe that the baseball writers will eventually send Carlos Beltran to the HOF. Just not yet.
David Wright is one of the most revered players in Mets’ history. His career line of .296/.376/.491 is hall-of-fame worthy, but he is hampered by an injury-shortened career that did not allow him to amass the quantity of hits/runs/HRs that is typical of HOF inductees. Wright was not only a superb third baseman with a powerful bat. He was the face of the Mets, who handled the New York media like few others.
David Wright is one of the most revered players in Mets’ history. His career line of .296/.376/.491 is hall-of-fame worthy, but he is hampered by an injury-shortened career that did not allow him to amass the quantity of hits/runs/HRs that is typical of HOF inductees. Wright was not only a superb third baseman with a powerful bat. He was the face of the Mets, who handled the New York media like few others.
In the face of adversity from either his injuries or tough streaks by the team, he was always very positive and complementary to his teammates and manager. David was the fourth captain on the Mets (Hernandez, Carter, Franco), serving in that role from 2013-2018. Wright will have his number retired this summer at a special ceremony at Citi Field on July 19th.
Wright has remained engaged with the team since he retired from baseball, serving as a spring training instructor and consultant. Mets fans would certainly all vote for Wright to join the stars in Cooperstown, but it is not a clear path.
13 comments:
I believe all three will be named someday
I'd be surprised if Wright makes it. He's our version of Don Mattingly.
Paul tell us about the WIlpons' bad decision to trade Wagner away, if you'd like.
Beltran has to go into the Hall, as should Andruw Jones. Both had big power and great D.
Wright would have had an easier case to make if 1) the Wilpons had moved She fences in 5 feet, and 2) if the Wilpons did not build Citi Canyon, neutralizing his power and that of others for years.
you can technically blame Omar for those dimension... I believe he wanted more triples and Reyes type players
Eddie, if Omar was my GM, and I was the owner, I’d have headed him back to the drawing board ASAP. I remember Ruben Tejada putting every bit of power he had into two balls. In the current Citifield, a HR with 20 or more feet to spare. Instead, 2 doubles high off the Great Wall of Citi. How deflating to a hitter. I often wonder if Wright complained when he saw a diagram of the dimensions. I would have.
Tom . .I get the case for Beltran. Why do you think Andruw Jones is worthy?
Andruw had 64 WAR, 434 HRs, and 10 Gold Gloves. Not a slam dunk, but I think he is good enough.
The Dodgers exhumed Babe Ruth today and signed him for twice the amount of Juan Soto’s contract. Deferred and to be paid out over the next 1,000 years.
Never thought A. Jones was HOF worthy.
Ray, Chipper Jones: Chipper Jones has a bone to pick with Baseball Hall of Fame voters. The longtime Braves star and Mets villain, who was enshrined in Cooperstown in 2018, took to X to complain about his former teammate, center fielder Andruw Jones, not getting elected in his eighth year on the ballot.
Compare Andruw Jones overall body of work to two others..Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu. I will probably write some words about that on Tuesday
It is really tough to compare HOF candidates. The players that are in and those that have been nominated generally have not played in the same generation, making it difficult to compare because the game has evolved. The best one can do is to compare the performance of a player against those of his era. If they are the top level of that era, then they deserve to be in. We cannot compare yesterday's players to today's.
Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter, and Bobby Abreu were all contemporaries of each other.
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