Carlos Beltran: The Mets Years (2005-2011)

Carlos Ivan Beltran was born April 24th, 1977, in Manatai, Puerto Rico. The six foot one Beltran was a star outfielder & volleyball player in his high school. The switch-hitting outfielder was drafted in the second round of the 1995 draft by the Kansas City Royals at age 18. He was highly touted as a five-tool player. quickly getting called up to the big leagues by 1998.

Mets Career: In 2005 Beltran took over the centerfield job from Mike Cameron. Cameron moved over to left field but was not happy with the move.

Quotes- Mike Cameron: "Carlos is no doubt one of the best, if not the best defensive centerfielders in the game, and one of the best in Mets history. He plays with a smooth style, covers great range, goes back on a ball better than anyone, and had a strong accurate arm."

Beltran quickly became popular with the fans. Beltran & Pedro Martinez also acquired that off season, via free agency, help changed the organization around. 

That year, the Mets led by new manager Willie Randolph, finished third with 83 wins. Seven more wins than the previous season & an winning record.

2005: On Opening Day Beltran debuted, he collected three hits & three RBIs, including a 3rd inning two run HR. But the Mets took a heartbreaking bottom of the 9th inning loss to the Reds when Adam Dunn & Joe Randa both homered off Bradon Looper. 

On April 10th he led the Mets to a 6-1 win over the Braves in Atlanta, with his second HR & another multi RBI day. His third HR came on April 21st in Florida, his three RBIs led the Mets to a 10-1 over the Marlins. He finished his first month as a Met batting at .300, where he would stay until early June before dropping off.

On May 7th, he had his first multi HR game, hitting two round trippers in Milwaukee in a 7-5 win over the Brewers. On June 16th, in Oakland, he put the Mets ahead for good with a 5th inning, three run HR off Ryan Glynn. 

He represented the Mets, along with Mike Piazza at the All Star Game at Comercia Park. He & Piazza both were starters, with Beltran playing in left field. He got a  double off Bartolo Colon, going 1-3 in the NL loss. 

On August 11th, at Petco Park in San Diego, Beltran & Mike Cameron collided in one of the worst outfield collisions in Mets history. Cameron would miss the rest of the year with a concussion & a temporary loss of vision. 

Beltran suffered vertigo but returned to the line up a week later. He was obviously affected by the collision & a quadriceps injury also bothered him throughout the season.

Beltrans first season in New York was an adjusting one for sure, as he hit just .266 with 16 HRs & 78 RBIs. All these were career lows at that time in seasons where he played over 100 games. He did hit 34 doubles & stole 17 bases. 

In the 2006 off season, the Mets made even bigger moves than the previous year. They signed slugger Carlos Delgado, catcher Paul LoDuca & closer Billy Wagner. The Mets were ready to compete for a Championship. The addition of the big bats around Beltran & his second year in New York resulted in a big year.

2006 Mets NL Eastern Champion Season: Beltran tied Todd Hundley's Mets single season HR record of 41(5th most in the NL). He hit the most HRs of any Met on the road (26) and tied a Mets grand slam single season mark with three.

 Overall, he batted .275 with 116 RBIs (7th in the NL) 38 doubles 95 walks (10th in the NL) & a .388 on base %. 

In the outfield he won the first of three straight Gold Gloves making 13 assists posting a .995 fielding %. That year he came in fourth in the MVP voting.

He started out April with four HRs, his first on April 6th, where he drove in four runs in a 10-5 Mets win over the Nationals. He hit two more HRs over the next seven games & closed out April with 10 RBIs in 14 games played.

Beltran began May with four HRs in the first week. He hit HRs in three straight games from May 5th to May7th with the Mets taking two of three wins in those games. On May 19th, he hit his 11th HR of the season. It came in the subway series off Randy Johnson, he drove in three runs in that game where David Wright hit a walk off base hit off Mariano Rivera. Beltran had homered the day before as well.

Walk Off HR: On May 23rd, he had his first Mets walk off hit, a HR off the Phillies Ryan Madson, breaking an 8-8 tie. 

The next day he hit another HR, his 13th, this one started a comeback where the Mets topped the Phillies 5-4. 

Beltran would hit ten HRs that month, twice doing it in back to back games. He also drove in 26 runs that month.

In June he drove in runs in eight straight games, with multiple RBI games in five of them, totaling 16 RBIs in that stretch. 

He homered on June 8th & then again on June 9th, hitting two HRs in a 10-6 win the Diamondbacks in Arizona. That week he was named the NL Player of the week Award.

He continued to kill the Phils with another HR & a pair of RBIs on June 13th in a 9-7 Mets win. On June 25th, in Toronto, he hit one of three Mets HRs, a three run shot leading his team to a 7-4 win.

He closed out June with three HRs in four games, totaling eight for the month.

2006 All Star Game: Beltran started for the Mets once again, in the All Star Game in Pittsburgh, PA. He was joined by five other Mets players. Beltran was the only player in the game to collect two hits, going 2-4.

He had a huge July, belting 10 HRs with 32 RBIs. That month he won another Player of the Week Award.

He hit two HRs in the July 2nd subway series game, although the Mets lost the game. On July 16th he hit a grand slam HR at Wrigley Field in a 13-7 Mets win over the Cubs. The Mets clubbed five HRs in that game. 

The next day in Cincinnati, Beltran hit another grand slam, this one off Eric Milton. It was his 27th HR of the season, coming in an 8-3 Mets win. 

On a road trip to Atlanta where the Mets swept the Braves, he started out the first game with two RBIs. On July 29th he hit two HRs & drove in five runs, the next day for an encore he hit two more HRs & drove in five more runs. 

He entered August with 32 HRs & hit his 33rd on the first day of the month in Florida. He went on a bit of drought, nor homering for two weeks. But then he wet on another tear, in the final two weeks of August he hit six HRs with 14 RBIs. The first place Mets continued to roll as well.

On August 22nd, he hit a walk off HR against Jason Isringhausen, to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7, in a preview of that years NLCS. On September 18th, he had a double & a walk in the Mets 4-0 win over the Marlins, as the Mets clinched the NL East title at Shea Stadium. 

Mets Record: On September 28th, he tied the Mets single season HR record, as he connected off Atlanta's Peter Moylan, in the 6th inning of a 8-7 Mets win over the Braves.

2006 Post Season

2006 NLDS: In the first two games of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Beltran was hitless. 

In Game #3 he had two hits, including an RBI single in the top of the 6th inning. In that inning the Mets scored three runs with three straight RBI base hits off Jonathan Broxton. 

Beltran's RBI gave the Mets a 7-5 lead enroute to their 9-5 win. The Mets advanced to the NLCS for the first time since 2000.

2006 NLCS: In Game #1 of the NLCS, Beltran was the star as he hit a two run HR off Jeff Weaver in the bottom of  the 6th inning. 

Tom Glavine & Weaver had a pitchers duel going to that point. In Game #2 he drew a walk & went 0-4 in the Met loss.

Betran got one hit in the Game #3 loss. 

In Game #4 in St. Louis, he hit a 3rd inning solo HR off Anthony Reyes tying up the game at one. David Wright would hit a HR, two batters later putting New York ahead. 

The Mets went on to score eleven runs, Beltran topped it off in the 7th inning, with his second HR of the game in the 12-5 Mets win.

He would get hits in the next two games, as the Series went to an exciting but disappointing game Seven.

In Game #7, the game was tied 1-1 until the top of the 9th inning when Yadier Molina hit a two run HR off Aaron Heilman. 

In the bottom of the 9th, Jose Valentin & Endy Chavez both got aboard with base hits. Chavez had excited the crowd with a HR saving catch earlier. With two on & no one out Cliff Floyd struck out looking. Jose Reyes then lined out for the second out.

But Paul Loduca drew a walk. The Mets had the tying run in scoring position, leaving it up to Beltran. 

Beltran would watch a third strike on an Adam Wainwright curve ball, ending the game & the Mets dream of getting to the World Series. It was all a shock & something Beltran would always have to bear. Some Mets fans still find it very hard to forgive him.

2007: In 2007 Beltran would have another big year with 33 HRs (8th in the NL) 33 doubles 112 RBIs (7th in the NL) batting .276 with a .353 on base %. 

He struggled the first three months of the season, batting  just .230 from May to July. The Mets opened up the season against their enemies, the St. Louis Cards in Busch Stadium. 
In the Opening Day win, he would collect a hit & hit safely in the first nine games. 

On April 4th, he hit two HRs in the 10- Met win. In mid April he homered in back to back wins in Florida, collecting four hits & five RBIs in the two games. He ended the month into May driving in runs in seven of eight games.

In June he hit six HRs,  driving in 14 runs but was still struggling at the plate for the most part. 

In the second game of a June 29th double header sweep over the Phillies, Beltran hit two HRs. The next day the Mets swept the series & Beltran hit two more HRs with four RBIs in the 8-3 win.

In July he hit HRs in three straight games against the Dodgers in Los Angles. 

In the month he had 5 HRs with 13 RBIs as the Mets remained in first place & things looked good (at the time) for another post season berth.

2007 All Star Game: On July 10th, he represented the Mets in his third straight All Star Game. Beltran went 1-3 in the NL loss at San Francisco's AT & T Park.

On August 19th he hit two HRs in Washington driving in four runs in the Mets 8-2 win. The next game on August 21st, Beltran had three hits with a HR & four RBIs as they came from behind to beat Trevor Hoffman & the Padres. The next night the Mets lost but Beltran had three more RBIs. 

On August 29th he hit another grand slam HR, a 9th inning shot to win the game 5-2. Beltran drove in all five runs that night.

In September the Mets had a huge collapse one of the worst in baseball history. 

They lost 12 of 17 games, blowing a seven game lead they had had on September 12th. 

They were still up one game on September 26th  but lost four of their last five games blowing their chance for the playoffs. 

To his credit, Beltran did hit 7 HRs with 25 RBIs & hit safely in 13 of the last 15 games. During the teams five game losing streak in the final week, he hit three HRs including two in a 9-6 loss to the Washington Nats. But in the final four games he was 1-18.

2008: On Opening Day 2008 in Florida, Carlos hit two doubles in the Mets win. Two days later he hit three doubles in the Mets 13-0 blow out win. He had seven doubles in his first six games.

In the first game of a May 10th double header, Beltran had five RBIs in the first game, in a 12-6 Mets win. The next day he hit a two run HR driving in three runs in the Mets 8-3 victory. 

On May 30th, trailing 2-0 to the Dodgers at Shea Stadium, Beltran hit what was to be the game winning HR, when  he belted a two run shot off Jonathan Broxton in the bottom of the 8th inning. The next day he hit a two run HR leading the Mets 6-1 over the Dodgers.

On June11th, Beltran hit a walk off bottom of the 9th inning, two run HR to beat the Arizona D-backs 5-3. On June 16th, in Los Angeles, he hit two HRs off Jered Weaver helping the Mets beat the Angeles 9-6.

 On June 27th, in the first game of a subway series double header, Beltran hit his 12th HR of the year, his three RBIs helped the Mets in their 15-6 win.

In the first nine games of July, he drove in ten runs, including four RBI day with a three run HR off Tim Lincecum on July 8th, in a 7-0 Mets win behind Mike Pelfrey.

The Mets were battling for first place thru August, on the 24th he had three RBIs with three hits & a two run HR, keeping New York a half game up. 

The Mets built up their lead to two games by August 29th. In that 5-4 win over the Marlins in Florida, Beltran hit a top of the 9th inning grand slam bringing the Mets to a 5-2 comeback win.

In the first two weeks of September, Beltran hit three HRs with ten RBIs, driving in at least two runs in three games. But soon the Mets lost 11 of 18 losing their first place lead to the Phillies.

On September 25th, hit another walk off HR, this one off Kevin Hart & the Chicago Cubs. The Mets were now just one game behind the Phillies with three games left to play.

This year was even more heartbreaking for the Met fans as on the last day of the season, the Mets lost to the Florida Marlins killing their chances to make the playoffs. 

Trivia: On September 28th, Carlos Beltran hit the last HR by a Mets player in Shea Stadium. It was the final game played at Shea Stadium & the Mets took a heart breaking loss. The closing ceremonies that day, featured many great Mets from the past.

In 2008 Beltran played in all but one Mets game, batting .284 with 27 HRs (third on the club). He hit 40 doubles (second to David Wright) marking the second time in his career he hit 40 or more doubles. 

For the second straight year, he had 112 RBIs (third on the club) with a .376 on base %. He stole 25 bases, the most for a single season in his Mets career. That year he won his third straight Gold Glove.

2009: In 2009 the Mets played their first season at Citi Field. The team suffered lots of injuries & many of its players started to age, as it showed. 

The Mets finished fourth going 72-90 disappointing its fan base even more. Beltran himself, would play in just 81 games that year, as he fell to injuries, missing almost three months of action.

He began the year hitting safely in 44 of his first 50 games & was batting .367 to the end of May. 

On April 24th, he drove in his 1000th career run with a triple against the Nationals. On May 4th, he hit a pair of HRs driving in four runs, in a 6-4 win against the Braves. That week he hit four HRs & drove in ten runs. On May 12th, in a game against Atlanta, he drew a walk in the bottom of the 9th inning with the bases loaded, bringing in Jose Reyes with the game winning run.

Beltran would go down with injury in June, the Mets were still in second place but barely over the .500 mark at 28-24.

He made another All Star team, after missing the previous year, receiving the third highest amount of votes for NL Outfielders. He did not play in the game due to being on DL.

When he returned  to play on September 8th, the Mets were 62-76 in fourth place 17 games back. 

On his return he doubled going 1-4 in a 4-2 loss to the Marlins at Citi Field. Two nights later hit a HR & collected three hits in a 10-9 Mets win over the Phils. 

On the season he would bat .325 with 100 hits 10 HRs 22 doubles 50 runs scored 48 RBIs & 47 walks with a solid .415 on base %.

2010 Surgery Drama: In January of 2010 Beltran had knee surgery with his own doctor. The Mets claimed they were upset that he had done it without the teams consent. But his agent Scott Boras claimed the Mets were aware of the surgery.

Beltran would end up missing three & a half months of the season. 

The Mets were 48-41 five games behind the Atlanta Braves in second place at the time of his return. 

They finished 79-83 in a disappointing fourth place. That year the club fired GM Omar Minaya & Jerry Manuel was through as manager. Beltran hit .255 with 7 HRs 11 doubles & 27 RBIs.

2011: In 2011 the Mets were bad once again & it was only matter of time until Beltran was to be traded as his contract was running out. New Mets manager, Terry Collins moved him from center to left field, as his defense skills began to decline.

On a rare Opening Day Mets loss, he doubled & drove in a run. On April 9th, he hit a pair of HRs against the Washington Nats in an 8-4 Mets win at Citi Field. 

On May 12th he had his last big day as a Mets player. That day in a 9-5 Mets win at Colorado, he blasted three HRs & drove in six runs. 

It was the first time in his career he hit that many HRs in a game & he became just the 8th Mets player to accomplish the feat. 

He would hit six more HRs thru July, with his last in a Mets uniform coming on July 15th in a loss to the Phillies. On July 28th his Mets career ended, as he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for top draft pick pitcher Zack Wheeler.

           

Mets Career: In his seven year Mets career, Beltran is second behind Mookie Wilson in games played in center field (723). Overall he has played in 839 Mets games (18th on the Mets all time list) 

His 149 HRs & 559 RBIs are both 6th on the Mets all time list. Beltran has 208 doubles (7th on the Mets all time list) & 551 runs scored (8th on the Mets all time list). He has 100 stolen bases (11th on the Mets all time list) 878 hits (14th on Mets all time list) with 17 triples while batting .280 with a .369 on base %. 

MLB Career: Overall in  his 20 year playing career Beltran has played for seven teams: Kansas City Royals (1998-2004 / 795 games) Houston Astros (2004 & 2017 / 219 games) 

New York Mets (2005-2011 / 839 games) San Francisco Giants (2011- 44 games)
St. Louis Cardinals (2012-2013 / 296 games) AL New York team (2014-2016 / 341 games) & Texas Rangers (2017 / 52 games).

Post Season Career: He played in seven post seasons, playing two World Series (2013 & 2017) winning a Championship with the 2017 Astros. In 65 post season games he batted .307 with 66 hits 16 HRs 15 doubles 42 RBIs 45 runs scored & a .412 on base %. 

In 10 Mets post season games he has 3 HRs with 5 RBIs & batted .277.

MLB Career Stats: Beltran batted .279 with 2725 hits (62nd all time) 435 HRs (46th all time) 565 doubles (28th all time) 78 triples 1582 runs scored (53rd all time) 1587 RBIs (41st all time) & 312 stolen bases (157th all time). His 86.43 stolen base % is third best all time.

Beltran has 1084 walks (87th all time) 110 sac flies (20th all time) 101 intentional walks (121st all time) with 1795 strike outs (23rd most all time) & a .354 on base % in 2686 games played (44th all time).

In the outfield he played in 2210 games (28th most all time). In center he played 1572 games (31st most all time) with 108 assists (29th most all time) making 75 errors in 5372 chances with 143 assists.

Family: Carlos and his wife Jessica have two daughters & a son. The family lives in Port Washington, Long Island during the baseball season & Mantai, Puerto Rico during the winter months.

In 2017 he was honored for his efforts after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Beltran is a Christian. When he stole his 300th base, entering the 300/300 club, a gold Cross popped out of his uniform jersey. When asked, he told the press after the game " all the Glory was God's". 


Mets Manager: In 2019 he was

a sought after manager, although he had no coaching or managing experience at any level. The only job he interviewed for was, was with the Mets. From being a Mets player & still living in the New York area, he knew it was the only position he wanted. 

In January as the whole Astors sign stealing scandal was being blown way out of proportion, he & the Mets mutually parted ways.

In 2022 he was hired by the YES network as an analyst.