00:03For nearly two decades, far too many people reduced Carlos Beltran's Mets career to one pitch,
00:09an Adam Wainwright curveball, a called third strike, Game 7 of the 2006 National League
00:14Championship Series. But now that Beltran has officially taken his place in Cooperstown
00:19wearing a Mets cap, it's time to widen the frame. During seven seasons in Queens,
00:24Beltran hit .280 with a .369 on-base percentage, 149 home runs, 208 doubles, 559 ribbies.
00:32He was a five-time All-Star as a Mets, won three consecutive gold gloves, and produced some of the
00:38most memorable moments in franchise history. So let's take a look at the top five moments of
00:44Carlos Beltran's Mets career. We begin on September 28, 2006, during one of the greatest individual
00:50seasons any Mets has ever produced. Facing the Atlanta Braves, Beltran launched his 41st home run
00:56of the year, tying Todd Huntley's Mets single-season franchise record. That record would stand for
01:02another 13 years before Pete Alonso finally surpassed it in 2019. Beltran finished that 2006 season
01:09with 116 ribbies, 127 runs scored, and a 982 OPS, establishing himself as the centerpiece of the Mets
01:18team that won 97 games and the National League East. After a difficult first season in New York,
01:25Beltran had officially arrived. Now, No. 4 takes us back to May 23rd of 2006. The Mets and Philadelphia
01:33Phillies had already played the equivalent of nearly two full games when Beltran stepped to the plate
01:39to begin the bottom of the 16th inning. At that point, everybody at Shea Stadium was probably ready
01:44to go home, and Beltran simply found the fastest way to make it happen. He crushed Ryan Madsen's pitch
01:50over the right field wall, giving the Mets a dramatic 9-8 victory, 16 innings, almost five hours of
01:57baseball, one swing from Beltran to finally turn out the lights at Shea. Coming in at No. 3, Beltran
02:04reminded everyone that his greatness extended far beyond the batter's box. In the 14th inning of a
02:10marathon game in Houston on July 7th, 2007, Luke Scott drove a ball toward deep center field that
02:18appeared destined to end the game. But Beltran, raced back, climbed the incline known as Tal's Hill,
02:23and made an incredible over-the-shoulder catch to save the Mets from a walk-off loss.
02:29Navigating Tal's Hill, that was difficult enough under normal circumstances, but Beltran did it with the
02:34game hanging in the balance. Then, three innings later, he delivered the go-ahead RBI single as the
02:40Mets eventually won, dumping the Astros 5-3 in 17 innings. Save the game with your glove, win it with
02:46your bat. That was Pete Carlos Beltran. Number two came against an opponent that would become very
02:53familiar to the Mets later that season. On August 22, 2006, Albert Pujols drove in all seven Cardinals
03:00runs as St. Louis built a 7-1 advantage at Shea Stadium. But the Mets gradually fought their way
03:06back. Carl Delgado homered twice, including the 400th home run of his career, and the Mets entered the
03:12bottom of the ninth inning, trailing by only one run. After Paul LaDuca singled, Beltran attacked the
03:18first pitch he saw from Jason Isringhausen and sent it over the right field wall, and that was a wrap.
03:24Beltran's two-run walk-off completed the six-run comeback and gave the Mets an 8-7
03:30victory in one of the wildest games of their unforgettable 2006 season. And at number one,
03:37we go to October. The Mets, they entered game four of the 2006 NLCS, trailing the Cardinals two games to
03:43one, and they desperately needed their stars to respond. Well, Beltran, he answered immediately.
03:49He homered in the third inning to tie the game and then went deep again in the seventh, helping to
03:54power the Mets to a 12-5 victory that evened the series at two games apiece. That performance was
04:00part of an outstanding postseason run that has often been overshadowed by the way the series
04:05ended. Beltran recorded a hit in seven of his final eight playoff games that year, batting 3-23
04:11with a 4-17 on-base percentage and 6-45 slugging percentage during that stretch. The final image
04:17may have been Beltran standing at the plate, but the full picture shows one of the most dangerous
04:22postseason hitters of his generation carrying the Mets in October. For some, Carlos Beltran's Mets
04:29career was complicated. There were injuries, enormous expectations, and yes, one heartbreaking
04:35final pitch. But there were also towering home runs, spectacular catches, walk-off celebrations,
04:41and a seven-year run that ultimately placed him among the greatest players in franchise history.
04:46Now, he will be remembered forever in Cooperstown with the Mets logo on his flag.
