A Hall of a weekend
This past weekend featured an event baseball fans look forward to every year: The Baseball Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown, NY, which includes a parade of existing and soon-to-be-inducted Hall of Famers, a presentation of several achievement awards to baseball journalists, broadcasters and executives, and, of course, the biggest event of all, the induction of several players into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
As a Mets fan, this particular three-person class of inductees is especially relevant, featuring Carlos Beltran, who will be just the third inductee to wear a Mets cap on his plaque; Jeff Kent, a former Met who was traded to the team early in his career and then went on to greater things; and, finally, Andruw Jones, the longtime Braves center fielder through the 90s and aughts, a time when the Braves were the Mets' most bitter rival.
In terms of WAR, the two best years of Beltran's career came with the Mets - in 2006 (8.2 WAR) and 2008 (7.0), and sadly, both seasons ended in tremendous disappointments.
Of course, we all remember how the 2006 season ended, when Beltran, batting in Game 7 of the NLCS with the bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the 9th, Mets down by two, took an 0-2 curveball from rookie Cardinals closer Adam Wainwright for strike three. But what should be noted here was Beltran's two-run homer in Game 1 of that series, which turned out to be the only two runs of the game and gave the Mets a 1-0 series lead. On top of that, with the Mets trailing 2-1 in the series, Beltran went 3 for 3 with two walks, hitting two solo home runs and setting the table for Carlos Delgado's 5-RBI effort to help the Mets win Game 4 12-5 and tie the series at two. Arguably, there may never have been a Game 7 without Beltran's help.
2007 and 2008 were years where the Mets held division leads late, but blew it down the stretch, and wound up needing to win the last game of the season to get into the playoffs. Naturally, the Mets failed to do so both times, and never made it to postseason play again until 2015.
In 2011, with the San Francisco Giants in need of a bat, Beltran was sent their way by the Mets in exchange for a minor league prospect named Zack Wheeler, who might be on a Hall of Fame path himself with the Phillies, if he decides to delay his planned retirement after next season and tack on at least a couple more Cy Young-caliber seasons to his resume.
Beltran is one of four players in history with at least 400 home runs, 300 steals, and three Gold Glove awards - a testament to how great he was at all aspects of the game - and had a whopping 86.4% success rate on stolen bases, which is the best rate for anyone with at least 300 career steals.
Kent was already behind the eight ball when he was acquired by the Mets from Toronto in 1992, having been traded (along with Ryan Thompson) for fan favorite David Cone, who would go on to help the Blue Jays win their first ever World Series title that year. Kent gave the Mets solid production at the plate, but the team went a combined 326-417 during his five-year stint in Queens, an era that many of us would like to forget.
Oddly enough, in 1996, the Mets would trade Kent to Cleveland as part of a deal that sent Indians fan favorite Carlos Baerga to New York, and then at the end of that season Cleveland traded him to San Francisco for Giants fan favorite Matt Williams. Suffice it to say, Kent made Giants fans forget about Williams pretty quickly, compiling three All-Star seasons during his six-year run there, including the NL MVP award in 2000. Of his 377 career home runs, 351 of them came as a second baseman, which is the most by any player at that position.
Jones, who played the first 12 of his 17 seasons with the Braves, was the greatest defensive center fielder of his era, winning ten straight Gold Gloves and compiling a career defensive WAR of 24.4, which is the best mark among outfielders in baseball history. He also helped Atlanta get to ten straight postseason appearances from 1996 through 2005, and maybe what gets overlooked because of his glove was his bat - he hit 434 career home runs, just one shy of Beltran's total (in about 2,200 fewer at-bats than his Hall of Fame classmate), and is one of only three outfielders with at least 400 HR to have at least ten Gold Gloves, with the other two being Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr.
All in all, three players who had great careers, and have earned their rightful place in Cooperstown.
Kickin’ it around
I guess since Jason and Chris have already weighed in on it, I suppose I need to as well: Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup championship. The win by the Spaniards, coupled with the country’s championship in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, makes Spain the first nation to hold both the men's and women's World Cup titles at the same time. Before we know it, it'll be time for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, which will take place in Brazil a year from now.
Two blogs ago, back in April, I wrote that it was getting late early for the Mets, who were struggling out of the gate and had lost 11 straight at that time. At this point, roughly three months later, it is most certainly over. The question now is not whether the Mets will make the playoffs; it is how many losses this team will pile up to cap off the most disappointing season in franchise history. Sure, there are other seasons that might come close, but unlike a late-season collapse, this season has been wire-to-wire disappointment. Heck, things started going south months before Opening Day, when the Mets let popular players Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz walk away in free agency. Moves that seemed like positives - trading for Freddy Peralta, signing Bo Bichette - turned out to be disasters; injuries piled up, players continued to underperform, and that's that. Wait ‘til next year.
After coming under intense scrutiny for the aforementioned series of failures, Mets president of baseball ops David Stearns faces yet another critical junction: Selling intelligently at the trading deadline one week from today. A chance for him to make things (sort of) right, and make the Mets a competitive team ASAP. Stearns absolutely has to get this right while Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor are in their primes. If he doesn't, it's going to be a very dark time in Metsville.
Oh, and I can't wrap this blog up without one more thing: Today I wish a happy 18th wedding anniversary to my wife Allyson, who, in addition to being a great wife, is also a wonderful cat mom and a fantastic person as well. We met as students at SUNY Oswego, and have been together ever since. Allie: Not a day goes by where I'm not thankful for having you in my life. I love you.