(above : “not delivering” on October 19, 2006. Just in case you forgot)
Trade bait RF Carlos Beltran played what is likely to be his last home game as a New York Met yesterday afternoon at Citi Field, his final plate appearance receiving polite applause on a day in which the realistic Bob Klapisch describes the paying attendees as “too hot, too miserable, too lethargic watching the Mets sleepwalk through a 6-2 loss to the Cardinals.” By contrast, ESPN NY’s Kieran Darcy (or at least his headline editor) considers Beltran’s bon voyage from the Flushing faithful, “unfitting” the 6-time All-Star.
Beltran has never been a fan favorite here — despite the fact that he has never caused trouble off the field. Maybe it’s because he’s not a “homegrown” product, like Jose Reyes or David Wright. Maybe it’s because he’s a quiet guy when it comes to dealing with the media. Or maybe it’s because he didn’t deliver on Oct. 19, 2006.
Likely, it’s a combination of all three. And maybe that explains the lukewarm farewell at Citi Field on Thursday.
Perhaps there are other factors Darcy conveniently forgets. For starters, some of Beltran’s most passionate fans — those who don’t closely resemble Mike Francesa or Christopher Russo — are to a large extent, priced out of the Mets’ glittering new venue, and/or might have difficulty getting the time off on a Thursday afternoon. And then there’s the shameful manner in which Beltran was hung out to dry by the local media (if not his own ballclub’s P.R. department) when he failed to take part in the team’s annual visit to Walter Reed Hospital in 2010, or the way Keith Hernandez and Paul Lo Duca hinted Beltran was lax in his leadership skills when it came to dealing with the press. And then, there’s Beltran’s burial at the hands of none other than Fred Wilpon.
Sure, most of that was complete bullshit. But to pretend none of it contributed to a climate in which a great player / classy fella like Carlos Beltran was less than universally beloved is to be relatively ignorant of recent Mets history.
Also, it was 95 degrees, the Mets had been losing for the whole game and there were maybe 15-20,000 people left in the house, many of them day-campers there for SpongeBob Squarepants Day or whatever. I thought the sendoff he got was pretty hearty, considering. I mean, I would’ve had fireworks and a video tribute, but since he hasn’t actually been traded yet that all would’ve been pretty awkward.
the very fact they didn’t stop the game for “Carlos Beltran, This Is Your Life” says to me he’s deeply unappreciated.
In all seriousness, how many 12pm games has Darcy paid to attend in his lifetime? For the most part, I’ve had the impression over the past season that Beltran’s contributions are mostly appreciated by real Mets fans. Whether or not the camp kiddies are part of that constituency is another matter, but just to be totally fair, if you’re gonna speculate as to why Carlos isn’t held in as high regard as say, Mike Piazza (who won just as many World Series games as a Met as Beltran), the reasons aren’t nearly as simple as, “everyone blames him for Game 7”. The #blamebeltran hashtag didn’t come out of nowhere, and Darcy really missed the boat by turning a blind eye to the hate-fuckery.