My Top 10 Shea Stadium Memories

As stated earlier, in 2006, the Mets seemed to score early, score often and find new ways to win game night after night. En route to winning 97 games that season, Carlos Beltran settled the fears of fans who believed that the Beltran they saw in 2005 was a guy their team had grossly overpaid for. Beltran, after all, hit just 17 home runs while driving in only 78 runs, hitting .262. But in 2006, he rebounded with emphasis, tying the franchise record for homers in a single season (41), while driving in 116 runs. He was an MVP candidate, and helped carry his team into the playoffs for the first time since 2000. Two nights in particular stand out from that season. In May, Beltran helped end a marathon, 16 inning affair with the Phillies, sending a ball deep into the right field bullpen prompting Gary Cohen to call “…and we’re goin' home!” in a game that ended around 12:30 AM. Later that season, in a head to head match up with a fellow MVP front runner, Albert Pujols, Beltran seemed to be sitting in the backseat to the show Puols was putting on. Pujols hit 2 home runs, one a grand slam and the other a three-run shot, giving himself 7 RBI’s that night while opening up a 7-1 Cardinals lead. It would be another Carlos who helped get the Mets back into the game, as Carlos Delgado, in his first season wearing orange and blue, connected for a grand slam of his own, which coincidentally was also the 400^th home run of his career. It was also his second home run of the game, which brought the Mets to within two, at 7-5. Jose Reyes drove in a run in the eighth inning making it 7-6, but the fireworks would be put on hold for another inning. In the bottom of the ninth, with a runner on and one out, as Cohen was on air uttering the phrase “and Beltran can win it with one swing”, Carlos connected on a first pitch from former Met Jason Isringhausen, sending a towering drive to right, sending the Mets to an 8-7 victory. The crowds on both of those nights seemed dead at times when the Mets were down or the game was stagnant, but both nights, it would be Beltran who lifted them up, along with his team to two memorable victories, both of which I was lucky enough to be at.

6. July 4, 1999

Pre-game Photos, Post Game Fireworks and a Handshake with my Hero

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