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| 2006 mets stars poster |
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The 2006 Mets were more than just a baseball
team. They played with passion, dominance, and they even danced in the dugout! They had a raw excitement
that lit up New York and captured the hearts of Mets fans everywhere. Personally, I had not loved a Mets team as much
in 20 years.
The Mets did more than win their division by 12 games. They did more than come within one
out, one hit from advancing to the World Series. They set the baseball world afire with their exuberance and spirit.
Not winning the World Series does not dampen that. We will only have to strive harder in 2007. I am very proud
of what the 2006 Mets gave us.
The 2006 Mets were a young team with several superstars in Carlos Beltran, Carlos
Delgado, David Wright, and Jose Reyes. That' doesn't even include the pitching
staff anchored by Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez, and closer Billy Wagner!
I take pride that two of these stars, Reyes and Wright have been homegrown in the Mets farm system.
I had not figured to fall in love with the Mets again. I could enjoy the Mets, I could root
them on hard and strong, and 'love' the Mets as they have been a constant in my life all these years. But I did indeed fall in love with the Mets again - unexpected as it was. And isn't
that the way it works with love? Every night I would come home from work and couldn't wait to watch the ballgame!
Who would be the hero tonight? I wish I had kept a blog of the day by day rooting for the 2006 Mets. It was truly
a very special season. In part because we were also celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 86 World Champions - the
'new' Mets seemed to have a similar passion in their play.
One of the things that made the 2006 season special was sharing it with my brother Mike. We got
to see alot of Mets baseball together this past season. He has a greater enthusiasm for the current team than I did
from the start. Mike and I had a lot of fun rooting on the Mets, living and dying with them right through the season.
We were at Shea several times this year including the division clincher on September 19 2006. It was especially
sweet to celebrate the clincher as we had also seen the 86 division clincher, twenty years and two days ago! There was
no running onto Shea this time though! It was great fun as we met up with some of his friends and made a few others.
We saw the game from seats in the field level in short left field. Where we were situated, I could stand behind
our row and hug and shake hands with a whole lot of Mets fans as they exited out. Mike called me the Mayor
of Shea Stadium!
Mike is more apt to go out to Shea in any weather, while I obsess about my prference for
the warmer weather and to sit in the sun! I get funny looks from the guys selling tickets at Shea when I ask for a
seat in the sun! I didn't go to opening day with him because it was too cold. Despite the weather, its a tradition
for me to get out to a game during the first homestand.
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| PEDRO MARTINEZ |
One of those cold April games was a landmark night for Mets ace, Pedro Martinez. Pedro,
who came to the Mets in 2005 and flashed his brilliance, and the 'fun loving' side of his personality, endeared himself to
Mets fans after only one season in Queens. Pedro in 2006 would start off with a 5-0 record, but injuries plagued him
and shortened his season. On the evening of April 17 2006, Pedro took the mound at Shea stadium verses the Atlanta Braves.
I had a seat in the Mezzanine behind home and watched Pedro as he scattered 3 runs and struck out 8 Braves. New Mets Paul
Loduca, Carlos Delgado, and Billy Wagner contributed to the victory as Delgado homered, and Wagner notched a save.
The Mets won 4-3, and for Pedro it was his 200th career victory! Congratulations Pedro!
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| JOSE REYES on ESPN the Magazine |
Leading off for the Mets..... In all the
years I've been following the Mets, we have never had such a dynamic lead-off hitter. In the 80's we had the combo
of "Mookstra" (Mookie WIlson and Lenny Dykstra) but that was a platoon. By 2006 Jose Reyes had overcome early
career injuries to his hamstrings and settled in as every day shortstop and lead off hitter. And what a fun guy he
is! He has S-P-E-E-D!!! We have had so much fun watching Jose steal bases, legging out singles into
doubles, doubles into triples, triples, triples, triples, and an inside the park homerun! Jose led the National league
with 64 stolen bases and 17 triples! During the Spring of 2006, he was tutored by Ex-Met, Stolen Base king
RIcky Henderson and that seemed to improve his baserunning. Hopefully Ricky didn't pass on card playing tips!
Reyes was also more patient at bat and really developed into a fine hitter with unexpcted power as he hit 19 homeruns!
Jose connected with Mets fans as we all enjoyed his high spirit, dugout dancing, and playful
nature. Fans started a chant for Jose by changing the words of a popular latin song from 'olay' to JOSE-JOSE-JOSE!! This
would rock Shea stadium - fantastic! Its not too far out to consider Jose as the Mets MVP because he is the
spark that lights the team up.
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| CARLOS DELGADO |
Early in the season, Mike and I were watching the Mets play the new Nationals (Expos) in their
new city of Washington DC. During the broadcast, a few beer stung Mets fans were sitting near an open microphone.
It is always amusing to hear fans in the oppositions ballpark rooting for the Mets. And in 2006, there was
alot of that going on! So these guys begin drunken chants of Mets players. The one that stood out was for Mets
first baseman, Carlos Delgado. All of a sudden we hear these guys screaming out, "DEL-GAAAAA-DO! DEL-GAAAA-DO!
Sure enough Carlos responded with a homerun! It was such a funny chant. Later I was at Shea and met up with
a bunch of fans who were doing the same chang buting out laughing! We had all heard this! The chant was picked
up by everyone and Carlos was greeted with the DEL-GAAAA-DO chat all season long!
Delgado quckly became one of my favorites and I was very proud of him when he hit his 400th career
homerun - a grand slam against the Cardinals in one of the Mets biggest games of the year! Another highlight
for me this season was on the afternoon of Sunday July 23rd Mets vs Astros. My brother Chris, the Yankee fan,
has 3 daughters and I enjoy 'brainwashing' them into loving the Mets! So on this day, Chris and I took the two older
girls to Shea. I had the time of my life taking them to the place I love most in the world! I was just too excited!
Aged only 8 and 6, they had a many questions - few about baseball - but I expected that! Several concerned the
care of the Shea infield. Why do they water the infield, then dry it and water it again? I had no answers! 'Because
I said so' didn't seem like the right response! We sat in the loge section on the first
base side, just off the infield. I pointed out the Mets Apple and told the girls how the Apple would pop out of the top
hat when the Mets hit a homerun. The younger girl told me she was going to 'keep an eye on that apple'!
Too cute! Sure enough the baseball gods smiled down on me and Carlos Del-gaaa-do strode to the plate and hit a
homerun in the first inning! This is probably the most exciting moment of the season as we slapped high fives!
It iddn't matter that we lost the game - we had a ball. On the way home, we all did the DEL-GAAAA-DO chant in the car
- even my brother! Screaming it! Also the girls wanted to see Mr. Met, and who the younger one referrred
to as, "Mr. Man" It was a day that I will treasure forever.
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| TOM GLAVINE |
Mets lefty Tom Glavine came out of the gate on fire in 2006. Winning
12 games by the All Star break, Tom seemed to find a way to be the dominating pitcher he had been all those years with the
Atlanta Braves. But by mid season, an old injury with his finger returned and that put a scare into him. But Tom
finished 15-7 and was strong in the playoffs.
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| BILLY WAGNER |
GM Omar Minaya worked overtime securing pitching for the Mets throughout
the season. Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez was obtained from the Diamond Backs, and young righty John Maine found
a home in the rotation. the bullpen was the Mets strength as it was heavily relied on by manager Willie Randolph.
He would seem to look to try to get 5 or 6 innings out of a starter and then send in the bullpen troops! Darren Oliver,
Chad Bradford, Pedro Feliciano, Aaron Heilmann, Duaner Sanchez, and closer Billy Wagner. Wagner was a tremendous improvement
over the prevous closer, Braden Looper.
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| WHO's ON 3RD? - DAVID WRIGHT! |
With a little luck, The Mets will have 2 homegrown supertars in their infield for years to come
in, shortstop Jose Reyes and third baseman, David Wright.
David is the matinee Idol at Shea now and we can only hope that he remains focussed on being
the hard-nosed ball player he is rather than getting lost in the promotion and commotion that comes with being young and attaining
fame. David improved considerably defensively, stabbing many liners and starting some key double plays to boot.
David has been ordained the man with the "Wright Stuff" since he came up from AAA in 2004.
He came up big particualrly in the first half of the season with clutch especially with runners on base, game or "walk off'
homeruns. One of the highlights came against the Yankees beating Mariano Rivera at Shea! David had a surge
in homerun power and as a member of the National League All Stars came in second to Ryan Howard in the home run hitting competition.
Mets 2006 All Stars (L-R) : Reyes, Wright, Loduca, Beltran, Glavine
& Pedro.
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| PAUL LODUCA |
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| CARLOS BELTRAN |
New catcher, Paul Loduca became a fan favorite for his passionate play and leadership.
Hitting second in the lineup, Loduca helped create and drive in runs. As a receiver, he was an upgrade over Piazza as
far as his arm was concerned. He seemed to work well with veteran and young pitchers alike, but it was his spit and
fire that set him apart. Often during the season, he battled with opposing players for 'showing up' our ptichers after
a homerun, or with an umpire over a questionable call. Sometimes this got him into trouble because he doesn't control
his temper that well - but a team needs a guy like Loduca. Who will forget his sensational performance tagging
out two baserunners at home in game 1 of the 2006 NLCS against the Dodgers? A great moment!
Carlos Beltran was the dynamic centerfielder the Mets were expecting when he
was signed as a free agent in 2005. Betran came up big with many clutch homeruns to win games especially against
the Phillies and the Cardinals.
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| GM OMAR MINAYA & MGR WILLIE RANDOLPH |
The Men responsible for putting this team together and running it
were General Manager Omar Minaya and Manager, Willie Randolph.
Minaya had the vision to bring in the Latin ballplayers and is very activie in the expansion
of baseball throughout the world. He supplied Randolph with a roster chock full of stars. When injuries came,
Omar brought in reinforcements. But WIllie to his credit had to do the day to day game strategies, using his bullpen,
and giving everyone enough playing time. Everyone on the roster played a part in making the Mets winners again.
September 19th 2006: The Mets clinched the National East Division title!
The Mets dominated the division and league in 2006 and while I'm not satisfied with jsut a division title, I'm damn proud
of it! The Mets were the most exciting team in baseball in 2006.
That night at Shea was so much fun! The nicest thing was that the players came
out onto the field and celebrated the division title with the fans! Such love! A real connection was made
by fans and players alike this year.
The Mets did win the National Division series against the Dodgers, but lost to the Cardinals
after a grueling NLCS.
Though we didn't go all the way in 2006, I have a good feeling about these Mets, and it
won't be too long beforel the Mets are celebrating another WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP at Shea!
2006 METS STATS
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