When any Met fan hears 1969 they think of one of the greatest, if not the greatest team to ever grace Shea stadium. As for non-baseball fans, wood-stock and the occasional acid flash back is all too familiar. With 1986 comes an undertone of luck, portrayed by the Buckner debacle sending the mets soaring into game 7. These two years are memorable for any sports fan, but are often overshadowed by the Yankees 26 rings, attained only a borough away from Flushing Queens.
The new Citi Field was set to distinguish the mets from their cross town foes as well as give them the confidence they seek. This confidence, however, has been erased by the string of injuries plaguing the mets. Beltran and Reyes, two key players up the middle have been missed dearly. Beltran’s 3 consecutive gold glove awards have set him apart from any other national league center-fielder. His cannon from center, causes base runners to think twice before taking that extra base. On the offensive side, Beltran has averaged 113 RBI’s as well as 34 HR’s from 2006-2008. His presence has been greatly missed in 2009, with the Met’s current starting lineup boasting a measly 27 Hr’s – 5 less than St. Louis’s Albert Pujols. To be fair to the Mets, Pujols is a monster and must be slipping under the roidar.
As far as Delgado goes, a loss of comparable stats to Beltran in the past three seasons can only be seen as detrimental to the Mets. The loss of Beltran and Delgado, coupled with the absence of defense, speed, hitting presence and base running skills seen in Reyes has the Mets looking like the Mets of Fall.
On a positive note, with the current setbacks comes a sense of hope and avengment. While the Mets have been struggling as of late, one cannot say that any other team in the NL East has truly excelled. The first place Phillies have only three pitchers on the 15-day DL. Add Howard, Rollins and Victorino to that list and the team might be looking more like the Nationals. This is exactly what gives the Mets hope; the ability to stay only 6.5 games back with an injured starting cast means the team can turn it around in the second half. If this is the case, Met fans can only hope the team wont blow it once Fall rolls around.