In an interview with George A. King, III of the New York Post, former Met outfielder Carlos Beltran offered his opinion on Terry Collins sending Matt Harvey out for the ninth inning in Game 5 of the World Series.
Collins’ decision ranks right up there with Grady Little leaving Pedro Martinez in during Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. It’ll be talked about for a long time. Everyone will have their own opinion, much like Game 5 of the World Series. For what it’s worth, here was Beltran’s take on Collins sending Harvey back out there:
“He was looking down and I felt that in his mind he wanted to take Harvey out,” Beltran said. “But at the same time, Harvey was pitching such a good game and Harvey wanted that moment. He went with what Harvey showed him and not what he was thinking.”
“That’s an experience for him. Later on [taking Harvey out] will happen. He will say, ‘My friend, I will give you a kiss if I have to, but I have to get my closer.’ It was a bad decision to leave him in, but in his heart I felt that he wanted to make a different move.”
It’s a fine and reasonable take, but man, I really don’t want to hear Beltran talking about a decision that led to the end of a postseason series. Much like the end of the 2015 World Series, his strikeout at the end of the 2006 NLCS will forever haunt Mets fans. For his part, Beltran said he couldn’t do anything with the pitch. To be fair, it was filthy:
However, with that said, he didn’t try to foul it off. He didn’t try to make a fielder make a play. There would be no little groundball up the first baseline. No, Beltran was beat, and he didn’t go down swinging. This doesn’t change the fact that he was a great Met. It doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be a Hall of Famer. It doesn’t even mean his opinion on Collins sending Harvey back out there is wrong.
No, it just means that when it comes to series altering decisions, Beltran’s opinion is the last one I want to hear.
