Carlos Beltran joined some rare company on Sunday afternoon, as his sixth inning two-run home run was also the 400th homer of his potential Hall of Fame career.
Beltran, 39, joins a short list of switch-hitters who have 400 home runs in their career. Hall of Famers Eddie Murray, Mickey Mantle, and eventual inductee Chipper Jones are the only other switch-hitters to have accomplished the feat.
He also becomes only the fifth player in Major League history to have 500 doubles, 400 home runs, and 300 stolen bases, joining the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Andre Dawson, Barry Bonds, and Willie Mays.
The blast came in the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium, as the Bronx Bombers were looking to win the series against the first place Chicago White Sox. Left-hander Zach Duke was on the mound for the White Sox, as he was looking to protect their 4-3 lead.
With Jacoby Ellsbury on second and two outs, Duke side-armed a flat 90-mph fastball over the heart of the plate, which Beltran pulled and deposited several rows back in the left field seats. The Yankees took a 5-4 lead, and ended up winning the game and the series against the White Sox.
Fans will remember Beltran signing with the New York Mets in January 2005, to a seven-year $119 million contract. Beltran was coming off his improbable postseason power display as a member of the Houston Astros, where in the NLDS and NLCS he combined to hit eight home runs, drive in 14 runs, score 21 runs, and also steal six bases in 12 games.
His tenure with the Mets was filled with some of the greatest offensive seasons in Met history, injuries, and of course the dreaded 0-2 curve by Adam Wainwright in Game 7 of the NLCS in 2006.
For his Met career, Beltran put up a slash line of .280/.369/.500 for an OPS of .869. He hit 149 home runs as a member of the Mets, while driving in 559 runs. Of the six teams he has played for in his 19-year career, he has the most home runs, runs batted in, doubles, runs scored, and walks as a Metropolitan.
One of his greatest seasons came in the magical year of 2006, when Beltran set career highs in home runs (41), runs batted in (116), runs scored (127), and OPS (.982). He received 47% share of the vote in that year’s NL MVP voting, finishing fourth behind Lance Berkman, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Howard, the winner of the award that year.
Beltran missed 179 games from 2009-2010, and had the famous arthroscopic knee surgery in January 2010, which resulted in a back and forth between the Mets and Beltran’s agent Scott Boras of whether the Mets had given clearance for Beltran to have the surgery done in the first place.
“We told the agent for the player that we wanted to have the ability to discuss the diagnosis and possibly have a third opinion because, you know, of the nature of this injury,” Assistant general manager John Ricco said during a telephone conference. “We wanted to have the opportunity to digest the information, the diagnosis, and unfortunately we were never afforded the opportunity to do that.”
Then in Beltran’s final year with the Mets, he was traded before the trade deadline to the San Francisco Giants along with $4 million for top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler. This was GM Sandy Alderson’s first year with the Mets, and it set the stage for his rebuilding plan and acquiring young talent to supplant the aging veterans.
Beltran’s time in Queens should be remembered for the gaudy offensive numbers he produced when he was healthy, his smooth and ballet-like defense he provided in center, and some lingering “what could have been” questions. The Mets looked geared to be a perennial postseason force after the 2006 season, yet late season collapses, bullpen ineptitude, and injuries curtailed any chances of that.
But what Beltran did for the offense and bringing the Mets back to respectability after many seasons of dwelling near or at the bottom of the NL East should not be forgotten. Congratulations to Carlos on his achievement, and a fine career that may indeed have him going into Cooperstown one summer day, donning a NY Mets cap.
