Carlos Beltrán is the best center fielder in Mets history. He ranks fourth in OPS, sixth in home runs, and sixth in runs batted in among all Mets hitters. For a time he held the single-season record for homers. He has the third-highest bWAR among position players.
That, plus he had three Gold Gloves. The finest example of his stellar defense came at Minute Maid Park, when he prolonged a marathon before helping end it.
The game lasted five hours and nine minutes. But it’s best remembered for 10 seconds. It’s a play that on its own would be spectacular but earned additional merit for when it happened.
The Houston Astros had runners on first and third with two outs in the bottom of the 14th. Luke Scott launched a fly ball off of reliever Joe Smith that sent Beltrán to the deepest part of the ballpark. And not just any ordinary part. One of Minute Maid Park’s unique features at the time was the now-defunct Tal’s Hill—an incline just in front of the straightaway center field wall.
“He’s running up the hill, and I was like, ‘Oh no, no, no,’ ” Smith said to the New York Times.
It’s quite the challenge for a visiting center fielder to navigate that incline, but Beltrán had some experience. While a member of the Astros for the second half of the 2004 season, he regularly practiced tracking balls up the steep hill. But never got the opportunity to scale it during a game.
Now he had his chance. As Beltrán reached the slope—simultaneously tracking the ball, sensing the fence, and trying to find his footing—he managed to stay upright long enough to stick his glove out while looking back. Falling to the grass, he completed the over-the-shoulder grab. Inning over.
Beltran got a huge greeting from his teammates on the field and in the dugout, but nobody was more thankful than Smith—who got out of the inning and avoided the loss after surrendering a hit-by-pitch and a walk.
The game pressed on for two scoreless innings before—who else?—Beltrán knocked in what turned out to be the game-winning run. David Wright followed with another RBI single in a 5-3 victory that salvaged an over-.500 road trip.
“After not scoring for 11 innings or whatever, we just needed to get on base,” Beltrán said.
He had rewarded a valiant effort from a host of relievers. Seven Met pitchers entered after starter Tom Glavine, the last being closer Billy Wagner—who warmed up nine separate times before entering in the bottom of the 17th. In all, the bullpen tossed 10 shutout frames and allowed just five hits.
