Perhaps the most memorable moment of the 2006 Mets season was the final out made on October 19 when Carlos Beltran took a third strike.  However, 2006 was one of the all time great Mets seasons.  Of course it takes a back seat to 1969 and 1986 when the Mets won it all.  It might not even compare to ‘73 when the Mets made an amazing run in September to win the pennant or even to 2000 when the Mets played in their first true subway series.  But certainly ‘06 was a season to remember despite the fact that the Mets fell short losing in 7 games to St. Louis in the NLCS.

The big acquisitions before the season began were Billy Wagner, a free agent closer signed away from Philadelphia and Carlos Delgado whom the Mets acquired in yet another Florida fire sale. Also coming from Florida was the new everyday Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca.  Overnight Lo Duca became the heart and soul of the Mets, a gritty, gutsy player who helped define the Mets character all season long.  A new right fielder was obtained from San Diego.  Xavier Nady started the season hot and provided many key hits for the Mets.  The entire bullpen was rebuilt after Omar Minaya concluded that the pen was the main reason why the Mets could not compete in ’05. Omar acquired Duaner Sanchez from LA for Jay Seo and signed Chad Bradford, the submarine style pitcher who played for the Red Sox the year before.  He also brought in Pedro Feliciano and Darren Oliver.  Combined with Aaron Heilman, these acquisitions helped make the Mets bullpen one of the best in baseball and certainly a dominating strength of the ’06 Mets.  Another player who was acquired through free agency was Jose Valentin.  Brought in as a utility player, Valentin mid way through the season became the everyday second baseman and proved to be quite influential in the team’s success.  Carlos Beltran who struggled in his inaugural season with the Mets was expected to bounce back especially now with Delgado in the lineup. Mets fans would not be disappointed.

During spring training, it was hard to tell just how well the Mets would perform during the season. Many of the big name players on the team were away from the club playing in the first World Baseball Classic.  Never the less, expectations were high but frankly no one in Port St. Lucie could have predicted just how successful the Mets would be in 2006.

The Mets opened the season on April 3 at Shea Stadium against the Washington Nationals.  The Mets won the game dramatically when in the 9th inning and two out; Carlos Beltran threw out Jose Vidro trying to stretch a single into a double.  Billy Wagner notched his first albeit shaky save by a score of 3-2.  Two nights later the Mets lost to the Nationals 9-5 for their first loss of the season.  Wagner blew the save by giving up the game tying home run in the 9th.  Many began wondering about Wagner who had now relieved in both games and was not at all dominating.  But the significance of this evening, April 5, was not known for quite some time.  This day would become the last day of the entire season that the Mets would not be in first place.  After that loss, the Mets went on to win 7 straight.  With a record of 8 and 1, the Mets held the largest Eastern Division lead after 9 games since divisional play began.  There would be some bumps and bruises along the way but the Mets would run away with the division.

A special night of historical significance occurred on Monday night, April 17 at Shea Stadium.  Pedro Martinez defeated the Atlanta Braves securing his 200th win of his career.  An incredible milestone when you consider that Pedro had lost less than 90 games in his career at the time.  Of course as promising as Pedro looked that evening, once April ended his season began to go down hill because of nagging injuries.  Atlanta came back and one the next two games taking the series from the Mets leaving fans to wonder if anything really had changed.  Players and management all down played the series assuring the fans things were different now.  It was hard to believe at the time but those reassurances proved to be true.

The Mets then went on a successful west coast trip winning 4 of 7, splitting with the Padres first then taking 2 of 3 from San Francisco.  The finale of that series became an instant classic when Billy Wagner blew another save by giving up a monster shot to Barry Bonds.  However, the Amazin’s came back to win in extra innings showing the never say die attitude we became so accustomed to all year long.  In that game, Brian Bannister who won a starting role in spring training and looked promising pulled up lame rounding third and missed the rest of the season.  Unfortunately injuries would play a part throughout the campaign.   

April concluded with the Mets winning a series in Atlanta for the first time in many years.  The Mets finished April with a record of 16-8, in first place by 6 games.  During the first weekend of May the Mets played the Braves again, three series already within the first five weeks of the young season.  The Mets won the series and it was becoming obvious that things in the NL East had most definitely changed.  The Mets were flying high while the Braves were struggling and falling behind in the standings.  The first subway series meeting with the Yankees occurred in May.  At Shea stadium on a beautiful Friday night, the Yankees got off to a fast start against emergency starter Jose Lima scoring 4 runs in the top of the first.  The Mets answered right back when Carlos Beltran crushed a Randy Johnson fast ball for a 3 run homer.  At 6 to 6 in the bottom of the ninth, with two out, Mets third baseman David Wright hit a deep drive to center off of Mariano Rivera. With a runner on second, the ball flew over Johnny Damon’s head and the Mets won the opener 7-6.

In game 2 Pedro Martinez struck out 8 Yanks in seven innings as the Mets cruised to the 9th leading 4-0.  Billy Wagner came in and once again blew the game giving up 4 runs for the Yankees to tie.  The Bombers won in the 11th.  But the Mets being the resilient club they were all season brushed it off and came back on Sunday night to edge the Yanks 4-3.  In the very next game against the Phillies, the Mets played 16 innings tying the game in the eighth at 8 by scoring 3 runs.  In the 16th Carlos Beltran hit a walk off home run to deep right. The Mets were proving they were a great come from behind team.  At the end of the month the Mets won another dramatic game in the ninth by scoring 2 runs to defeat the Diamondbacks.  Again, David Wright had the wining base hit.

Perhaps the most significant stretch occurred in June when the Mets went 9-1 on a ten game road trip to LA, Arizona, and Philadelphia.  The Mets won the trip’s opener at Dodger stadium then lost the next night.  The Mets then went on to win the next 8 games in a row that included sweeps in Arizona and Philly.  During the winning streak, the Mets scored at least 1 run in the first inning of every game.  At the end of the trip, the Mets had opened up a 9.5 game lead over the second place Phillies.

The Mets were humbled during inter-league play however.  They lost the series to Baltimore then at the end of June, the Mets played in Toronto and won the series 2-1.  One of the most anticipated series of the season followed when Pedro Martinez returned to Fenway Park to pitch against his old teammates.  The Mets were soundly swept in the three games, causing a Red Sox fan to exclaim “send the more competitive New York team next time”—ouch!  But based on the Mets performance it was hard to argue and for Pedro, his old teammates beat him up for 8 runs in three innings. Things really never got any better for Pedro the rest of the season.  The Mets then went to Yankees stadium where they lost two of three winning only the middle game soundly on July 1 by a score of 8-3.  The Mets bounced back against the Pirates and Marlins before reaching the All Star break where they boasted a 12 game bulge over the rest of the division.

Four Mets were voted to the All Star team.  Paul Lo Duca, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, and David Wright were slated to be in the lineup in Pittsburgh for the senior circuit.  But an injury to Jose Reyes’s glove hand kept him out of the game.  David Wright starred in the home run derby losing out to MVP Ryan Howard in the final round.  In the All Star game itself, Wright hit a home run in his first All Star at bat.  Some think the homers may have gone to David’s head as his power numbers suffered the second half of the season.

The Mets picked up in the second half right where they left off.  In the first series finale after the All Star break, the Mets trailed the Cubs 5-2 after 5 innings at Wrigley.  The Mets set a franchise record by scoring 11 runs in the sixth inning, capped by two grand slam home runs from Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran.  The Mets won the game 13-7.  Perhaps the highlight of July occurred in the final weekend when the Mets marched into Atlanta and swept a three game series.  The Mets outscored Atlanta in the three games 27-13.  But the high that Mets fans felt was quickly dashed when it was learned the next day that Duaner Sanchez had been in a Taxi cab accident in Florida and suffered a separated shoulder.  He would miss the rest of the season.  In hast at the trading deadline, Omay Minaya sent right fielder Xavier Nady to Pittsburgh for reliever Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez.  Once again, injuries hurt the Mets.

Even with the uncertainty of losing Sanchez, the Mets played their best month of the season in August going 19-9.  Early in the month Tom Glavine won his 12th against the Phillies then the next night it was John Maine’s turn as the Mets scored 7 runs in the fourth inning highlighted by Jose Reyes’s grand slam home run.  Mike Piazza returned to Shea Stadium as a member of the San Diego Padres.  Mike played in two of the three games hitting two home runs and almost a third in the second game against Pedro Martinez.  The Mets prevailed though sweeping the three game set.  Also the Mets ran off a seven game winning streak in the middle of the month starting in the last game at Philadelphia before sweeping two three game sets at Shea against Colorado and St. Louis.  Things were going extremely well for the Mets.  Billy Wagner who had struggled early in the season and had Mets fans scratching their heads by now was in cruise control saving every game he entered.  Also Aaron Heilman stepped up to assume the set up role vacated by Sanchez and was magnificent.  But not everything was rosy.  Tom Glavine received a scare when it was thought that he might have an aneurism in his shoulder.  Luckily it turned out to be nothing serious so Tom was able to get back in game shape for the post season. 

August 19 was a very special night at Shea. The Mets held a celebration for the 1986 World Championship club. Many of the old stalwarts were back including Gary Carter, Daryl Strawberry, Wally Backman, Keith, Ron, and others.  It was an awe inspiring site as the Mets faithful showed their love and affection for that club.  After the party the current Mets donned the old racing stripe uniforms of the 80’s and beat Colorado 7-4. By the end of August, the Mets record was an amazing 82 and 50, 15.5 games ahead of the Phillies, their magic number at 15.  Also at the end of August, Minaya pulled off a waiver deal and acquired Shawn Green from the Arizona Diamondbacks in hopes of filling the offensive void in right field that was missing since Nady was traded.  Minaya also obtained reliever Guillermo Mota from Cleveland who pitched outstanding for the Mets in the final month and a half. 

September would be the only month of the season in which the Mets had a losing record (14-15) but it didn’t much matter since it would be a matter of time before the Mets would clinch their first division title in 18 years.  There was an outside shot the Mets might clinch at the end of a home stand against the Dodgers but the Mets split the series and figured it would either occur in Florida or Pittsburgh on the next road trip.  With the Phillies winning consistently now, the Mets took two of three from Florida and needed a single win against Pittsburgh or a loss by the Phillies to clinch.  Ironically the young Bucs swept the Mets while the Phillies swept their series in Houston.  Continuing to hold a huge lead in the division, the Mets returned home still looking to clinch the east. 

The night was September 18 with the Marlins in town.  Steve Trachsel was on the mound.  He pitched great into the seventh inning.  And on the strength of two Jose Valentin 2-run home runs, the Mets finally clinched and dethroned the Atlanta Braves who had won 14 consecutive division titles (11 in the east).  Billy Wagner pitched a quick 1-2-3 ninth then the party was on. 

The Mets struggled the last couple of weeks of the season.  But Willie Randolph as he has done during his tenure never seemed worried or concerned.  He simply stated that he was giving a lot of guys rest and this slump was nothing to worry about. Over the next 9 games, the Mets went 2-7 losing out on winning 100 games. However the Mets won the last four games of the season to finish up with 97 wins and the fourth best all time record in franchise history.  With the best NL record the Mets secured home field advantage through the NLCS. 

The other divisional winners in the NL were the Cardinals and the Padres. The Dodgers won the wild card.  The Cardinals who struggled mightily at the end of the season ended with a total of 83 wins but were able to get it together to oust the Padres in their NLDS.  The Mets drew the Dodgers and with home field advantage the first round began on October 4 at Shea Stadium.  Of course by now it was well known that Pedro would be gone for the post season, having suffered from a calf injury then learning that he would also need surgery on his rotator cuff.  Just a couple of days prior to the NLDS opening game, El-Duque suffered a torn calf muscle and would be out for at least the first two rounds.  All of a sudden, a season that looked like it had all the magic suddenly appeared to be on the brink of disaster.  Many wondered with the injuries to the starting rotation if the Mets would even make it out of the first round.

With Tom Glavine on the proper rest to pitch game 2, John Maine was given the starting assignment against the Dodgers in the opener.  In the second inning, Maine gave up one earned run but it certainly could have been worse.  With runners on first and second and no one out, a base hit down the line was fielded in the corner by Shawn Green. Green threw to Valentin’s who relayed to the plate nailing Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew consecutively.  Drew ran through the stop sign and was caught right behind Kent for one of the most remarkable double plays in post season history.  The Dodgers ran themselves right out of the inning.  Maine went on to pitch an effective 4 and 1/3 innings before being relieved.  The Mets won the first game by a score of 6-5 in front of more than 56,000 fans.

Tom Glavine pitched game two and it was a gem.   Pitching six shutout innings, Glavine left the game with a four to nothing lead.  Pedro Feliciano, Aaron Heilman, and Billy Wagner worked the final three innings with Heilman allowing the only Dodger run.  The Mets were ahead by a commanding 2 games to1 lead heading to Los Angeles. 

After an off day, the Mets sent Steve Trachsel to the hill to try and repeat his division clinching performance.  Trachsel was nowhere as sharp.  He was fine for the first three innings as the Mets built a 4-0 lead.  But things began to fall apart for the enigmatic right hander in the fourth inning.  He was lifted having given up two earned runs.  Darren Oliver who replaced Trachsel got the Mets out of further trouble in the fourth but was responsible for giving up three runs in the fifth handing the Dodgers the lead.  The combination of Bradford, Feliciano, Mota, Heilman, and Wagner prevented the Dodgers from scoring another run.  The Mets bats responded scoring 5 more runs sealing the clincher 9-5. The three game sweep propelled the Mets into the NLCS.

The Cardinals having defeated the Padres were the Mets next opponent.  The Mets with their 97 win season were considered the favorites even without Pedro and El-Duque.  But if the Mets were not to win, it would be because of their short comings in the starting staff, or so they thought. 

The opening game was postponed because of rain.  The postponement also gave the teams time to deal with the tragic loss of Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle who was killed that day when his private plane crashed into a New York high rise.  Tom Glavine was given the starting assignment the next night and like his outing against the Dodgers, he once again was magnificent.  Glavine threw 7 more post season shutout innings and the bullpen did not allow a run over the last two as the Mets took the NLCS opener 2-0.

Things were looking good the next night as well with the Mets leading 6-4 going to the seventh.  Guillermo Mota got two quick outs but then Albert Pujols singled then Jim Edmonds walked. Scrappy Scott Speizo hit a drive down the right field line that bounced off the top of the wall.  The two runners scored and the game was tied.  The Mets could not get anything going offensively after that and in the 9th, Billy Wagner who had been so effective for so long in the second half of the season gave up three runs to the Cards and the series was tied at one game each.  The Mets traveled to St. Louis to play the next night.  Jeff Suppan shut the Mets out 5-0 and the Mets found themselves in a 2-1 hole.  Suppan’s opponent Steve Trachsel was awful and apparently asked out of the game after a come backer hit off his leg.  This infuriated Willie Randolph and very likely ended any chance of Trachsel returning to the Mets. 

Oliver Perez, acquired in the Nady deal, was given the start in game four and he gave the Mets exactly what they needed, 5.2 solid innings as the Mets bats went wild. The Mets tied the series with a 12-5 win.  With one game left in St. Louis and two potentially at Shea, things were looking up for the Mets again.  Game 5 like game one was rained out and made up the next day, the travel day.  Glavine who had not allowed a run in his first 13 innings of the post season got the ball.  But Tom was not as terrific has he had been in the previous two starts.  He gave up three runs in 4 plus innings.  The Mets bats were only able to muster a couple of runs against Jeff Weaver.  The Amazin’s lost 4-2 and now headed back to Shea with no margin for error. 

John Maine was started again in game 6.  And as he did in game one, he gave the Mets a stellar effort, 5.1 solid innings of shut out baseball.  Jose Reyes set the tone by leading off the game with a home run.  The Mets won the game 4-2 and evened the series 3-3.  The seventh game would decide who would represent the National League in the World Series. 

Jeff Suppan, who shut out the Mets in game 3 would start for the Cardinals.  Oliver Perez who also pitched well in game 4, pitched even better in game 7.  David Wright singled home Carlos Beltran in the first giving the Mets the early lead.  But in the second, the Cards answered right back and tied the game on a fielder’s choice.  It was the only run Perez would allow in 6 complete innings of work.  Perhaps one of the greatest plays in post season baseball history occurred in the top of the 6th inning.  After Jim Edmonds walked, Scott Rolen hit a drive to left that looked like it was going out.  Endy Chavez playing for the injured Cliff Floyd ran to the fence, leaped and snared the ball as his glove went over the fence.  Chevez quickly relayed the ball to Jose Reyes who fired to Delgado for the double play, inning over.  What Mets fan or even Cardinals fan at that moment thought destiny was not on the Mets side? 

In the bottom of the 6th, the Mets had the bases loaded with one out.  Suppan shut the door striking out Valentin then got Chavez to pop out to center—the best scoring opportunity of the night, but the Mets could not convert.  The game remained tied 1-1 into the ninth.  With Aaron Heilman on the mound and one out, Scott Rolen singled and up came Yadier Molina.  The Cardinals catcher shocked the Shea faithful by hitting a two run home run.  The Mets had three outs left to their season.  In the bottom half of the inning, Adam Wainwright came in to pitch for St. Louis.  The Mets got two quick singles with nobody out.  Randolph sent up the hobbling Cliff Floyd to bat for Heilman.  Many still question the move assuming Randolph should have sent up Woodward to bunt the tying runs into scoring position.  Floyd struck out, Reyes lined out hard to center, Lo Duca walked.  Up came Carlos Beltran with two outs and the bases loaded, a scenario we have all dreamt about as kids.  But you know how this saga ended.  The Cardinals went on to win the World Series against Detroit and the Mets went home.  Ironically the starting pitching that everyone thought would do the Mets in was their strength and the powerful lineup that mowed itself through every staff in the league failed in its final game.  The RBI in the first inning off David Wright’s bat became the last run the Mets would score all year.

Omar Minaya stated after the game that the season was not a success because the Mets did not get to the World Series.  This is the only time I have disagreed with Omar, the season was a success, a huge one.  Winning 97 games and a division title is a great accomplishment, especially when done in such a dominating fashion.  The days of the best team from each league facing off in the World Series are long gone.  Eight teams get into the playoffs, not all of those teams are created equal.  The playoff format has become a tournament of the eight best teams in baseball and in such a tournament anything can happen.  Sure we Mets fans were disappointed by not getting to the Series but we should not be disappointed in the team.  The Mets gave us many, many thrills and exciting moments all season long.  2006 will be a year we will always look back on fondly.  And as for the future… I certainly feel the 2007 Mets will be very good but who can say how far they will go.  With Barry Zito now out of the picture, starting pitching is what every one will point to if the Mets fail.  But many things can happen that are out of anyone’s control that can affect a team’s season.  That’s why we watch. The roster today will not be the one come opening day or the one on September 1st. We simply do not know what will happen until the games unfold.  It’s about 48 days till pitchers and catchers report.  As Bob Murphy use to say—hold on to your hats.