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By LEE JENKINS
Published: October 3, 2006
Among the questions that will determine whether the Mets become a champion or a flop: Is their starting rotation playoff-ready? Can they remember the feeling of a meaningful game? Are the Los Angeles Dodgers a capable challenger?
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Beltran's October Highlight Reel
Mets And will Jessica Beltrán make those ham-and-cheese sandwiches for breakfast again?
The Mets may not need to worry about their pitching, their psyche or their opponent, so long as the Beltráns dust off their old postseason recipe. Ham and cheese has been known to nourish an entire team through October.
Two years ago, when Carlos Beltrán hit one of the great hot streaks in playoff history, he was repeatedly asked his secret. Was he more focused because of the attention? Was he more motivated because of the stakes?
Beltrán could not come up with a serious answer. His only explanation was that his wife started fixing ham-and-cheese sandwiches for breakfast in the National League division series, and then he started hitting, and then neither of them could stop.
Now that Beltrán is heading back to the division series — Game 1 is tomorrow afternoon at Shea Stadium against the Dodgers — he pondered whether his wife would serve up her postseason special.
“She hasn’t made it in a while,” Beltrán said. “But we’re in the playoffs, so that could change.”
Beltrán is famously shy, but at this time of year, he tends to turn into a real ham. With the Houston Astros in 2004, Beltrán batted .435 in the playoffs and tied a postseason record with eight home runs. His .958 slugging percentage that year ranks as the best ever in a division series. His .562 on-base percentage ranks second.
“He was hitting balls off his shoetops for home runs,” Mets outfielder Cliff Floyd said. “It was unbelievable. You couldn’t turn off the TV. You had to watch him.”
Starting pitching theoretically determines who wins the World Series, but some teams do bash their way through the playoffs. Beltrán is proof of it.
The St. Louis Cardinals wound up beating Beltrán’s Astros in the 2004 N.L. Championship Series, mainly because they had a better lineup. The Anaheim Angels won the World Series in 2002 for the same reason. They never stopped scoring.
With Pedro Martínez injured and Orlando Hernández starting Game 1, the Mets may not be able to outpitch Derek Lowe and the Dodgers. They will more likely try to outslug them.
“This is the way I approach the playoffs,” Beltrán said. “Don’t feel like you have to do this or you have to do that. Good things happen when you don’t look for them. When you try really hard to do something, you won’t do it.”
Beltrán was not talking only about the postseason. He was talking about his entire career.
When he is able to relax and swing easy, he is a Most Valuable Player contender. When he feels the pressure and tightens his grip, he is a bust.
For some reason, Beltrán seems to experience more anxiety in April than he does in October. Omar Minaya, the Mets’ general manager, remembers watching the 2004 playoffs and telling himself, “We have no chance at this guy.”
Beltrán was due to become a free agent in the off-season and it was impossible to estimate how high his price would climb. Minaya, who was targeting Martínez to anchor the pitching staff, did not believe he would have enough cash left over for Beltrán.
“He was out of my range,” Minaya said. “There was no way a player doing what he was doing was going to come to the Mets. It was just not going to happen.”
The Mets managed to scrape together $119 million for Beltrán, but there was a catch. Fans expected him to be the player they saw in the League Championship Series, golfing sliders into each gap. He could not measure up to his own postseason standard.
“Nobody could,” Minaya said. “It was impossible.”
To protect Beltrán, both in the lineup and in the public eye, Minaya acquired a 6-foot-3, 240-pound buffer. Carlos Delgado not only hits behind Beltrán in the lineup, he also deflects the scrutiny that was fixed on Beltrán last season.
Delgado and Beltrán, who are both from Puerto Rico, form a small dinner club with José Valentín and Julio Franco. When the Mets are in New York, the players play host to one another. On the road, they look for Spanish-style restaurants that serve beans and rice. Oftentimes, they have to settle for steakhouses.
“After Beltrán signed his contract, I think he tried too hard to show that he was worth all that money,” said Valentín, who grew up near Beltrán in Manati, P.R. “With Delgado around, he feels like he doesn’t have to do everything anymore. He can just sit back and play his game.”
Together, Delgado and Beltrán have hit 79 home runs, driven in 230 runs and given the N.L. hope for the World Series. Because of them, the Mets are among the few teams with enough muscle to counterpunch the Yankees.
Delgado is generally more gregarious than Beltrán, but he does not have much to say right now. Delgado has never been to the playoffs, while Beltrán is still defined by them. In a switch, Beltrán is suddenly the one offering advice.
He claims to have never seen a highlight tape from 2004, even though he once asked the Astros for a copy. He has not yet received it.
Starting this week, he will try to record a new reel — without trying too hard, of course. When Beltrán comes to the plate, he calms himself by carving a large J in the batter’s box, short for Jessica. There will be no mistaking her presence in these playoffs.
“I’m not sure what she is going to do,” Beltrán said. “I guess we’ll all find out Wednesday.”
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