Carlos Delgado (The Mets Years) 2006 NL East Champs First Baseman (2006 - 2009)

Carlos Juan Delgado was born in Puerto Rico on June 25, 1972. The New York Mets showed interest in him in high school, but he chose to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1988.

Carlos was only 17 at the time and spent his minor league career as a catcher making frequent All Star appearances at all minor league levels. He was the 1993 Southern League MVP at AAA Knoxville hitting 25 HRs with 102 RBIs & a .430 on base %.

MLB Career- Blue Jays: Delgado made his MLB debut as a catcher, with the 1993 World Series Champion Blue Jays, playing in the last two games of the regular season. 

In 1994 he converted from catcher becoming the Blue Jays regular left fielder. He received attention when he hit 9 HRs in just 130 at bats, but after a great April was sent down to AAA Syracuse to fine tune his hitting.

By 1996 he became an everyday player & became one of the best power hitters in the AL over the next decade. He is only one of four players to hit over 30 HRs in ten straight seasons, (including hitting 40 or more three times).

He also drove in over 90 runs in each season over the next decade (including over 100 RBIs six years in a row). He won three Silver Slugger Awards, played in two All Star games & led the majors in RBIs in 2003 with 145.

In 2000 he led the league with 57 doubles and played every game of that season & the next. He caused controversy while in Toronto for not standing up during the 7th inning stretch's singing of God Bless America. He stated it was in protest to the testing of U.S. missiles in his native Puerto Rico, country. 

As a Blue Jay he also developed a close friendship with teammate Sean Green, whom he would later help lure to the New York Mets.

Eventually the Blue Jays didn’t have the money to sign him when he became a free agent. He was heavily sought after and it came down to the Mets or Florida Marlins. 

Marlins Career: He chose Florida for the 2005 season & let down many excited Met fans who's team had just signed Pedro Martinez & Carlos Beltran.

In Florida Delgado hit 33 HRs with 41 doubles 115 RBIs & batted .301. But after that season, Florida also needed to cut payroll & sold off all their top players. The New York Mets finally got him, as he was traded to New York for Mike Jacobs & Yusmeiro Petit in November 2005. 

Mets Career: When joining the Mets he was asked to stand during the National Anthem & the singing of God Bless America which he agreed to do. He immediately made an impact as the Mets, put in as their cleanup hitter and first baseman.

2006 Season: Carlos debuted on Opening Day going hitless in a 3-2 win over Washington at Shea Stadium.

Carlos then homered in his next two games while driving in runs in the next three games. On April 5th he hit his first Mets HR off the Nat's John Patterson.

On April 16th & 17th he hit HRs in consecutive games at Shea Stadium. The first was a three-run shot off the Brewers Jorge De LaRosa in a 9-3 win, the second a two-run shot off the Braves Jorge Sosa in a 4-3 Mets win. 

On April 20th, Carlos began a stretch where he hit HRs in three straight games in a series at San Diego. In his first month as a Met he hit 9 HRs with 20 RBIs batting .298 while easily winning over the Shea fans. 

Walk Off HR: On May 3rd, Carlos came to bat in he bottom of the 12th inning of a 3-3 tie with the Pirates. He hit his first Mets Walk HR off coming off Mike Gonzalez to beat the Pirates 4-3. 

Subway Series: In his first subway series at Shea, he collected a hit in all three games with HRs in the second game loss & a three run shot off Aaron Small in the Mets 4-1 victory in the third game. 

He began June batting .245 but raised his average twenty-two points in the month. He hit seven HRs with 21 RBIs & seven doubles.

From June 5th to June 15th, he drove in a run in eight straight games, collecting 15 RBIs in that stretch. It was the longest Mets streak since Edgardo Alfonzo in 2000.

Multi HR Game: On June 9th, Delgado had his first multi-HR game of the season, with shots off the Diamondbacks Miguel Batista & Brandon Medders in a 10-6 win at Arizona.

On June 20th, he hit a HR off the Reds Elizardo Ramirez for his 20th of the season as he became the fourth Met to reach 20 HRs in the first 70 games of the season. He closed out the month with back-to-back HRs in losses at Fenway Park. 

In July after the All-Star break, he had another stretch of five straight games with an RBI.

Four Hit Game. On July 30th Carlos had a season high four hit game, including hitting his 26th HR of the year, a two-run shot as he also walked with the bases loaded in a 10-6 win in Atlanta.

In late August, Delgado went on another hot streak, from August 17th thru August 30th, he batted .463 with 15 extra base hits, 8 HR five doubles, two triples & 22 runs driven in. e had two streaks where he drove in runs in five straight games as well. In August he & teammate Jose Ryes both drove in 26 runs.

Multi HR Games: On August 17th Delgado hit a pair of HRs off the Phillies Scott Mathieson while driving in four runs in the Mets 7-2 win. 

Grand Slam- 30th HR of the season & 400th Career HR: On August 22nd, he had another multi-HR game in an 8-7 win at Shea over the Cardinals. In the 2nd inning he led off with a HR off Jeff Weaver, reaching the 30 HR mark. It was his tenth straight season with 30 or more HRs becoming just the fourth MLB player to ever accomplish the feat. 

In the 5th inning, he reached the 400 HR mark in his career, as he collected his 11th career grand slam with the granny also coming off Weaver. It was the 40th multi-HR game of his career & a season best five RBI game. The Mets won the game on Carlos Beltran's Walk off HR.

100th RBI: On September 6th, Delgado hit a two run HR off the Braves John Smoltz in a 4-1 Mets win at Shea Stadium, getting him to the 100th RBI mark on the season. It was his eighth season of 100 or more RBIs.

On September 12th with the Mets down 4-1 to the Marlins in the top of the 8th inning, Carlos blasted a three-run game tying HR off Taylor Tankersley tying the game. David Wright & Cliff Floyd followed with back-to-back doubles leading to the win.

On September 13th, with the Mets down 4-3 to the Marlins in Florida, Delgado came up as a pinch hitter & tied the game with a single off Joe Borowski scoring David Wright. The Mets put up three runs in the top of the 11th for the win.

Mets Clinch NL East: On September 18th the Mets clinched the NL Eastern title with a 4-0 win over the Marlins at Shea. Carlos was 0-4 in the game.

He finished the year with 38 HRs (8th in the NL) with 114 RBIs (5th in the NL) 30 doubles & batted .265. Delgado was always seen keeping a notebook on all the pitchers he faced after at bats in the dugout. He was a good student of hitting & very knowledgeable of the game

2006 Post Season- NLDS: In the NLDS sweep of the Dodgers, Carlos batted .429 with seven hits a HR, two RBIs & three Runs scored.

Four Hit Game: In Game #1 at Shea Stadium, Delgado collected four hits with a two run HR off Derek Lowe in the 4th inning tying up the game. He also collected three singles in the game. 

In the bottom of the 7th inning, with the score tied at four, Delgado singled to left field scoring Jose Reyes putting the Mets ahead for good in the 6-5 win.

He then had one hit in each of the next two games. In the final Game #3 at Los Angeles, he hit a 1st inning single off Greg Maddux, then scored on Cliff Floyd's base hit. The Mets scored three in the first & rolled to the 9-5 win. 


2006 NLCS: In the NLCS loss to the St. Louis Cardinals Carlos hit over .300 going 7-23 with three HRs nine RBIs & a .448 on base %. 

In Game #1 at Shea Stadium, he drew a 4th inning walk, then doubled in the 6th & 8th innings in
the 2-0 Mets win. Tom Glavine threw seven shutout innings as Guillermo Mota & Billy Wagner closed it out.

Multi HR Game: In Game #2 Delgado had another big game, hitting two HRs off Chris Carpenter driving in four runs in the Mets 9-6 loss. His first HR was a 1st inning three run shot putting the Mets up 3-0. 

In the 5th, he put the Mets ahead with solo shot, although they lost the game when Billy Wagner gave up three runs in the 9th inning.

In Game #3 he went hitless in the 5-0 Mets loss.

Multi- 5 RBI Game: In Game #4, with the game tied at two in the 5th inning, Delgado hit a three run HR off Brad Thompson. In the 6th inning, he drove in two more runs with a ground rule double off Josh Hancock giving the Mets a 7-3 lead.

David Wright & Carlos Beltran hit two HRs in the game & David Wright added another in the 12-5 Mets win at St. Louis. 

Over the next three games, Carlos was shut down by Cardinal pitching. He went 1-8 but collected three walks in the Game Seven loss. 

The Mets took a heartbreaking NLCS loss in seven games.

Overall, in his only post season, Delgado went 13-37 batting .351 with 4 HRs 3 doubles 6 walks 11 RBIs & 13 runs scored. He posted a .442 on base % & 1.199 OPS. 

2007: He opened the year with a double driving in two runs on Opening Day, in the Mets 6-1 win over the reigning champion St. Louis Cardinals. But he struggled from there not hitting his first HR until April 23rd, when he finally had got over the .200 mark. 

On May 1st he collected two hits including his 1300th career RBI in a loss to the Marlins at Shea. On May 9th he hit a HR at San Francisco into McCovey Cove & became the first visiting player to hit three HRs into that area.

Two Walk Off Wins in Same Series: On May 14th in a tie game with the Cubs at Shea, he drew a bottom of the 9th inning bases loaded walk from Chicago pitcher Michael Wuertz to give the Mets a 5-4 walk off win. 

Three days later on May 17th, the Mets entered the bottom of the 9th down to the Cubs 5-1. They collected two hits & a pair of walks from Ryan Dempster to get within two runs. Scott Eyre came on & gave up a two-run single to David Wright, making it a one run game. 

Delgado then drilled a two-run single into right field to score the winning runs in the exciting walk off win. 

Multi HR- Five RBI Game: On May 26th Delgado hit two HRs off the Marlins Wes Obermueller bringing in a season high five runs in a 7-2 win & series sweep of the Marlins. 

Walk Off HR: On May 29th at Shea, just two games later he had his 42nd career multi-HR game hitting a pair of HRs against the San Francisco Giants. In the 4th inning his two-run shot off Tim Lincecum tied the game at two. 

In the bottom of the12th the Giants had a 4-3 lead, but former Met Armando Benitez walked Jose Reyes & committed two balks allowing him to score the tying run. Delgado followed with a walk off HR off Benitez to the delight of the heckling crowd who really let Armando have it.

On June 8th in Detroit, he hit his tenth HR of the year, coming off Chad Durbin. He added a sac fly bringing in two of the three Mets runs in a Jorge Sosa (eight innings) Billy Wagner (one inning) four hit combined shutout.

Carlos struggled at the plate as his average fell to .227. The Mets were still in first place with a four-game lead on July 1st. That night he hit his 420th career HR coming off the Phils Kyle Kendrick, tying him with Mike Piazza on the All-Time HR list in 40th place.

Four Hit Game: On July 5th he had four hit games with an RBI single in a 6-2 win at Houston. 

Starting on July 15th he went on a season best nine-game hit streak. That month he hit his best, batting .323 with 32 hits in the month. In August he drove in 19 runs but hit just three HRs, as the lack of the long ball was becoming quite noticeable. He ended the month on a seven-game hit streak. 

Multi- Four Walk Game: On August 3rd, he tied a franchise record drawing four walks in a nine-inning game. He also collected a hit & an RBI in the Mets 6-2 win at Wrigley Field.

Multi-Four RBI Game: On August 5th, Carlos hit a pair of RBI doubles at Wrigley Field, with a
sac fly & ground ball RBI for a four RBI game in an 8-3 win over the Cubs. 

On August 15th he left the game with a knee injury, missing five games. On August 31st, Carlos hit his 427th career HR, putting him at #38 on the all-time list. The 4th inning, three run HR came off the Braves Tim Hudson, in a 7-1 Mets win at Atlanta. The next day he hit his 21st HR of the season in a 5-1 win over the Braves as well.

On September 4th he went down with an injury & missed the next two weeks of action. When he went on the DL the Mets had a five-game lead in first place, when he returned on September 20th, their lead had faded to just 1.5 games.

Mets Monumental Collapse: On August 25th, the Mets had a seven-game lead atop the NL Easten division. A five-game losing streak & a disastrous four game sweep in Philadelphia dropped their lead to just two games. But then they won ten of the next twelve game to bring that lead back up to seven games on September 12th.

Then the Phillies came to Shea & swept the Mets in a three-game series, as they went on a five-game losing streak as their lead fell to just 1.5 games. The Mets were still in first place with five games left to play. They lost four of their last five, fell out of first & didn't even make a wild card spot. It was a devastating ending to a once promising season.

In his return he hit a HR in first game back, coming in a 9-6 win in Florida. On September 23rd, with the Mets & Marlins tied at three in the top of the 8th inning, Delgado blasted a three run HR off Justin Miller to put New York ahead 6-3. But the bullpen of Aaron Heilman & Billy Wagner gave up the lead sending the game into extra innings. David Wrights 11th inning single won it for the Mets. 

Over the next five games Delgado didn't drive in any runs, until the 13-0 win over Florida at Shea
Stadium on the next to last game of the year. In that game he was injured when he was hit on the hand with a pitch from Florida's Dontrell Willis & missed the final game. 

The Mets were eliminated from the post season on the last day of the season after losing six of their last seven games in a terrible collapse. 

Delgado's numbers dropped off from the previous year, he hit. 258 with 139 hits, 24 HRs 30 doubles 87 RBIs& 71 runs scored. He struck out 118 times, making it 12 straight seasons with over 100 strike outs. He walked 52 times posting a .333 on base % & .781 OPS. David Wright & Carlos Delgado had put in better seasons & the 34-year-old Delgado was winding down.

2008: In 2008 the struggles continued for him, as everyone thought he was done early on in the season. The media blasted him, the fans booed him & wanted him traded. 

He injured his hip but remained on the roster finding it hard to get his swing back. Teams would align a shift to the right side of the infield due to him being a dead pull hitter, this didn’t help his hitting.  In the month of April he hit just .198 with three HRs.

Multi HR Game: On April 28th, Delgado had his first multi-HR game of the season. He hit 3rd inning solo shot off the Braves John Smoltz & later another solo shot in the 7th off Will Ohman in the 6-3 win at Shea Stadium. 

 

Puerto Rican HR Leader: On May 3rd he hit his 435th HR to pass Juan Gonzaez for most HRs by a Puerto Rican born player. The HR came off Arizona's Brandon Webb in a loss at the BOB.

From May 22nd to May 24th, he hit HRs in three straight games, two coming in losses at Atlanta & Colorado. On June 18th, Delgado hit his tenth HR of the year, coming off the Angels John Garland, in a 5-4 win at Anaheim. In his next game on June 20th, he hit a two run HR off the Rockies Aaron Cook at Coors Field in a 7-2 Mets win.

After 69 games the Mets were 34-35 & manager Willie Randolph was fired, with Jerry Manuel taking over the job.

Record Setting Nine RBI Game: On June 27th, Delgado set a Mets club record by driving in nine runs in a single game. It came in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader in that year's subway series in the Bronx. In the 5th inning his double down the right field line scored Luis Castillo & Carlos Beltran with his first two runs. 

Grand Slam HR: In the top of the 6th inning, with the bases loaded he blasted a grand slam HR off Ross Ohlendorf to deep right center field putting the Mets ahead 11-4. The granny gave him six RBIs on the day. It was his 12th career grand slam

In the 8th inning, Carlos wasn't done, he hit a three run HR off Latroy Hawkins to put the score at 15-5, topping off his record setting nine RBI game. The previous Mets record was eight RBIs in a single game, recorded by Dave Kingman in 1976. The nine RBIS were also the most in an inter-league matchup.

From, July 5th to July 17th, the Mets won ten straight games. In that time Delgado batted .400 hitting three HRs & driving in six runs. In the last two weeks of July, he hit seven HRs with eight multi-RBI games, driving in 19 runs in that stretch. 

On July 17th, the Mets were down to the Reds 8-6 in the 9th inning. David Wright tied the game with a two run HR. Delgado soon singled bringing in the go ahead run, leading to the 10-8 win.

Multi-HR Game: On July 26th, he belted HRs off the Cardinals Joel Pineiro & Ron Villone, bringing in three run of a 10-8 Mets win at Shea Stadium. It was his third multi-HR game of the year.

Delgado carried the Mets through the summer months, keeping them in first place. In August the Mets fell to three games back before coming back to take over the division lead. From August 12th to August 22nd, they won ten of eleven games to stay 2.5 games ahead of the also hot Phillies.

Walk Off Hit: On August 21st Carlos had a season best, five-hit game. In the bottom of the 1st & 3rd innings, he had an RBI single off the Braves Mike Hampton. Carlos later doubled & singled again, bringing in a run but without credit for an RBI. With the score tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the 9th, he delivered the walk off game winner, with a single off Vladimir Nunez.

Multi-HR Six RBI Game: On August 25th Delgado hit two three run HRs, coming off Astros
pitchers Brian Mohler & Wesley Wright, leading the Mets to a 9-1 win at Shea Stadium. The six RBIs were his second best in a game that season.

On August 27th, he had another multi-HR game coming in a big two game series with the Reds.

Multi HR Games: In a big September 7th double header split with the Phillies, Delgado led the Mets & Johan Santana to a 6-3 win in the nightcap avoiding a series sweep. Delgado hit two HRs off Cole Hamels driving in four of the six runs.

On September 9th, he had another multi-HR game, with HRs off the Nationals Jon Lannan & Charlie Manning in a 10-8 Mets win. It was his 49th career multi-HR game & his eighth multi-HR game of the season setting a new Mets record, passing Dave Kingman's seven multi–HR Games in 1976.

On September 20th, Delgado collected his 2000th career hit, a single off the Braves Jorge Campillo in a loss in Atlanta. 

The night before he played in his 2000th career game. From June 27th thru September 27th Delgado had 65 RBIs in a 65-game stretch. He also drove in twenty runs in each of the months from June to September.

Grand Slam: On September 24th, he hit his second grand slam of the season, it came off the Cubs Carlos Zambrano at Shea Stadium in a loss to the Cubs. It was his 13th career grand slam HR.

On September 20th, the Mets fell out of first place, but still had the wild card lead. They lost six of their last nine games, getting eliminated on the final day of the season for the second straight year. 

Final Game at Shea: On the final day, the Mets lost 4-2 to the Marlins, it was also the last game ever played in Shea Stadium. In the last game ever played at Shea Stadium, Carlos had one hit & almost tied the game in the bottom of the 8th inning with a deep line drive shot to left field. 

 

For the season, Delgado led the team in HRs with 38 (third most in the NL) & was second to David Wright RBIs with 115 RBIs (also third most in the NL).  

He batted .271 with 162 hits 32 doubles a triple & 96 runs scored. He

led the team in strikeouts (124) for the third straight year. It was his 13th season of 100 or more strike outs.

He drew 72 walks 8 intentional walks with a .353 on base % & .871 OPS.

In the off season, the Mets exercised his 12-million-dollar option for 2009.

2009: Carlos started out the season with two hits in the Opening Day 2-1 win at Cincinnati. On April 8th, he hit a 1st inning two run HR off the Reds Edinson Volquez & drove in four runs in the 9-7 win. He drove in two more runs the next day & two more in a win at Florida. In the first five games of the year, he had eight RBIs.

On April 13th, In the Citi Field Opener, he went 0-4 in the loss to the Padres. 

First HR In Pepsi Porch: On April 15th, he became the first player to hit a HR in the Pepsi Porch at the Mets new home at Citi Field.  With the Mets ahead 6-1 he blasted the long HR off the Padres Luis Perdomo. He homered the next night as well.

Multi- Five RBI Game: On May 8th, in a tie game with the Pirates at Citi Field, Delgado hit an 8th inning three run HR off Sean Burnett leading the Mets to a 7-2 win. Earlier he had collected a two-run single, giving him a five RBI game.

Career Ending Injury: After 26 games he was batting .298 with 4 HRs & 23 RBIs. Then he developed a bone spur & a torn labrum in his hip. On May 19th he underwent successful surgery on his hip and was scheduled to be out until the end of July. That never worked out, as setbacks ended his season & his career. 

After the 2009 season, no team sought him out as a free agent with concerns about his health after
having had three hip surgeries.

Mets Career Stats: In his four-year Mets career Carlos played in 468 games. He hit 104 HRs (15th on the Mets all-time list) with 339 RBIs (24th on the Mets all-time list). He had 468 hits 99 doubles 4 triples & 271 runs scored with a .351 on base % & .857 OPS.

Retirement: In his 17-year MLB career Carlos played in 2035 games, batting .280 with 2038 hits.

He hit 473 HRs (34th all time) with 1512 RBIs (55th all time).

Delgado has 483 doubles (81st all time) 18 triples & 974 extra base hits (44th all time).  He drew 1109 walks (78th all time) 188 intentional walks (25th all time) posting a .383 on base % & .929 OPS.

He struck out 1745 times (34th most all time). He hit 93 sac flies (57th all time) was hit by 172 pitches (17th all time).

At first base he played in 1767 games (41st all time) committing 129 errors (76th all time) with 15,144 put outs (44th all time). 

Charity: He was always known for doing a lot of charity work, especially in children’s hospitals. 

In 2006 he won the Roberto Clemente Award for his charitable services.

Family: Carlos & his wife Betzaida Garcia have two children.