Remembering Mets History: (2008) Carlos Delgado Ties Franchise Record With Seven Multi HR Games

In 2008 Carlos Delgado matched Dave Kingman for the franchise record of seven multi HR games in a season. Lucas Duda matched the feat in 2015 for the NL Champion Mets. Delgado's season went like this:

On April 27th, Delgado had just hit one HR in the opening month of the 2008 season. Willie Randolph's Mets were in second place just 1.5 games back as they hosted Bobby Cox's fourth Atlanta Braves.

Future SNY studio analyst Nelson Figueroa was on the mound on his way to his second win as Delgado helped him with two HRs in the 6-3 win. Delgado's first HR came off John Smoltz & the latter in the 9th inning off Will Ohman.

Friday night June 27th the Mets were in third place under new skipper Jerry Manuel who had replaced Randolph as manager. This became a record day for Carlos Delgado, as he would drive in nine runs & hit two HRs in the Mets 15-6 win across town in the subway series opener. 

Delgado came to bat in the 5th inning with the score tied at four. Carlos Beltran & Luis Castillo were aboard when he hit a three run shot off Edwar Ramirez for the 6-4 lead. In the 6th inning Delgado connected for a grand slam as David Wright, Castillo & Beltran were all aboard the bases. Delgado had now taken the team lead with 13 HRs.

On July 26th the Mets were in first place under Jerry Manuel, playing in St. Louis. Delgado connected for two HRs on this night, getting him to 22 on the season while hitting nine in the month.

On August 25th, the first place Mets hosted Cecil Cooper's Houston Astros in front of 49,791 at Shea Stadium. Delgado opened the day up with a three run HR off Brian Moehler. In the 7th, he connected for another three run HR, giving him six RBIs on the day & his fourth multi HR game.

Two days later the Mets were in Philadelphia fighting to hold on to first place. There was trouble in New York as the Mets were once again losing their grip on first place as they had done the year before in the final days of the season. Delgado had a good month driving in 24 runs & strong September as well. But the Mets would fall short of the post season once again.

In this game Delgado blasted two HRs, including an 8th inning solo shot off Rudy Seanez. It was his 30th HR of the season, this one putting the Mets ahead for good. Daniel Murphy & Brian Schneider added RBI hits in the inning.

In September Delgado continued his hot hitting, carrying the Mets team that still couldn't catch the Phils. In the month he hit 8 HRs with 22 RBIs. At no point was he hotter than early in the month in a two day span. On September 7th, the first place Mets hosted the second place Phillies in a double header at Shea Stadium. The Mets moved to two games ahead as they took both ends of the twin bill. In the second game, Johan Santana beat Hole Camels as Delgado led the way with two HRs both coming off Hamels.

Two days later Delgado tied the Mets team record of multi HR games in a season, as he had his seventh matching Dave Kingman in 1976.

The Mets still holding on to first place hosted Manny Acta's Washington Nationals in front of 50 plus thousand at Shea. In the 3rd inning he connected for a two run shot off John Lannon. In the bottom of the 6th, Carlos Beltran put the Mets ahead 9-8 with a two run HR. 

Delgado followed with a solo HR his 35th of the year. The Mets went on to a 10-8 win. Delgado finished the year with 38 HRs & 115 RBIs. His 38 HRs were third best in the league. In 1976 Kingman finished second in the NL HR race to Mike Schmidt.