By Adam Cancryn
By tossing a no-hitter, Johan Santana conquered 51 years of near misses. By doing it against the Cardinals, he helped the Mets take one big step in their healing process.
The Mets' history is full of failure and disappointment and defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, but even in that context, October 2006 is particularly painful. That year, everything seemed to fall into place. Young stars David Wright and Jose Reyes broke out. Veterans like Carlos Delgado and Tom Glavine put up one last, great season. The Mets, with contributions from their headliners on down to their bit players, put together a wonderful season that brought them all the way to game seven of the NLCS.
Nearly everything had fallen New York's way that year, and on that October night, it again looked like luck was on their side. Propelled by Endy Chavez's game-saving catch for the ages just innings earlier, the Mets appeared destined for another come-from-behind win. Down 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Jose Valentin singled to center. Then Chavez dropped a single into left. Two outs later, catcher Paul Lo Duca drew a walk. With the bases loaded, Carlos Beltran approached the plate.
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If there is one player who defined the Mets in the first decade of the 21st century, it was Carlos Beltran. After several standout seasons with the Royals and a record-setting postseason with the Astros, Beltran became the Mets' number one target. They proceeded to pour every resource into acquiring the soon-to-be 28-year-old outfielder, and succeeded in outbidding everyone for his services.
This was not the franchise's first flashy signing by any means; Glavine, Delgado and Pedro Martinez came before him. But even amid those, Beltran represented the Mets' highest-profile acquisition during an era in which New York routinely showered veteran players with riches right as they hit the downslope of their career. Thanks to these signings, the Mets were winning the back-page battle and matching the Yankees' star power. But they were doing it in much the same manner that an amateur investor copies Warren Buffett's trades three months after the fact: too late and for far too much money.
That approach also did no favors for the new signees. The high expectations dogged Beltran for much of his first two years in New York, even as he remained one of the league's best. In '06, he made the All-Star game and finished fourth in NL MVP voting. But for $119 million over seven years, above-average was unacceptable. The fans wanted a hero. As Beltran strode to the plate that October night in the bottom of the ninth, he stood just one hit away from fulfilling their wishes.
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Since then, the Cardinals and Mets have taken divergent paths. St. Louis largely built on that year's success, improving incrementally until they reached the pinnacle again in 2011. New York, meanwhile, remained haunted by the called third strike. Twice they appeared headed for another playoff berth, and twice they collapsed in historic fashion. In the Mets' efforts to exorcise their demons, the axe fell on Omar Minaya, Willie Randolph and eventually, Carlos Beltran. The center fielder finished his Mets career with a library full of highlights, and yet the only play that mattered was the one he didn't make.
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In the build-up to this weekend, all the bitter memories from '06 came rushing back. This would be a reunion of sorts for the Mets and their tormentors, and while the franchise had spent the past few years struggling to stay above water, Wainwright, Yadier Molina and Beltran excelled. Wainwright became a Cy Young candidate. Molina won four Gold Gloves and a fat new contract. Beltran is in the middle of a late-career resurgence. This weekend was about them, and what-ifs and remember whens.
And then Johan Santana took the mound. Throughout Citi Field, the ghosts of '06 swirled.
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Through them cut Santana's array of offerings, twisting and biting from every angle. Like Beltran and the others before him, Santana's time with the Mets has been victimized by his past success. He was the best pitcher in baseball from 2003 to 2008. To become the hero that Mets fans wanted, he'd somehow have to top that. Santana gave it a valiant try, and through three seasons had a .615 winning percentage and a 2.85 ERA. But injuries often kept him off the field, and after a hurt shoulder forced him out for an entire year, he looked like just another example of too late and for far too much.
Santana is not the pitcher he once was, especially on this night. For much of the game, his fastball barely touched 90. He walked five, the most since June 2010. And just 15.8% of his outs were ground balls, about half his career average.
But Santana adjusted. He turned to his slider, and then leaned heavily on his still-world-class changeup. The result was far from dominant. But in the end, he did what Beltran and Glavine and Delgado and all the would-be Mets legends could not: He got the job done.
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Over the past couple days, I've struggled with what this means, and whether it makes up for 2006. After all, it's just one game. It doesn't count any more in the standings, and there won't be a new banner in Citi Field. The Mets and Cardinals took the field again the next night, with the Mets still listed as the underdog.
But while little has changed on the surface, everything has changed psychologically. In two hours and 35 minutes, Santana erased 51 years of near misses, of so-closes and maybe-next-times. In that short period, everything went right when historically, it should have gone horribly wrong: Beltran's phantom double, Mike Baxter's stumbling catch at the wall, Daniel Murphy's take-charge moment in the eighth inning. For once, Mets fans could play what-if and then sleep soundly.
As for '06, nothing can atone for such a crushing moment. It happened, and the Mets will always carry that with them. But if they can't let it go, this no-hitter means that they can at least move on. The spell cast by Beltran, Molina and Wainwright is broken. The Mets have their milestone. In Santana, they have their hero. And thanks to him, the past no longer stands in the way of the future.
Adam Cancryn is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96.
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