In a post to Newsday, Jim Baumbach points out that Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS was on in the Mets clubhouse yesterday, coincidentally, as it was being aired on the MLB Network.
According to Baumbach, “Jose Reyes sat silent at his locker, watching intently, pitch by pitch. David Wright was there for the eighth inning and left, bat in hand, but he returned in time for the final out. John Maine sat at his locker throughout 
the final innings, as did Oliver Perez. J.J. Putz watched, as well.”
In a follow-up post to Newsday, Baumbach talked to Reyes, and explains why, according to the player, “watching the game motivated him for this upcoming season even more.”
…first off, nice work, jim… second, this is awesome… i love the image of jose staring at that screen, his mind racing, wondering what could have been… because, you and i have those thoughts all of the time…
Good, this is great. They should want that swagger… that anger… the passion they played with that summer. I was 4 in 86, too young to remember, but the 06 Mets let me feel that swagger, that pride, that “We are the best, we know it, and you just have to deal with it”. That is the attitude this team needs. They had something to prove by knocking off the Braves, this year, it’s the Phils.
I would love to see every guy on this team read “The Year the Bad Guys Won: Story of the 86 Mets” If anyone hasn’t read it, they should. Let’s get a team back like that!
sounds a little dramatic to me… slow media day
good…remind them of what was in their grasp. No doubt the mets were the best team in the NL that year.
If that image of 2006 doesn’t boil your blood and motivate you…I don’t know what will! Rey-Rey…is intent on releasing the ghost of 06.
I gave Reyes credit. When re-watching that game, I have to turn it off b/c Heilman gives up that HR. And no way I need to see Beltran and that K again.
You said it. That was the worst month of my life and there’s no way in hell I’ll allow myself to relive that again.
It was an early Christmas when they traded Heilman.
it will only provide severe motivation for this years championship!
We all thought the 2007 collapse would provide severe motivation for the 2008 season. Hope you’re right though.
One can argue that it did.
both years, they were ahead in September. last season, they were jjust decimated by injuries, and had a shot pen.
They weren’t lacking in motivation, just talent.
I agree, and 2006 would surely be a more positive source of inspiration than 2007…
Extremely cool story…..this is the kind of thing that would make an even better story to look back on if we have a great season.
The champagne will also taste better
*groan*
They should also show the 06 season(dvd) to the club to show how dominant we were and can be.
That DVD only needs to be shown to the members of the bullpen.
well there is noone really that was around in 06 from this current bullpen other than feliciano i think…..
why? They had nothing to do with it!
IIRC, Feliciano was around in 2006, right? So that makes him the only one on the DVD. And the only holdover from 2007 too.
Just Feliciano and Stokes from 2008 (won’t count Parnell). And Stokes asn’t really the problem (still mad at Feliciano though…)
Actually, the 2006 LCS loss is as clearly on the offense as the 2008 problems were on the bullpen….
We could not get a hit off of St Louis’ answer to Koufax/Drysdale and Johnson/Schilling, the rotten pitchers known as Suppan and Weaver.
I have been a huge supporter of the offense, but it was clearly the offense which was at fault in that LCS, no doubt about it.
Agreed on that point.
agreed.
Yeah you’re right. For that particular LCS loss, it was on the offense. They actually got dominated by Jeff Suppan not once, but twice in that series. Letting that happen against a subpar pitcher no less was unacceptable.
Yeah, that is how I see it….I mean, Cliff’s and Beltran’s at bats were disappointing, and Heilman’s HR pitch…..ugh….but still, that offense going to sleep against those jokers was so disappointing…for me, as an ex-Seattle-ite who still follows the Mariners as a distant 2nd favorite team, watching Weaver get absolutely shelled every time out in the beginning of 2007 made it even more horrifying!
I would say at least once a week while I’m driving home or shaving or something, I imagine: what if Beltran hit a gapper there and scored three? What if he hit a salami? What if Cliff hit the home run a few batters before? I picture me and my brother celebrating in my den. I picture going to WS Game 5 and watching them clinch.
One day… Maybe this year :-)
Nice story ags. I fantasized something similar. It would have been great to see the reason Omar brought Beltran to NY. He was suppose to get us throught spots like this. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. But that was then…and this is now. Hopefully, we can look back at 2006 in October and laugh about it!
The day after the game was like a funeral procession in the city…
Only philly fans and especially yankee fans had a smile on and zip to their step in my office
IIRC, Endy came up with runners on the inning after The Catch. Imagine if HE hit a gapper to put us ahead? We’d be retiring his number.
A lot of times, I find myself wondering something similar…
Like what if the walk off HR Beltran hit vs the Cards happened in Game 7, and the strike out happened during the season?
Or, what if the screaming line drive Reyes hit was just a foot or 2 higher, or more toward RF, so Edmonds couldn’t snare it?
Such a shame. We should be going for our 4th straight World Series title this year or at least appearance. Dynasty. Damn what could have been. Dont get mad at me I think this thought at least twice a month and due to the article this morning it just made it 3!!!!!
Joe, I still think about Pendleton’s homer off of McDowell and Scioscia’s off of Gooden in 87 and 88, and how that team should have been the one and only NL team to ever win 3 straight WS titles!!
This is much better than the “Shhh it never happen” philosophy of the forgotten Willie.
Pretty much anything is better than Willie’s philosophy. Heck, I would even take Rickey Henderson as the manager if it were between him and Willie.
agreed.
Manuel even pointed out his dismay at this apporach in his 1st press conference
It’s amusing how much manuel has you guys over a barrel. He spent all of last year saying exactly what he knew you wanted to hear, while managing the team to the worst of his ability. At least he seems to realize now that he has the job, he should really try to be a good manager. Not sure i’m sold though, since he talks just as much crap and doesn’t follow through.
If for the sake of discussion we agree to the basic premise that both Jerry and Willie talked a bunch of crap, the difference for me is that Jerry’s crap is lively and interesting, Willie’s was monotone and sleeping pill. If my favorite team is somehow destined to flounder in mediocrity, at least I’ve got the lively interesting guy to listen to after the game instead of monotone cliche spitting “I trust my guys” Willie. Of course, Jerry’s 55-38 record (or whatever it was last season) helps too.
This year is going to be a lot better than the past couple of years and I think a lot better than some are giving the Mets credit for. Lets break down this year vs. the past couple of years.
The pen has been horrible and Omar not only went out and got a great closer, but he also got another great closer to pitch the 8th inning. Omar also added some other key guys to the pen and did a complete 180 from what the pen has been.
The starting pitching has had its issues the past couple of years as well. We got Santana last year who’s #’s were down some cause of the pen. We also had a lot of injuries to the SP’s(Pedro and Maine). Pedro is gone and Maine should be fine now that he had the surgery. Plus Pelfrey made some huge steps forward last year and should be just as good if not better this year.
2nd base was a big issue last year with Castillo being over weight and hurt all year. Now he looks healthy, lost a lot of weight and is playing very well in spring training. Even if he drops off from his ST play, as long as he is better than last year we are looking good.
The corner OF spots. Lets start with Church. He was playing awesome last year until he got hurt and if he didn’t go down we might have made the playoffs. His bat could have made up the 3 games that we lost the division by or at least the 1 game that we missed the wild card by. Tatis had a good year last year and will get some time in RF over Church and that should keep Church healthy and Tatis’s bat going. As for Murphy in LF. Well with what he showed last year, what he’s doing in ST and what everyone is saying about him, I hope that everyone out there that was pushing for Abreu is now seeing how dumb they were for wanting him over Murphy.
Catching…….Yeah we still need a lot of help there!
The Mets may not have gone out and got Manny, Sabathia or traded for Holliday but they did make some real key moves to improve what was already a very good team. I think that the Mets will get around 96 wins, take the divison by 5 games and only have to compete with the Cubs for the best record in the National League.
Dude, you are reading my mind…excellent argument for serious optimism!
I especially like your fine point about how a healthy Church’s bat could have made the difference last year….
There are too many people that come on here and write only about what can go wrong with the Mets but not what they are doing right. Listen as a Mets fan I understand why they think that way, but they should be looking at what this team can do.
Last year the pen blew 29 leeds for the them after the 8th inning. The pen also blew a bunch of other games before the 8th inning. We have one of if not the best pen in the game now as well as a healthy Castillo, Church and Maine. We also have another year getting better with Pelfrey, Murphy, Ollie, Reyes and Wright. Delgado seems to have turned himself around and all that protection will bring Beltrans numbers up.
Than you can take a look at Philly. There is no way Lidge will be perfect again this year so theres a few loses they didn’t have last year. Romero is there best RP and he’s out the first 50 games so theres a few more loses. There offense had one major problem last year and that was too many left handed hitters. So what do they do, they get rid of there best righty(Burrell) and bring in Ibanez……another lefty.
Just break it all down. You never know what will happen once the season starts(injuires, bad years for players, breakout seasons, etc.) but what everyone should know is that on paper we are the class of the east and possibly the national league.
2006 all over again!!!
LGM!!
I’ve been saying this for a while. It’s realistic to make a case for improvement at most spots in the roster, and very few have any real expectation to do much worse.
Plenty could stay status quo, but just the bullpen changes could bump us if that’s the case. I’m happy with this team. My biggest complaint is the way Manuel runs things, and since he has very little real effect if things are working well, I’m not that concerned.
Maine should be fine now that he had the surgery. Plus Pelfrey made some huge steps forward last year and should be just as good if not better this year.
Or not. Coming off surgery is a tricky situation and Pelfrey can go either way.
The corner OF spots. Lets start with Church. He was playing awesome last year until he got hurt and if he didn’t go down we might have made the playoffs.
oh, really? According to most here the ONLY reason the team didn’t make the playoffs was the bullpen.
His bat could have made up the 3 games that we lost the division by or at least the 1 game that we missed the wild card by.
Then, is it fair to say that if Wright didn’t choked at the Murphy game, we might have made the playoffs?
The Mets may not have gone out and got Manny, Sabathia or traded for Holliday but they did make some real key moves to improve what was already a very good team.
The only key move was the bullpen move. Other than that, they came up short.
amazin, someone with some common sense. What moves to our everyday lineup or starting rotation were made this offseason? Livan Hernandez. That is it, he is the only person different in our rotation and batting order. I mean geez other than alex cora the bench wasnt even improved? reed? great he is basically a white endy chavez so no improvement there either. Yes the pen is significantly upgraded no one can argue that, but lets not go nuts. Omar once again could not put together a complete offseason.
amazin doesn’t have any sense….
You are dramatically undervaluing what Omar did with the pen….he got KRod, who has had a half a dozen great years in a row, is young, is an elite closer, and just set the saves record.
He ALSO got JJ, who other than part of last year when he was hurt, has been improving every year of his career and in 2007 had the best year that just about any active closer in the game has ever had. And this guy will be our setup man.
This pen is going to be like the 96 Yanks with Mariano setting up for Wetteland.
Our team was very solid last year, and Livan should be the perfect reliable 5th starter for this team.
Manny or CC would have been nice, sure, but they would not have made the difference KRod and JJ will for this team, all things considered.
And if we do well this year, and the pen leads the way, Omar will be executive of the year for correctly identifying this team’s weak spot and doing an unbelievable job of fixing it.
And yes, mrb*ll/core/amazing/whatever, I know Wright sux and he couldn’t drive in Murphy in the Cub game. I get it.
I’m not undervaluing the bullpen, I said it was DRASTICALLY upgraded. Yes that will help us immensely however the offense is suspect and the rotation is a total crap shoot. Here’s is to hoping Omar Minaya remembering you are allowed to make trades during the year if you sense the team has a need.
Am I the only one who actually liked the 2006 season? That was a great year and I would be satisified if the Mets had the exact same year this year.
I’m not a Yankee Fan, I can handle not winning the World Series every year :)
’06 was a great season. everything looked easy through out the season. one just wished there was a better ending.
i thoroughly enjoyed that season.
However as the wins piled up with ease, the expectations rose proportionately. They breezed thru the Dodgers and look unstoppable.
Losing, when expectations are high, always hurt but its part of being a fan of any sport
Its the way we lost that series – dominated by journeymen, heilman’s HR to yadier and the beltran K (on one of the nastiest pitches I have ever seen).
It was a stomach punch and an abrupt end really fun few months.
the 2007 collapse, 2008 dissapointment and our chief rival winning the WS – have since follwed that heartbraking loss to the Cards.
People won’t rember the fun of the 06 season – just how it ended on a negative note. Its human nature to think this way
It stinks but things have a way of coming around and we’re due for some success
I was at that game and it was brutal!
However, I still think that season was a lot of fun. Pedro’s 300 K game in April was really good.
wait, that was in 07…. haaa
SI reporting that Wright maybe suspended 50 games with Positive result on Steroid test
This is a terrible news…
And a weak attempt at April Fool’s humor!!
:-)
there is nothing on SI.com about this. Where are you getting this info?
Today is April 1…….
hook, line and sinker……you got me!!! LOL
Man.. you are no fun..
LOL..sorry Kistics…I guess I should have let it hang out there…I was just imagining the FiyaMinaya posts, and mrb*ll signing up with another name, coming on here and bashing Omar and the organization, and all the whining that would come from the Nattering Nabobs of Negativity…..I guess it would have been entertaining to read….sorry man!
lol.. i didn’t think anyone would bite anyways.. but yeah it would have been fun…
maybe i should have used someone else..
Not funny !
It’s too early for me to start popping the Rolaids, Sir….
lame attempt. plus, nobody would believe wright could be on steroids. He’s not THAT good.
“plus, nobody would believe wright could be on steroids. He’s not THAT good.”
Now thats what i call a lame attempt
Hey! Wright is THAT good. He doesn’t have the HR numbers but he can drive in a lot
Ha ha ha, it happens every time.
amazinmets, based on his few posts, is probably mrb*ll back yet again, or another similarly desperate-for-attention type negative troll…..
I still can’t bring myself to watch that final out again. More power to them.
Off topic, but has anyone been in the Promenade Reserve Infield at Citi Field yet and can offer their opinion?
Other than the 2007 ALCS, that NLCS was the last good post-season series.
you didn’t enjoy the ’08 ACLS that went to game 7 and had the sox down 3-1 in the series and make an amazing comeback in game 5?
I forgot that one went to 7 games.
I’ll revise my statement: The 2006 NLCS was the last good post-season series the NL has participated in.
The 2006 NLCS is still one of the greatest postseason series I’ve ever seen. It was one of those where every INNING was a desperate fight that went back and forth. I would almost go far enough to call that series epic.
That being said, this team has waaaay too many ?s to be able to even HOPE for a 2006 type performance. If we’re even competitive in Aug-Sept we’ll be fighting tooth and nail down to the wire. Just based on where the chips may fall with our question mark guys, we could be a 95 win team or an 85 win team.
The same could be said about 2006. That season, Beltran was coming off the worst season of his career, so he was a question mark. Reyes was coming off his first full season which wasn’t that good (27 walks, .273 average), the bullpen had 1 guy coming off an injury (Bradford), and another guy who was a journeyman with a high ERA and barely made the opening day roster (Darren Oliver). In addition, Victor Zambrano and Steve Trachsel were in the starting rotation.
we could be a 95 win team or an 85 win team.
I would say 85-90 based on the team status right now.
I remember before to 2006 season started making a drunken $50 bet with a friend in Atlanta that the Mets would win the division by more than 5 games.
I think I’ll make the same bet this year.
I think the bigger story here is NOT Reyes watching the game BUT Reyes sitting in silence at his locker.. now that’s amazing.
I was in college in Hawaii during the second half of the ’06 season. I can remember skipping a politics class and watching Game 7 during the middle of the day out there (Hawaii is like 6 hours behind) It must have been like 3PM lol.
But for some reason I feel like I’ll always remember that Ryan Church fly out to Maybin to close out ’08 as the worst final out.
I’m positive ’09 will end with K-Rod getting mobbed after getting that strike out to win the WS at Citi
I was in college in Hawaii during the second half of the ‘06 season. I can remember skipping a politics cla ss and watching Game 7 during the middle of the day out there (Hawaii is like 6 hours behind) It must have been like 3PM lol.
But for some reason I feel like I’ll always remember that Ryan Church fly out to Maybin to close out ‘08 as the worst final out.
I’m positive ‘09 will end with K-Rod getting mobbed after getting that strike out to win the WS at Citi
I must respectfully submit Piazza’s fly out to end the 2000 WS as a really rancid final out…that one left me feeling far worse than the last two years even….although the strikeout in the 2006 LCS was definitely up there too….
And I love the last line of your post….that will be something indeed!
that flyout was killer, because it looked for a second like it could go.
Beltran’s K was like having the rug yanked out, because it happens so fast. I watched it yesterday, and it was still like “what?!” Three pitches, bam, bam, bam.
I was at game 5 of the WS in 2000 and have seen that final out on replay as well…That was the worst for me even Piazza thought he got it. That was just awful bc in about 1/2 second I went from excited to complete disgust.
Yes, that was my reaction…..for a split second I thought the game was tied and we had life, and then it was over. What an empty and horrible feeling, after that great year and two very satisfying playoff series wins.
That is the worst Mets game I’ve ever been to in my entire life. I will never forget it.
Has Beltran swung at that pitch yet?
He’s standing in the new parking lot…bat still on his shoulder. God i shouldn’t even joke about that.
Maybe every time there is a WBC the Mets will win the division, and have a good chance to make it to the WS…i call it the WBC conspiracy theory.
Do you think this time someone noticed how Wainwright started every batter in the 9th with the same exact pitch in the same exact location? And that maybe the next time something like that happens, someone should look for it and perhaps swing at it?
Nah, me neither.
I heard Beltran was in the clubhouse while Reyes was watching the game… when the final out came on, he pretented he wasn’t watching but of course he got caught looking…
Ba dum pum TSHHHH!
Sorry, Beltran, I HAD to!