The 2006 Mets played 162 games and finished with a 97–65 record. The Mets dominated the East before a heartbreaking Game 7 loss in the NLCS.
They made October, which tells you more than the regular-season record does.
How 2006 actually went.
01The Mets took first place in April and never gave it back. Reyes created pressure from the first pitch, Wright drove in runs, Beltrán tied the club home-run record, and Carlos Delgado added the left-handed power the lineup had needed. The club won 97 games and ended Atlanta’s run of 14 straight division titles.
02The concern was the rotation. Pedro Martínez broke down, and Orlando Hernández was injured just before the postseason. The Mets swept Los Angeles anyway, then fought St. Louis through seven tense NLCS games. Endy Chávez’s leaping catch and double play in Game 7 felt like the moment that would send Shea to the World Series.
03Yadier Molina’s ninth-inning homer changed the game, and Adam Wainwright’s curve froze Beltrán with the bases loaded for the final out. That pitch became too much of the season’s identity. The ending was cruel, but the 2006 Mets were excellent, young, fast, and powerful for six months. They looked like the beginning of a long run, which made the next two endings even harder.
The curveball still hurts, but it should not be allowed to erase six months of the best team in the league.
The part you rememberWhy 2006 still matters.
For most of 2006, the Mets looked like the beginning of a new National League power. José Reyes flew around the bases, David Wright became a superstar, Carlos Beltrán put together an MVP-level season, and Carlos Delgado gave the lineup the dangerous left-handed bat it had been missing. They won 97 games, buried Atlanta’s long division-title streak, and made Shea feel young again.
The trouble arrived just before October. Pedro Martínez was unavailable and Orlando Hernández was injured on the eve of the playoffs, leaving the rotation much thinner than it had been all year. The Mets still swept Los Angeles and pushed St. Louis to the ninth inning of NLCS Game 7. Endy Chávez’s catch briefly felt like the play that would carry them to the World Series.
Instead, Yadier Molina homered in the ninth, Adam Wainwright’s curveball froze Beltrán with the bases loaded, and a 97-win season ended one swing short. That final pitch has swallowed too much of the memory. The 2006 Mets were fast, powerful, fun, and excellent for six months. The heartbreak is part of their story, but it should not be the entire story.
One curveball ended the season, but it cannot erase how alive Shea felt from April through October.
The moment everybody remembersThe Mets dominated the East before a heartbreaking Game 7 loss in the NLCS.
Where it turnedCarlos Beltrán, José Reyes, and David Wright became the center of a team that spent almost the entire season in first place.
How it endedThe Mets swept Los Angeles in the Division Series, then lost a dramatic Game 7 of the NLCS to St. Louis.
Where it fitsWright, Reyes, and Beltran
Wright, Reyes, Beltrán, and a loaded roster made Shea feel young again. Then a collapse, injuries, and one brutal curveball kept the era from getting a pennant.
Better or worse?The Mets won 14 more games than they did in 2005.
Then came...In 2007, the Mets finished 88–74. A seven-game division lead with 17 to play disappeared in a historic collapse. Go to 2007 →
