Carlos Beltran: The Reason I'll Be Rooting For The Cardinals In The World Series

As we've reached the World Series, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm about sick of seeing the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants playing in the late October series... But that's another topic for another day.

Normally, the World Series rolls around and I'm a fan of the Mets, so naturally I'd like to see the NL win, but when it's the St. Louis Cardinals, no way. I'm an AL guy then. But not this year, and there's one reason I'll be hoping the Cardinals win, and that's Carlos Beltran.

After this team clinched their spot, you heard the next day all about how this team wanted to get Carlos Beltran that championship he deserves. And he does. He absolutely does.

Carlos Beltran is one of my all-time favorite players. He's by far one of the best Mets to wear the uniform, second to Darryl Strawberry of course. When he signed that big contract, every Mets game I went to, I couldn't wait to see Carlos Beltran in the middle of that lineup behind Jose Reyes, next to David Wright because he was a lot of fun to watch. The funny thing about it is he's still got about 60% of Mets fans who can't get over that one, wicked as all hell, curveball from an unknown commodity in Adam Wainwright in 2006.

The fact is, Beltran was tremendous in New York. He gets a bad rap for the injuries and the struggle in the first year of that huge contract, compiled with the horrible collision in the outfield with Mike Cameron. But when you set aside those things, his Mets numbers are up there with all-time Mets. And yet Carlos Beltran can't get past that one pitch he took for strike three.

The man is championship caliber player. He makes every team he plays on better. And a championship for him, would emphasize that more. Now Mets fans probably don't want to see him get it with the Cardinals, and to be fair, it certainly would add insult to injury. I can't hide it, it kills me seeing him helping that team, but at the same time, I'm rooting for Carlos Beltran because of the player that meant so much to the Mets, and also for Carlos Beltran the man, humanitarian, and teammate.

I'm rooting for Carlos Beltran for a lot of reasons. Like I said, he's always been one of my favorite players, with the Mets, away from the Mets, wherever. When he went to St. Louis, I knew he would be healthy, he would be successful, and I knew the Cards were signing a champion in the making. But he was so close to getting the Mets to the promised land, it's bittersweet to see him getting this opportunity.

It's funny, the arrogance of Cardinals fans sometimes cracks me up. I like to think I'm a pretty humble person, and I can think straight and somewhat unbiased, but living in Cardinal nation, it's difficult because all I heard in 2012 was about Carlos Beltran being the outcast of the Mets... I bet you (being me, of course) hate seeing him in St. Louis... We got the Mets old garbage... He's better off with us.... bla bla bla. And all I could think was, yea, you wish I hated Carlos Beltran because you won't have half the player we had.

Here's the deal. The Cardinals are getting a half complete Carlos Beltran. The Mets, Astros and Royals had the best years of this man's baseball life. The Cardinals are just coming in for sloppy seconds. (Still, pretty high standard for sloppy seconds you know)

How can you say that? His batting average is the same... He'd be on pace to match his stolen bases in New York... He's already played more games in his first two years here than he did in his first two in New York... again, bla bla bla bla... Arrogant Cardinal fans.

Carlos Beltran hit .280 in his Mets career. He is probably the last true five tool player the game has seen, and he spent about half his prime in New York. He hit almost 150 homers in seven seasons. His worst batting average was .255 in 2010, when he only played in 64 games, that's a third of the season.

Carlos Beltran in his first World Series appearance, is 36 years old. Think about that for minute. If you think a 36-year old athlete, who is breaking down by the year could duplicate what he did in his late 20s and early 30s, you are delusional.

But we don't have to worry about that, because it's almost a guarantee Carlos Beltran will leave "Baseball Heaven" after the World Series is over, likely get another $30-million dollar, two or three year contract offer, and finish out his playing career somewhere.

On a side note, how fitting would it be if he did that with the franchise that originally drafted him and carried them to a World Series.

But what's lost in all this discussion, is yes you have the half seasons towards the end of what is now a very favorable contract but at the time it was a crazy contact, 7 years for $119 million. And yes you have the strike out in game seven of the NLCS in '06, and yes you have two years of collapses in the final week to miss the playoffs in '07 and '08, but look at his numbers and tell me, if the Mets didn't have him, they woulda been better off. The fact Mets fans still think this guy was a horrible signing shows just how off this fan base really is.

Here are how the top three seasons for Beltran in New York shake out (per Baseball Reference)

2006 - .275 AVG, 41 home runs, 116 RBIs, 18 SB, .982 OPS (140 games)
2007 - .276 AVG, 33 home runs, 112 RBIs, 23 SB, .878 OPS (144 games)
2008 - .284 AVG, 27 home runs, 112 RBIs, 25 SB, .876 OPS (161 games)

Yea, Carlos Beltran was just a bust and did nothing for this franchise. The numbers speak for themselves, but I just can't get over that argument. He also had a couple huge hits in the final day of the season in 2008 when the Mets lost on their hold for the Wild Card and missed the playoffs.

But again, the Mets should have never signed Beltran.

Take that and sell it somewhere else. Beltran was one of the greatest Mets to wear the uniform and grace the field. He's half the player he was, but he can still play, and he's getting it done in St. Louis.

Now for his off the field stuff. Not only is he a great baseball player, he's a tremendous person off the field.

In every community he's played in, Beltran has always gone out of his way to give back to sick children, less fortunate families in run-down neighborhoods, and in 2011 he opened his Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy.

A quote from a June 11, Danny Knobler article on CBSSports.com says "the idea for the academy is similar to the one John Young had when he started baseball's Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program: use baseball to get kids to value education, and along the way help develop young players".

In a USA Today article from May, Beltran is quoted as saying "I believe in education so much, wanting kids to understand how important it is in their lives. If you can play sports and make a living out of it, great. But it still doesn't replace education. That's in my heart. It will always be in my heart. Your baseball skills go away. Your education will stay with you forever."

That's awesome! And that's just the start of all the things this guy does.

It's unbelievable to me that the man has yet to be recognized with the Roberto Clemente Award. It's the award given to the player that stands out off the field with the work they do for others. But I have to say, some very deserving people have won the award, including Clayton Kershaw.

Side note again, Kershaw is doing incredibly things for kids in Africa with his wife. If you have time, I recommend you find some reading material on that. Kershaw is a great guy, and his off the field stuff is a big reason he's one of my favorite players.

So as the World Series opens in Boston on Wednesday night, I will be loathing the fact the Cardinals are again in the World Series, and the Mayor of Boston thinks these teams are playing for the "World Series Cup", I will be rooting on a man I modeled my hitting (comments not accepted from my friends I played baseball with), fielding, and playing baseball after. I'll be rooting on a guy that knows his platform is an opportunity to help others rather than glorify himself.

It's funny. Yankee stadium was "The House that Ruth Built". Lucas Oil is "The House Peyton Built". But the way the Mets were going when they started designing and building Citi Field, you could almost make the case, "It's the House Carlos Built"... only to see them deal him that summer.

At any rate, I'll be rooting for a Carlos Beltran more than the Cardinals. But because his success is reliant on their success, I guess that equals I'll be rooting for the Cardinals the next week to ten days.

Mets and Cardinals fans alike will enjoy this exchange of two guys in New York I listen to talk about the Cardinals and Carlos Beltran.