Re: 5tp's "potential hall of famer" thread. Today's HOF candidate: Carlos DelGado
Newsday.com
Delgado has become one of Mets' reliable leaders
BY BARBARA BARKER
barbara.barker@newsday.com
August 22, 2008
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Carlos Delgado is running the show out there. So says manager Jerry Manuel, a guy who along with just about everyone else in the Mets organization wasn't terribly impressed with the way the first baseman was carrying himself earlier in the season.
Delgado helped power the Mets to their ninth win in their last 10 when his ninth-inning single off the glove of Braves leftfielder Omar Infante scored David Wright with the winning run in their 5-4 victory last night.
It was Delgado's fifth hit of the game, marking just the second time in his career that he has gotten five hits.
Delgado had three RBIs and has driven in 49 runs in his last 48 games.
But it is not just Delgado's prowess at the plate that has made Manuel into a believer. It's the way he's interacting with his teammates.
"I think what he has done is really invested in the team," Manuel said after the game, which increased the Mets' lead over the Phillies to 2 1/2 games. "He's the head guy, so the investment he has made in his teammates says a lot about the leadership."
It was clear that Delgado felt nothing but confidence when he walked to the plate with one out and David Wright on second.
"I felt pretty good today," Delgado said. "I felt good and I was seeing the ball good."
Manuel says that he can see the change in his first baseman when his team is in the field.
"He's the guy going to the mound, settling the pitcher, talking to the catcher," Manuel said. "He's really invested not only offensively, but in running things out there. You see David Wright out there doing the same thing. Hopefully it's contagious."
Earlier in the year, the Mets were a talented, underperforming team of individuals who all seemed a little too worried about themselves. Maybe no one personified that more than Delgado, who began July with a .228 average and had been dropped as low as seventh in the lineup.
The only sure thing about Delgado at that time was that the Mets probably weren't planning on picking up the $12-million option on his contract for next season. Now, he's hitting .321 since July 1 and has won the confidence of his manager.
Said Manuel: "He's a very important guy down the stretch for us."
Copyright ? 2008,
Newsday Inc.
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