Carlos Beltran signed with the Yankees rather than the Diamondbacks or Royals because he believed the big city and the short right-field porch might enrich his Hall of Fame candidacy.
Instead, Beltran is in peril of putting himself in a more unusual category than those who reach Cooperstown — an enemy of both New York fan bases.
Now, I always have been a Beltran defender. I could never understand the Mets fans’ irrational distaste for the switch hitter. The overreaction to him taking a called third strike against Adam Wainwright in NLCS Game 7 in 2006 has been misplaced.