For an entire generation of Mets fans, the 2006 team represented their first palpable taste of what it must have been like to be a fan in 1986. Despite two relatively recent playoff appearances, including a trip to the World Series six years earlier, the Mets of the late 90s had always felt insurgent; upstarts who were there through pure perseverance and grit. But the ‘06 team felt like a team of destiny.
The “New Mets,” which began in the winter of 2004 when Carlos Beltran signed a seven year deal with the club and branded them with their moniker during his introductory press conference, were a team that was carefully assembled from the free agent ranks, built around a duo of home-grown talents.