Carlos Delgado avoids the curtain call; Carlos Beltran avoids the sack

Nelson Figueroa outpitches John Smoltz, Carlos Delgado hits two home runs, one off the scoreboard, and the Mets take two of three from the Braves. So it’s not the day to complain about anything, especially Delgado’s decision not to take a curtain call. Instead, I want to celebrate Ryan Church’s great catch, not just for Church’s effort, but Carlos Beltran’s quarterback-like slide to avoid colliding with Church as he and Mike Cameron did three years ago. (Beltran ended up sliding into Church’s ankle, but Church appeared to be OK after the game.) Imagine if Moises Alou had been going after the ball instead of Beltran. The slide never would have happened for two reasons. First, Alou wouldn’t have gotten near the ball. Second, if he somehow did, Alou wouldn’t have bothered to slide because he’d figure that, whatever he did, he would get hurt. This is someone who, while recovering from a hernia, has managed to injure and possibly fracture his ... [link]