your thoughts?

Date:   9/26/2006 5:37:56 PM ( 18 y ago)

For the first time since they met in 2000. there sia chance that major league baseball may see a subway series and we are getting excited about that.

more on this later


More than 14 years since they first shook hands as Minor League teammates in a Spring Training camp in Dunedin, Fla., Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green find themselves in adjoining lockers in the Mets' clubhouse at Shea Stadium.
They formed a bond growing up together in a Blue Jays organization that was fresh off two consecutive championships, and the pair now may be on a path that could take them to a World Series.

Delgado and Green were September callups with the Blue Jays in 1993 and got a taste of what playing for a title is all about, but neither was on the World Series roster. Except for Green's appearance in the 2004 Division Series with the Dodgers, postseason play has been elusive for the long-time friends who were rejoined Aug. 22 when the Mets acquired Green in a trade from the Diamondbacks.

Not surprisingly, Mets general manager Omar Minaya consulted with Delgado during the trade talks for Green, who had a no-trade clause, but was willing to wave it for a chance to play meaningful games in October.

"They asked me what kind of guy he was," Delgado said. "I told them he was a good guy, a very solid individual, a good player. I couldn't lie about that. I wanted to, but I couldn't. Right now, I'm in the process of putting him up for a couple of nights. He's crashing, but it's OK."

Such ribbing is part of the friendship between this somewhat odd couple. They were born within six months of each other in 1972, but grew up in vastly different surroundings. Delgado is from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, where he continues to live in the offseason. Green was born in Illinois, but moved with his family as a child to Southern California and makes his home now in Irvine. Delgado came from a Latin culture and Green a Jewish culture. Other than that, they're very much alike.

"I think we kind of matched well together," Green said. "I mean, he's like a big brother to me. I've learned a lot from him, a lot about how to play the game, watching him and talking to him. Off the field, we have similar interests. We're both into computer stuff. We're not real big partiers. As young players, we really took our jobs seriously and liked to hang out and go to movies or do dinner."

Delgado, who was signed by the Blue Jays as a free agent when he was 17, was in the organization for three years before he met Green, who declined a scholarship at Stanford when Toronto made him its first-round pick and 16th choice overall in the 1991 First-Year Player Draft. Their first season together was in 1992 at Class A Dunedin where Delgado, who had moved from catcher to the outfield, had a breakout season, batting .324 with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs.

They moved on to Double-A Knoxville in 1993 and got a taste of big-league life that September. Each divided time between Triple-A Syracuse and the Blue Jays in 1994 before sticking with Toronto for good in 1995, by which time Delgado has moved to first base, his current position. Delgado and Green were slugging partners for the Blue Jays through the 1999 season, and their friendship did not end when Toronto traded Green to the Dodgers on Nov. 8, 1999 for outfielder Raul Mondesi and pitcher Pedro Borbon, Jr.

"We maintained contact," Green said. "We'd talk to each other once a week or so. We had spent a lot of time together off the field. We made a couple of offseason trips, one a baseball trip to Japan and another to Europe. We traveled to Costa Rica one offseason. He attended charity functions for me in California and I for him in Puerto Rico. Nothing really changed between us."

Each was in the other's wedding party. Green displayed some nifty salsa steps when Delgado married Betzaida Garcia. When Shawn and Lindsay Green got married, Delgado had a problem keeping the yarmulke, a traditional Jewish head covering, on his shaved dome.

"We had to use two-sided tape to keep it on," Green recalled.

They went separate ways again last year, Green to the Diamondbacks in a trade and Delgado to the Marlins as a free agent. The Mets had courted Delgado, and Minaya kept after him until convincing him to accept a trade Nov. 24, 2005 for first baseman Mike Jacobs, Minor League pitcher Yusmeiro Petit and Minor League infielder Grant Psomas.

Since Aug. 22, the relationship between Delgado and Green is no longer long distance. Green had little problem feeling at home, since besides Delgado, the Mets had five other former teammates for Green to rejoin with.

"That was a big part of it," Green said about accepting the trade. "And not just Carlos. But having Paul Lo Duca and some other guys I played with in L.A., Guillermo Mota and Duaner Sanchez. Chris Woodward I knew from back in Toronto, and I played with Kelly Stinnett in Arizona. I heard great things talking to them about the experience here. At this stage of my career, it's a no-brainer to come here and be a part of this. After all that time coming up through the Toronto system and the first five years in the Major Leagues, to get a chance potentially to win a World Series, if there is one guy in the game I can say I want to experience it with, it would be Carlos."

"Our friendship goes beyond baseball," Delgado said. "There's a saying in baseball that after Oct. 1, you get to pick your own friends, but in our case, we have developed a good relationship. I was happy for him. I was happy for the club because I knew we were getting a good player who could help us win. This has been a very fun summer, but I think the best is yet to come, and I'm really looking forward to the playoffs."






 

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