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Delgado is HR king for Puerto-Rican born players

BY DAVID LENNON | david.lennon@newsday.com

May 6, 2008

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LOS ANGELES - Carlos Delgado recently drew plenty of unwelcome attention when he refused to answer a curtain call from the Shea Stadium fans during his two-homer afternoon. But the Mets' first baseman was thrilled to be contacted by the media from his native Puerto Rico after he became that island nation's home run king with Saturday's blast off Arizona's Brandon Webb.

"It's a big thing at home with all the baseball tradition over the years," Delgado said before last night's game against the Dodgers. "Being in that company, it is definitely quite an honor. The reporters at home keep track of all those things."

Delgado swatted No. 435 to move past Juan Gonzalez on the all-time list for Puerto Rican-born players, but few here in the States seemed to take notice. Even Carlos Beltran, who also is Puerto Rican and one of Delgado's closest friends, didn't know what he had done until he told him at dinner that night.

"It's a great, great accomplishment," said Beltran, who has 238 homers. "With all of the great players that have come from Puerto Rico, I know it means a lot to him. But I believe his goal is 500. That's a lot."

When asked about joining the 500 club, Delgado smiled, which is something that hasn't happened very often during what has been a turbulent season for him. Only 23 players have reached that milestone, with Manny Ramirez (496) and Gary Sheffield (482) hoping to be the next two. Next on that active list is Delgado, who is 36th overall and three away from tying Andre Dawson.

Delgado's future appeared to be very much in doubt in early March when he was diagnosed with a right hip impingement, a condition that is believed to be a precursor to arthritis.

But now that he's showing signs of life at the plate, with three homers in the past seven games, Delgado has allowed himself to look a little farther down the road.

He hit 24 home runs last year, the lowest single-season total of his career. The last time he had hit fewer than 30 was 1995, when he had 25. Still, he can't take his eyes off 500.

"That's a nice number, and people at home are kind of expecting that," Delgado said. "It would be nice to get it. If I can stay healthy, that's something that could be attainable. I've got a couple more years. But if you do things right, you're going to get there."

At this point, it's very doubtful that Delgado will reach his goal in a Mets uniform. He's in the final season of his four-year, $52-million contract, and there's zero chance that his $16-million option for 2009 will be picked up. The Mets will have to fork over a $4-million buyout to Delgado, who very likely would return to the American League, where he could DH.

When pressed on how much longer he plans to play, Delgado wouldn't give an exact number. He turns 36 next month, and the only thing for certain is that he has no plans to call it a career after this season despite his bumpy start.

"I'd like to play a couple more years," Delgado said. "I don't want to say two or three, because people are going to hold you to that." The Mets, meanwhile, will be satisfied if they can squeeze one more productive season from Delgado.

His ego took another hit last month when manager Willie Randolph dropped him to sixth in the lineup - even before the return of Moises Alou - and he still was batting only .213 heading into last night's game.

But there also is the possibility that Delgado could be on the rebound. Beginning with the two-homer game April 27, he has gone 7-for-22 to raise his average from .186. Nothing to be proud of but an improvement nonetheless, and Delgado seems encouraged by the marginal progress.

"I wish it didn't take this long, but I'm seeing the ball pretty good at the plate," Delgado said.

As for the Mets, they seem to be keeping their fingers crossed, and Randolph has avoided dropping Delgado any lower in the order by keeping Ryan Church in the No. 2 spot.

"There's no way I'm going to start to overreact to what's really a decent start," Randolph said. "Any time your core guys are not playing at a certain pitch, everything is so over-dramatized.

"I look at it that he's going to start to heat up. I'm confident that if Carlos stays within himself, he's going to have a decent year. What that means, I don't know. As long as we win, that means he's had a good year."

Tonight

Mets at Dodgers

10:10 p.m.

TV: SNY

Radio: WFAN (660)