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Top 10: Mets best defensive plays (Part 2)

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Endy Chavez's catch has no match in Mets history.This is the sixth in a series of blog posts ranking the bests in New York Mets history.

Though we covered the best defensive players in Mets history, we never got around to ranking the best plays. That's what Tuesday and Wednesay are for.

If you want to see the rest of the top 10 series (topics: home runs, pitching performances, defensive players, fastest Mets, singles) and trades click here.

On with the top five.

5 -- David Wright's barehanded snag, Aug. 9, 2005

The signature defensive play of the Mets captain's career came in the seventh inning of an otherwise uneventful 8-3 loss to the San Diego Padres.

Brian Giles hit a broken-bat flair to shallow left. Wright sprinted back about six steps then reached out with his right hand and somehow caught the ball while falling over.

Even the Padres fans gave Wright a standing ovation for the miraculous grab.

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Mike Baxter's catch left a lasting memory for Mets fans."That is the best catch I have seen since I've been playing baseball," Mike Cameron, Wright’s then-teammate and Gold Glove outfielder, told reporters after the game.

Though the play didn’t have any impact on the game, Wright may have been buoyed by its occurrence. The next day he tied a career high with six RBIs in a 9-1 Mets’ win.

4 -- Mike Baxter saves a no-hitter, June 1, 2012

Baxter grew up a Mets fan, so he certainly grasped the significance of being in the game with Johan Santana bidding for a no-hitter.

That he got to play an integral role was all the better.

Baxter made a no-hitter saving catch on Yadier Molina's fly ball to left in the seventh inning, then crashed into the fence, breaking his collarbone in the process.

Baxter got a huge ovation as he came off the field, but didn't have the chance to get another one for a couple of months (his next at-bat at Citi Field wasn't until Aug. 8), by which point many fans (at least those in the stands for the Marlins-Mets game that night) didn't fully appreciate the significance of his return.

But that June night, Baxter fully appreciated the significance of his play.

"It's an honor to be able to make a play for Johan, but ultimately, it's his night," Baxter said after the game. "It is a huge night for the Mets. We have been waiting a long time for a no-hitter."

3 -- Ron Swoboda takes a chance, Oct. 15, 1969

Swoboda forever endeared himself to Mets fans with his catch in Game 4 of the World Series.

The Mets were leading 1-0 at the time, and Swoboda took a risk with runners on first and third and one out.

He could have taken a conservative approach and played Brooks Robinson's liner to right field on a hop and conceded a base hit to avoid a potential mistake.

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Ron Swoboda practically knocked himself out with this amazing play.But Swoboda played it bold (this was the 1969 Mets, so there was no other way) and dove full-out, making a catch inches from the ball hitting the ground. Though a run scored, the Mets got an all-important second out. They would hang in until the bottom of the 10th inning when they won on a throwing error on J.C. Martin's bunt.

I've heard many Mets fans say that the degree of difficulty on this catch is under-appreciated. Not by us. It's a tough play.

It's deserving of its spot as the No. 3 defensive play in Mets history.

2 -- Tommie Agee's amazing day, Oct. 14, 1969

Arguably the best day by a Mets player in the 53-year history of the franchise was this one by center fielder Agee in Game 3 of the 1969 World Series.

Agee led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run that looked like it cleared the center-field fence by a good 20 feet against future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer to put the Mets ahead, 1-0.

The Mets extended the lead to 3-0 by the fourth inning, in which the Orioles threatened with runners on first and third and two out. Elrod Hendricks hit a fly ball into the left-center field gap. Agee, who was playing well toward right-center, sprinted all the way into the opposite gap and made a snow-cone catch, right by the 396-foot sign at the fence (I counted that it took him 16 strides to catch up to the ball).

By the seventh inning, the Mets were up 4-0, but the Orioles loaded the bases on three walks and had Paul Blair at bat with two outs.

Blair did what Hendricks did. He hit a fly ball to the opposite field that looked like it would be a sure double, considering Agee was playing in left-center.

This one required a dive after about a dozen strides and Agee made the catch by the warning track, the ball about knee high.

The Mets won 5-0. And though Gary Gentry got the win and Nolan Ryan got the save, both really belonged to Agee, who saved five runs with his glove.

1 -- Endy Chavez's catch, Oct. 19, 2006

Bringing up this play is always a bittersweet thing for me, as I imagine it is for many who follow the team.

It is the best catch I've seen, when you combine the difficulty of the play, the athleticism of the athlete and the significance of the moment. I was in the ballpark that night and can still remember to this day how loud Shea Stadium got, and the reactions of those around me.

The best part about it was the feeling that I imagine was similar to how those felt when the ground ball rolled through Bill Buckner's legs 20 years earlier, a sense of "They're gonna win. It's meant to be."

That feeling was extinguished a couple of hours later, done in by a heck of a nasty curveball from Adam Wainwright. That buzz hasn't been back in the Mets' home ballpark since then.

The passage of time makes you appreciate a moment like that one all the more.