He’s needed to be that good, too, given the less-than-overwhelming credentials of Mets pitchers not named Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine. But this 2006 Mets team is built in a mold that your grandfather and father wouldn’t recognize.

The first Mets championship team of 1969 was the team of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Tug McGraw. The second, in 1986, had a better brand of hitter — Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry and Gary Carter in the heart of the order — but it was carried by one of the best ever pitching staffs that included Doc Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez and Bobby Ojeda and was backed up by Jesse Orosco.

This Mets team is an anomaly for the franchise, being built on hitting before pitching. The top of the order — Jose Reyes, through Paul LoDuca, Beltran, Carlos Delgado and David Wright — is as tough a top five as you’ll find. And Beltran hits in the three-hole — the slot reserved for a team’s best hitter from the dawn of time.

It’s really one of those great stories we keep saying we don’t get that often. Beltran came in last year as a free agent from Houston for $119 million over seven years — an average of $17 million per, which would be an impressive salary even on the Yankees.

Carrying the weight of both his own and the fans’ expectations, the kindest thing you can say about Beltran in 2005 is that he stunk. The highlight of his season was a big hit, but it was on fellow outfielder Mike Cameron while chasing a fly ball, not at the plate winning a ballgame.

From 38 homers in 2004, Beltran fell to 16 last year. After four straight years of at least 100 RBIs and 100 runs, he drove in just 78 and scored 83. His slugging percentage plummeted to .414.

Instead of a savior, he became Shea Stadium’s answer to Alex Rodriguez, the high-salaried, ultra-hyped star everybody loved to boo. There was some question whether he would ever be the player he had been the previous four seasons in Kansas City and Houston.

This year, the Mets brought in slugging first baseman Delgado to hit behind Beltran and high-average catcher LoDuca to hit ahead of him. But when he started this season on an 0-for-9 tear, it looked as if it was going to be more of the same.

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Then Beltran belted a big homer, got shoved out of the dugout for a curtain call, and basically hasn’t looked back.

He has become not only what the Mets thought they were getting but even more. He’s a superior center fielder with speed and a great arm, a gamer who will crash into walls to make plays, and one of the most dangerous hitters in either league.

Beltran won’t win the MVP. The Mets have cruised too easily to the division crown and Philly’s Howard and St. Louis’ Pujols have put up even better numbers than has Beltran. But the best hitter the Mets have ever had is in the MVP discussion, and if he finishes lower than third, there ought to be another congressional investigation, but this time without the witty repartee of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. He’s not the only reason the Mets have played as well as they have. But he’s a big part of it.

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