Photo: Brooklyn Cyclones
Jose Reyes returned to New York baseball Sunday afternoon as he started his minor league tuneup with the Brooklyn Cyclones. Mets fans packed a sold-out MCU Park to get a glimpse of the player they once adored watching in a Mets uniform.
Reyes went 0-for-3 on the day and started at third-base for the Cyclones. That though was the least notable thing of the day as he met with the New York media for the first time since being signed with the Mets on Saturday. Fans greeted Jose with cheers, some reported boos as well in the crowd. The cheers though were said to far outweigh the boos for the controversial return of Reyes.
“It was a little emotional here today, just to see the people here still love me,’’ Reyes said. “I don’t know what to expect in Citi Field when I get there.’’ (NY Post)
A “Jo-se Jo-se Jo-se” chant could be heard breaking out in short gesture during his first at-bat. His wife, Katherine and three children were said to be at the game supporting him from a suite in the stadium. A sign of solidarity between the couple as Reyes had questions rain down on him on the ugly events of Oct. 31 when allegedly he laid his hands on his wife.
“I need to be a better man,’’ Reyes said. “Be a better husband. Be a better dad for my girls. I got three girls, I need to be an example for them. I’m a human being. I made a terrible mistake. I say so sorry to everybody. I say sorry to my wife, my dad, my mom, to everybody. They know I’m a better person than that.
A disturbing thing that no one will soon forget as he tries to turn the page on a very ugly point in his life. It was not the figure we all came to love through his years in New York, always seeming to be a happy go lucky type who lived a very joyous life in and outside of baseball. Reyes looks for a rebirth of sorts as he comes home to attempt to revive a career on life-support.
Coming from Colorado where Reyes struggled and seemed a shell of his former self. The 33-year old shortstop was seemingly dejected and depressed after being sent from a team on the cusp of the playoffs in the Toronto Blue Jays to being traded to the basement dwelling Rockies. He is not the same player he once was, but he believes he can still be a productive piece to this Mets team.
“Let’s get something clear, people still think I am going to come in here and I’m gonna steal 60 bases and I’m gonna hit 20 triples. Let’s don’t get too crazy. That happened a long time ago.
“I’m 33 now. I can still steal 30 bases. Last year, I stole 24 bases in 116 games and I hit .274. It was a very tough year for me when I got traded to Colorado. I was never in that situation before, get traded in the middle of the season, have to move all my family, I wasn’t happy there. It’s hard to perform when you are not happy in one place.’’
Reyes quelling any thoughts that he is going to come here and be a savior of sorts, tempering expectations. Admitting you are not the player you once were and needing to reinvent yourself is never an easy thing to do for a ballplayer. Hearing from Reyes himself that he will be willing to play at any position the Mets may look to set him at is encouraging for a team who looks for him to be a super utility player. The team is looking for Reyes to play third, second and possibly outfield.
“It doesn’t matter what position I play here because I’m going to feel comfortable, I’m going to feel happy,” Reyes said. “I’m going to try the best I can to be better at that position, whatever they want to put me in.” (ESPN)
Possibly the most surprising thing to come out of yesterday’s meeting with the media, the Mets have an option to keep Jose for the 2017 season. Reyes, with hopes of reviving his career with the team who signed him as a 16-year-old in 1999 has become a reality. He has the chance now to get back to basics and find himself on happier times. He is said to be going to counseling, which is at the request of the Mets due to the domestic violence issues of past year.
Reyes has now obtained everything he has wanted with the fresh start that brings him home. He wants a second chance, not just in baseball but to be looked at as a man who is sorry for what he did. Every person, for the most part, deserves a second chance. With his wife by his side, Reyes hopes that this is the chance that gets his life in order, professionally and possibly personally.
