Did you catch all the dramatic build-up to the Jose Reyes versus the Mets match-up yesterday? It was being billed by beat writers from Miami and New York as the “Showdown of the Century.”
Personally, I found Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah to be much more compelling and entertaining. Three-headed monsters always tend to make for good drama.
Reyes got all of one at-bat during the Marlins 3-1 win over the Mets, a slow grounder back pitcher R.A. Dickey who got him to flail at a knuckler. Epic, huh? Then the rains came, and it was believed that Reyes might shrink, so out of the game he went.
Still, the day wasn’t without some interesting dialog from the one-time Met and a couple of current Mets as well.
Jose Reyes
“I’m very happy here. This team wants to win. That’s why I came here to Miami, because of the opportunity to win. I’ve been, like, nine years in the big leagues and I didn’t win anything yet. We went to the playoffs once in New York. I want to win a World Series. I think on this team I have a better opportunity.”
When asked specifically what he liked most about his new team he replied, “Everything. The way the players are, the way the coaches are, everybody has the right attitude, starting from the manager. I want to win a World Series. I think on this team I have that opportunity.”
R.A. Dickey
“I started giggling to myself before he stepped in, just looking over there,” Dickey said. “It’s hard. He was such an exuberant personality, a great guy, a great teammate. You see him — and he was trying hard not to make eye contact — because when you kind of check eyes, you start giggling to yourself. But when he got in, it was business. He meant it.”
“He meant so much to so many people and he’s a great guy and a good friend,” Dickey said. “So it’s not like someone you’re an acquaintance with going on to another team. Obviously, he’s been a Met his whole career and had made a difference to a lot of people in the clubhouse.”
Jason Bay
“It’s one of the best examples of you love to play with him, hate to play against him type guy. He does a lot of things. He gets on base; he makes the defenses tighten up. The energy he brings, all that stuff. We’ve seen what it’s like, what he can do. It makes it tough when he’s playing against you.”
