“I think there are a lot of things that people do not know about me, and that is okay. But a lot of people see me arriving at practice in different cars every day, and based on that, they get an idea in their head about the kind of person I am.”
That’s what Yoenis Cespedes said in a lengthy Players Tribune article which chronicles his baseball journey that began in Cuba continued onto the major leagues and brought him to the New York Mets.
After becoming a major leaguer, Cespedes was traded three times within a year which can certainly make a player wonder about what his real value is to a team. “Getting traded is one of those things that you do not think will ever happen to you. Until it happens to you.”
Remember when Wilmer Flores cried on the field because he thought he was getting traded? At the time David Wright consoled him by saying that the other team really valued him as a player. However, Cespedes did not see it that way. ”For the first time in my professional career I felt like I was not wanted.”
After two more trades, Cespedes came to the Mets and finally for the first time in his professional career, it felt like home.
“The first time I put on a Mets uniform and walked onto the field in New York, the fans greeted me with so many cheers, I knew that the Mets were going to be a good fit for me. I could feel it.”
Cespedes felt an instant connection with fans after the standing ovation he received in his Mets debut. He would go onto producing at a historic pace, smashing several offensive records and ultimately leading the Mets all the way to the World Series which which unfortunately they lost to the Royals. “It did not feel good,” Cespedes admitted. “They deserve a championship and I would not be here if I did not think we could win.”
He ended his article with a special message for Met fans:
“Please keep putting your trust in me, and know that I am going to go out every day and that I am going to give everything that I have to pay back the love that you have shown me since I arrived. I am going to help this team finish what it started. I am going to make sure my new home achieves the title it deserves. Because ultimately, the feeling of home brings out the best in me.”
