Jose Reyes: one of the best short-stops in Major League Baseball
How can a player shine right from the start of his career in Major League Baseball? This is a question every short-stop need to ask the New York Mets’ Jose Reyes, who made a dominating entrance in the League and inspired those critics who never seem happy
with a new comer.
No matter where you are from and no matter what your age is, there are some stirring lines that come into mind when you go through the inspiring career of Reyes.
Reyes is a right-hand switch hitter who was born on June 11, 1983 in Santiago de los Caballeros at Villa Gonzalez in the Dominican Republic.
He joined Santiago High School where he started taking interest in baseball and soon became one of the popular sluggers of the school. This opened some new doors for him in the game when he joined the New York Mets as a free agent on August 16, 1999 even
before enjoying his 17th birthday. Looking at his motivation and the technique, the Mets sent him to the Kingsport of the Appalachian League instead of sending him to traditional Dominican Academy, reserved for their youngsters.
He then played for different clubs associated with the Mets, including Class-A Columbia Bombers in 2001 where he maintained his batting average to .307, St. Lucie Mets for Class A-Advanced Florida League in 2002 where he got promotion just after three months
and moved to Double-A Binghamton.
He kept on improving his class both in fielding and at short-stop with batting and after climbing different levels in a short interval of time, finally made his Major League debut on June 10, 2003 against the Texas Rangers. One day before celebrating his
20th birthday, Reyes made two runs in four at-bats and after the game ended, he threw the ball to his parents in order to give them a tribute.
In his rookie year, he managed to make exceptional .307 batting averages with 32 RBIs in 69 games despite getting a sprained ankle injury in the middle of the season. He got to the eighth position in the Rookie of the Year list after fans cast him a huge
number of votes. He struggled in 2004 but showed his real strength in 2005 when he led the MLB in triples and also led the National League in stolen bases with 60 in numbers.
In 2006, Mets hired Rickey Henderson to instruct Reyes on the art of stealing bases and this practice made Jose an unsurpassed contender in MLB. It also led him to win Player of the Week Award for two consecutive weeks from June 18 to July 2 in 2006 making
him the only Mets’ player since Jesse Orosco to achieve this feat it in 1983.
After this performance, the Mets felt to hold him permanently so they hired him for the next four years for $23-million contract with an $11-million option for 2011, which he is now enjoying. Three days after he signed his contract he launched three back-to-back
homers against the Philadelphia Phillies and further two days later he became the Mets’ second player to score more than 50 bases in two consecutive years. His 2006 season ended on surprise numbers, as he has 20 home-runs, 20 triples and 20 doubles.
He carried his brilliant hitting in 2007, as he became the first Mets’ player to score more than 50 bases in three consecutive seasons. This year, he also broke another record for the most stolen bases in a year in the history of the Mets. He made his 65th,
66th and 67th base in a single game to be the first Mets’ player to score more than 70 bases in one season and led the National League for the third straight year. In April 2007, he also grabbed Player of the Month Award for the first
time in his career.
In 2008, he made 200 hits in a season and led the NL not only in hits but also in triples with 19. Reyes ended the season with 68 RBIs, 72 extra-base hits and 56 stolen bases. However, unlike the last two years, he failed to make a name in the All-Star team.
His dream to be in the All-Star game for the third time was suspended until the 2010, as on May 3, 2009 he went on disabled list due to a calf injury.
However, in 2010 he made a dazzling come-back and made 83 runs on 159 hits including 11 home-runs over 563 at-bats in 133 games. This was not one of his best performances, as still he managed to get his name nominated in 2010 All-star team.
Until now, he has made 699 runs on 1243 hits including 77 home-runs over 4266 at-bats in 1004 games.
He has also been nominated in 2011 season. Until the end of the June, he has struggled in batting with just 65 runs on 124 hits and has made just three home-runs. However, looking at his motivation and dedication to the game, it is easy to say that he can
make a come-back at any point in this season.
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