my report on jose reyes
05-29-2008, 08:20 PM
#1
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Jefferson County, Missouri
Posts: 7,684
my report on jose reyes
this was only supposed to be 3 pages, and i was already at 4.5 so i had to cut it short[&:]
Jose Reyes was born on June 11, 1983. He was born in Villa Gonzales, Dominican Republic. He grew up in the northern part of the Dominican. There had never been a major leaguer come out of his village, until him. He learned how to play and work hard from his father, Jose Manuel. Jose was not very interested in baseball, until he got to be about ten years old. By the time he got to be 13, he didn’t even own a glove, so he fielded his position barehanded. By age 16, he started to think about trying out for the Mets. He now lives in Manhasset, New York. This was also the age that he started to switch-hit.
When Jose walked into Mets camp, he was six feet tall, and weighed 130 pounds. He had already tried out for many other teams, but had not convinced the scouts in those camps. The tryout camp he attended was in the summer of 1999, and took place in Santiago, close to his home. Two of the scouts at the camp, Eddy Toledo and Juan Mercado, knew he was going to be a star as soon as they saw him play. What really stood out about him to the scouts were his strong throwing arm, great range, and amazing coordination. They also really like his personality, and could tell that he was going to be a leader. When Toledo told the GM about Jose, the GM was skeptical, because of Reyes’ body. The Cubs were looking to sign him too though, so the GM let Toledo offer Jose a $22,000 bonus, which his parents used to open a small grocery store.
Normally the Mets send their prospects to their Dominican baseball academy, to get them on their way to a career. Instead of being sent there however, Reyes was sent to the Mets team in the Appalachian League. The GM told the manager of this team, not to play Reyes until he proved himself. About three days after he told him that, the manager told the GM that he was going to play the 16-year old Reyes everyday.
On this team, Reyes was very comforted because there were more than a dozen Spanish speaking players on the team. He was also happy, because the hitting coach, Juan Lopez, found housing for all the Spanish speaking players in the same complex. He helped them with a lot of things, including finding housing, getting to and from the games, cashing paychecks, and walking them through the grocery store. Lopez also worked with Jose a lot, especially switch-hitting. At first hitting left handed was awkward for Reyes, but with practice that went away. In the 49 games he played that year, he hit .250.
In 2001 Reyes was called up to the A affiliate of the Mets, the Capital City Mets. He was very happy to see that Lopez was working with the team. Lopez assigned Reyes and Enrique Cruz as room-mates, since they played on the same team the year before. He had a great year that year, hitting .307, while hitting 42 extra base hits. He also only had 18 errors in the field.
The next Winter Jose asked to play for Los Pollos, one of the worst teams in the Dominican Winter League. He held his own against the Major-League caliber pitching that he faced.
After having such a great year in ’01, he was invited to the Mets major league camp in ’02. Everyone there was very impressed. While up, he asked a lot of questions, and watched and learned. With him being so good, the press loved to talk to him. In one instance when asked if he thought he was going to play in the majors, he said that he hope to be competing with Rey Ordonez for the starting job in 2003. After this he never said anything like it again to the press, and was very respectful when talking to the press, even though Ordonez didn’t take it personal. He constantly worked with Reyes, teaching him relax in the field, to be confident, and to let the game go at it’s own pace.
Roberto Alomar also worked with Jose at second base, where he knew there was a chance he would play. Alomar also talked to him about the mindset he needed to have while hitting, and after that Reyes became hot at the plate.
A few weeks later, he was sent back down to the Mets minor league camp. The players really liked his personality, and the coached loved how quick he learned things. Bobby Valentine, the Mets manager at the time, said that Reyes was the best player he had ever seen at that young of an age. That spring Jose was named the team’s top rookie at the camp.
He was assigned to St. Lucie, in the High-A Florida State League. Most people agreed that his fielding was already good enough to play in the majors, but they were uncertain about his bat. The manager there, a former left handed player, worked with Jose on his left handed hitting. Jose really liked playing in florida because of all of the Spanish speaking people that were there.
After the first couple of months of the season, he was hitting great and stealing lots of bases, so that is when the Mets called him up to AA Binghamton. There were only a couple teens to ever play in that league, and in his first game he had 5 hits and 4 RBIs. After his season in AA he hit .287 with 58 steals, and 17 triples, which lead the minors. He also only struck out 58 times in 600 at bats.
On December 15, the Mets traded their starting short stop, Rey Ordonez. Mets fans were not happy about this trade at first. It looked like Jose was going to get the starting job, but the Mets signed veteran Rey Sanchez to a one year deal. They did this to try and let Jose mature a little more in the minors.
That February at Mets camp, Jose was given a locker next to Sanchez. The Mets had also hired Juan Lopez. They still planned to let Jose mature in the minors after the camp was over with. He was optioned down to AAA Norfolk. But after only a couple weeks in Norfolk, he was doing so well, that he basically had nothing more to prove in the minors.
On June 5, Sanchez sprained his thumb, and was put on the DL. Because of this, Jose was called up, and was going to play his first major league game on his 20th birthday. During his debut, he went 2-4, with 2 runs, but the Mets still lost, 9-7 was the final.
The Mets still planned to send Jose down to AAA after Sanchez was healthy again, but that was something Jose was trying to change. A few days after his debut, he hit a grand slam, against Jarrod Washburn. That game He had 3 hits. Three days later, he hit a triple with the bases loaded, and a run scoring double.
After Sanchez came off of the DL, Mets fans hoped that Reyes would stay up, which he did. On August 27, he even hit two home runs in a game, one right handed, and one left handed, becoming the youngest player to ever do that. In the same game, he made a great backhanded play, from shortstop, and threw out the hitter, while he was on his knees. That is an example of how strong Jose’s arm really was.
And the rest is pretty much history. He is on well on his way to a Hall of Fame career.
Jose Reyes was born on June 11, 1983. He was born in Villa Gonzales, Dominican Republic. He grew up in the northern part of the Dominican. There had never been a major leaguer come out of his village, until him. He learned how to play and work hard from his father, Jose Manuel. Jose was not very interested in baseball, until he got to be about ten years old. By the time he got to be 13, he didn’t even own a glove, so he fielded his position barehanded. By age 16, he started to think about trying out for the Mets. He now lives in Manhasset, New York. This was also the age that he started to switch-hit.
When Jose walked into Mets camp, he was six feet tall, and weighed 130 pounds. He had already tried out for many other teams, but had not convinced the scouts in those camps. The tryout camp he attended was in the summer of 1999, and took place in Santiago, close to his home. Two of the scouts at the camp, Eddy Toledo and Juan Mercado, knew he was going to be a star as soon as they saw him play. What really stood out about him to the scouts were his strong throwing arm, great range, and amazing coordination. They also really like his personality, and could tell that he was going to be a leader. When Toledo told the GM about Jose, the GM was skeptical, because of Reyes’ body. The Cubs were looking to sign him too though, so the GM let Toledo offer Jose a $22,000 bonus, which his parents used to open a small grocery store.
Normally the Mets send their prospects to their Dominican baseball academy, to get them on their way to a career. Instead of being sent there however, Reyes was sent to the Mets team in the Appalachian League. The GM told the manager of this team, not to play Reyes until he proved himself. About three days after he told him that, the manager told the GM that he was going to play the 16-year old Reyes everyday.
On this team, Reyes was very comforted because there were more than a dozen Spanish speaking players on the team. He was also happy, because the hitting coach, Juan Lopez, found housing for all the Spanish speaking players in the same complex. He helped them with a lot of things, including finding housing, getting to and from the games, cashing paychecks, and walking them through the grocery store. Lopez also worked with Jose a lot, especially switch-hitting. At first hitting left handed was awkward for Reyes, but with practice that went away. In the 49 games he played that year, he hit .250.
In 2001 Reyes was called up to the A affiliate of the Mets, the Capital City Mets. He was very happy to see that Lopez was working with the team. Lopez assigned Reyes and Enrique Cruz as room-mates, since they played on the same team the year before. He had a great year that year, hitting .307, while hitting 42 extra base hits. He also only had 18 errors in the field.
The next Winter Jose asked to play for Los Pollos, one of the worst teams in the Dominican Winter League. He held his own against the Major-League caliber pitching that he faced.
After having such a great year in ’01, he was invited to the Mets major league camp in ’02. Everyone there was very impressed. While up, he asked a lot of questions, and watched and learned. With him being so good, the press loved to talk to him. In one instance when asked if he thought he was going to play in the majors, he said that he hope to be competing with Rey Ordonez for the starting job in 2003. After this he never said anything like it again to the press, and was very respectful when talking to the press, even though Ordonez didn’t take it personal. He constantly worked with Reyes, teaching him relax in the field, to be confident, and to let the game go at it’s own pace.
Roberto Alomar also worked with Jose at second base, where he knew there was a chance he would play. Alomar also talked to him about the mindset he needed to have while hitting, and after that Reyes became hot at the plate.
A few weeks later, he was sent back down to the Mets minor league camp. The players really liked his personality, and the coached loved how quick he learned things. Bobby Valentine, the Mets manager at the time, said that Reyes was the best player he had ever seen at that young of an age. That spring Jose was named the team’s top rookie at the camp.
He was assigned to St. Lucie, in the High-A Florida State League. Most people agreed that his fielding was already good enough to play in the majors, but they were uncertain about his bat. The manager there, a former left handed player, worked with Jose on his left handed hitting. Jose really liked playing in florida because of all of the Spanish speaking people that were there.
After the first couple of months of the season, he was hitting great and stealing lots of bases, so that is when the Mets called him up to AA Binghamton. There were only a couple teens to ever play in that league, and in his first game he had 5 hits and 4 RBIs. After his season in AA he hit .287 with 58 steals, and 17 triples, which lead the minors. He also only struck out 58 times in 600 at bats.
On December 15, the Mets traded their starting short stop, Rey Ordonez. Mets fans were not happy about this trade at first. It looked like Jose was going to get the starting job, but the Mets signed veteran Rey Sanchez to a one year deal. They did this to try and let Jose mature a little more in the minors.
That February at Mets camp, Jose was given a locker next to Sanchez. The Mets had also hired Juan Lopez. They still planned to let Jose mature in the minors after the camp was over with. He was optioned down to AAA Norfolk. But after only a couple weeks in Norfolk, he was doing so well, that he basically had nothing more to prove in the minors.
On June 5, Sanchez sprained his thumb, and was put on the DL. Because of this, Jose was called up, and was going to play his first major league game on his 20th birthday. During his debut, he went 2-4, with 2 runs, but the Mets still lost, 9-7 was the final.
The Mets still planned to send Jose down to AAA after Sanchez was healthy again, but that was something Jose was trying to change. A few days after his debut, he hit a grand slam, against Jarrod Washburn. That game He had 3 hits. Three days later, he hit a triple with the bases loaded, and a run scoring double.
After Sanchez came off of the DL, Mets fans hoped that Reyes would stay up, which he did. On August 27, he even hit two home runs in a game, one right handed, and one left handed, becoming the youngest player to ever do that. In the same game, he made a great backhanded play, from shortstop, and threw out the hitter, while he was on his knees. That is an example of how strong Jose’s arm really was.
And the rest is pretty much history. He is on well on his way to a Hall of Fame career.
05-31-2008, 12:42 PM
#6
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Norwalk, Ohio
Posts: 4,443
RE: my report on jose reyes
ORIGINAL: mossberghunter93
dude do u have a man crush on him or something
dude do u have a man crush on him or something
05-31-2008, 02:58 PM
#7
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Jefferson County, Missouri
Posts: 7,684
RE: my report on jose reyes
ya dude, just because i had to writea report for gym on my favorite sports figure DOESNT MEAN I HAVE A MAN CRUSH ON HIM
and yes i do look up to him
and yes i do look up to him
05-31-2008, 03:40 PM
#9
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Jefferson County, Missouri
Posts: 7,684
RE: my report on jose reyes
ORIGINAL: Hooker
Wait....what? When did kids have to start writing reports in gym?
ORIGINAL: Rory/MO
i had to writea report for gym
i had to writea report for gym