Jose Reyes Batting Title

[Doodles]

Let me play devil's advocate here... Should Reyes had gone 1 for 4 in the game yesterday (which wasn't a stretch of the imagination given Volquez was on the mound for most of it) and had fallen percentage points behind Braun before the Brewers even took the field later the same day, what would Braun have done???

Good question...Braun actually had two possible outs...first, it was the High Jewish Holiday and he is Jewish. He could have played that card...also he could have said he was resting for the playoffs.

Reyes could have also screwed himself by sitting out...Braun could still have beaten him with a 3 for 4. The proper thing would have been to try to go 3 for 3 and lock Braun out. Plus, half of that pathetic crowd only came to see Reyes. He really screwed the fans.

There is some luck to a batting title also...for example, Reyes' .337 would only be high enough to win 4 out of the last 20 NL batting titles. I guess the whole thing, being such an individual accomplishment, can be out of sync with a team sport.

[freddiefreeman5]

Reyes took the bush league way to a batting title.

It's a little unfair to Bruan to assume he would have done the same thing.

[Titans74]

Reyes took the bush league way to a batting title.

It's a little unfair to Braun to assume he would have done the same thing.

I agree 100%. And I'm a Mets fan.

[slab0meat]

VERY weak.

[metsbats]

As Goh alluded to this would n't have been the first time : Ty Cobb in 1910, Wade Boggs in 1984, Bill Mueller in 2003 to list a few. Ironically Ted Williams was alive during the years that both Red Sox players were accused.

What Reyes did was get his hit and leave the game verses just not playing the game at all which would have been less selfish. What he did was blatantly selfish.

I think what bothers me more is the fact that game may have been his last as a Met and if he's does not return in 2012 he becomes one of the biggest bums in Mets history despite all good years and records he broke as a player with the team.

He said he won the title for the team and for the fans. Sorry Jose you won it to increase your asking price when you become a free agent after the WS.

[Vintagedeputy]

Reyes took the bush league way to a batting title.

.

Agreed. What a candyass.

[towne63]

also a big Mets fan and yesterday was a joke.....1st inning exit!!...Reyes is all about Reyes. Hopefully management is not gonna commit years/$$ to this hamstring waiting to pop

[Doodles]

also a big Mets fan and yesterday was a joke.....1st inning exit!!...Reyes is all about Reyes. Hopefully management is not gonna commit years/$$ to this hamstring waiting to pop

The Mets are already top heavy in salary...7th highest payroll, but 22nd in median salary...for those who don't remember 8th grade math class, that means they have a few really high salaries and a large amount of middle and low end salaries. In fact, the Mets paid $41 Million this year to Johan Santana, Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo and Bobby Bonilla (yes, his deferred salary is starting for the next 25 years). That is equal to the entire salary of the playoff bound Rays for ZERO production. Signing Reyes will make the problem worse.

[G1X]

I fondly remember the 1976 season when one of my favorite hitters of that era, Bill Madlock, entered the final day of the season needing a miracle to repeat as the NL batting champion. Ken Griffey, Sr. was leading the NL with a .338 mark while Madlock was hitting at a .333 clip.

Cincinnati had long ago won the NL West (yes, both the Braves and Reds were in the NL West in those days), so Sparky Anderson sat Griffey for the upcoming playoffs as the finale against the Atlanta Braves was meaningless to the Reds. I will not go on record accusing the Reds of sitting Griffey to help protect his chances to win the batting title, but those of us sitting in front of the radio that sunny afternoon listening to the Braves broadcast of the game were convinced that this was the case.

The Cubs were hosting Montreal that day and their game was briskly paced lasting just under two hours. Madlock was perfect at the plate going 4-for-4 (four singles) which raised his final average to .339 and put him in the lead by a mere .001 over Griffey.

Word got back to Cincinnati and Anderson quickly called on Griffey to pinch hit for no other reason than to try to get a hit to take back the crown. There was no other reason for Griffey to come to the plate as the Reds were safely ahead of the Braves in a meaningless game.

Griffey failed, and I can remember my friends and me cheering as we felt that justice was being served. However, it wasn't quiet over as Griffey remained in the game and ended up getting one more shot as the Reds batted around in the 8th inning. Once again, Griffey was unable to smack a base hit which assured Madlock of the batting title.

On that day, I realized that the baseball gods do indeed exist!

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange
gixc@verizon.net

Always looking for World Football League and Atlanta Falcons jerseys, and Willie McGee and Darren Lewis game-used equipment.

[TNTtoys]

What Reyes did was get his hit and leave the game verses just not playing the game at all which would have been less selfish. What he did was blatantly selfish.

We're all assuming selfishness on the part of Jose, but did anyone think something like this may have happened... The Mets have zero batting titles in the history of the franchise. THEY pulled him once it was deemed safe and secure and that it in no way was Jose's decision. As their likelihood to resign Jose is growing dimmer and dimmer, they get a consolation prize in the end.