One of the Most Beloved B-Mets Ever Announces Retirement
Four-time Major League Baseball All-Star shortstop, Jose Reyes, took to Twitter last night to announce he is officially retiring.
Reyes started out in the Mets minor league system in 2000 and quickly worked his way up. He was promoted to the Binghamton Mets in the summer of 2002. In his first game for the B-Mets, Reyes had five hits and drove in four runs. He finished that season with a .287 average, 27 stolen bases and 26 extra-base hits in only 65 games.
I remember watching him in person at NYSEG Stadium. The kid could flat-out fly. I remember watching him make some awesome defensive plays at shortstop. He had such incredible range at short, I knew he wasn't going to be in Binghamton for long. But he would return years later.
On June 5th, 2003, one day before his 20th birthday, Reyes received his first call-up to the majors. Reyes played with the New York Mets from 2003 until 2012 when he signed a free-agent contract with the Miami Marlins.
After leaving the Marlins, Reyes played with the Toronto Blue Jays for a couple of seasons before moving on to the Colorado Rockies midway through the 2015 season.
Reyes returned to the Mets organization in 2016. He started his second term with the Mets as a member of the Brooklyn Cyclones. From there he once again was promoted to Binghamton for a couple of games before he we recalled to the big club. I remember being at a few of the Binghamton Mets games that year watching him in person again. He may have lost a step at that point, but he was still really fast.
According to CBS Sports, Reyes did not play at all last season. Reyes also won the National League batting title in 2011. This is a perfect example why it's so awesome to have minor league baseball here in Binghamton. You get to see the future stars of Major League Baseball, up close and in person, while they hone their skills before making it to the show.
Jose Reyes was just one of many major league stars that played for the Binghamton Mets. Here's another 17 that wore a Binghamton Mets uniform at one point in their career.
[via CBS Sports]