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In a report for MLB.com, Anthony DiComo writes about Jose 
Reyes, who is determined to stay focused through the entire season.
Reyes, on doing less dancing, hi-fives, etc, as quoted by DiComo:
“I’m going to focus a little more on baseball. A lot of people say with the handshakes, the other team can get mad. People say that because of the way we finished last year.”
…and to that i say: nonsense…first of all, who cares if other teams get mad…second, jose’s exuberance didn’t seem to be a problem in 2006, did it…win, and nobody will care…lose, and every time you blink it’ll be a problem…this isn’t rocket surgery, jose…hit, run and win, and you can dance on top of the dugout, let alone the top step…i guarantee it…
…that said, fun and cockiness are earned…and you spent a ton of that well-earned capital at the end of last season…no doubt…so, again, get on track…then be whomever you want to be…
In fact, according to a recent poll on MetsBlog.com, 50 percent of more than 4,300 voters said they prefer the Jose-Jose-Jose Chant only occur after Reyes gets on base.
Meanwhile, only 15 percent said it should be played before every at-bat, like Shea Stadium did so much of last season.
Speaking of recapping polls, the following is my latest segment for SNY, in which, again, I talk about the Fan Confidence Rating:
…yes, the blue and orange was intentional…
I love that fact the you combined “rocket science” and “brain surgery” for the now legendary “ROCKET SURGERY”!!!
Don’t change it, Cerrone!
I have been saying that and writing it for years, and people always try to correct – not realizing it’s on purpose.
Hey matt,
cute outfit…i like the orange under the blue button-down..
You look like John Franco circa 2000, is that you dads dept of Sanitation shirt ?
agreed….. that is a great phrase, better than “brain science”
My cat had surgery on his rocket…he was NOT HAPPY.
Hilarious, literally laughing out lout.
I was eating a fruit cup spit it out after that
There are few if any players that have the potential Reyes has. Remember offseason after 2006 when everyone was thinking Reyes was gonna jack 30 HRs the next season. I think this season Reyes is finally gonna break out and win an MVP. Look for 20 triples this year and 120+ runs scored…if he just hits .300 his numbers will be monstrous
If he stays healthy and gets his 600+ PAs, and can hit .300 with a .375+ OBP, then 120 runs would be an off year.
DW and CB are gonna have a ton of RBIs this year (again, assuming they stay healthy and on the field)!
Heck, if Castillo has a good year getting on base too, DW might drive in 150 by himself.
Perfect 1st inning: Reyes and Castillo get on (single or walk), maybe a SB or 2, and DW doubles up the gap to drive them both in.
I don’t think you’d see that statline until Citifield. Reyes has his power on the left side, and will benefit from the R porch.
From the way the Citifield dimensions are described, I could see Reyes hitting a boatload of triples there next year…
Matt, I’d love to see a poll asking how people feel about Reyes’s decision to tone down the handshaking.
And I thought we established that the Rocket never needs Surgery because all his muscles, bones, and tendons are coated with steroids.
let jose BE jose.
just like joba be joba and so on. jose is unique…let boy do as he please
Who cares who Joba is???? …but I agree with you about Jose.
Let Jose be Jose, sure, but don’t forget that this is a kid that has a little growing up to do.
When you watch Reyes dancing and celebrating in the 5th inning in April, remember the sight of him dogging and pouting his way through September, because they are two sides of the same coin.
I’m not saying that a player like Jose has to put on a poker face like Beltran, that will never be his style. But he has to learn keep his focus nine innings a game, six months a season and beyond, through the good and the bad.
I think he’s ready for it. When we lose the sulking Reyes who doesn’t run out grounders, we will also lose a bit of the Handshake Kid Reyes. And that will be OK with me.
Matt!!!!!!!
Yes?
No hehe, it was just cool to see you on video. =)
Matt – no other way to say it than I am 100% against Jose Reyes dancing and high fiving….he does it way too much and needs to be more reserve!
It’s not church, it’s a game. If I was a 24 year old millionaire playing baseball for a living, I would be doing a lot more than dancing and high fiving.
Yeah, it’s a game that requires focus and concentration for nine full innings.
There’re two kinds of enthusiasm in sports. There’s true rallying spirit, which can include a bit of merengue in the dugout, sure. But there’s also the kid’s stuff where you just lose your sh!t and forget that there’s still work to do. What we’ve seen from Reyes is a bit of Type 2.
I said this before: When we lose the sulking Reyes who doesn’t run out grounders, we will also lose a bit of the Handshake Kid Reyes. And then he’ll be ready to step up with the elite players in the game.
i, for one, want other teams to get mad.
we are not the sillynannies.
You gotta stop talking with your hands. It keeps distracting me during your SNY appearances. It works in person, but not on TV.
Finally, someone said it…I completely agree. it sounds to written and looks like you’re trying to overact. Just sit down and have a conversation with the camera, don’t try too hard…
It’s not as easy as it looks fellas. Matt’s doing a damn good job for a TV newbie. Cant say I disagree about the hands though, Matt. Just a tip from someone who works in the biz.
Hey Matt, although I usually love the polls on your site I actually had a small problem with the “Jose Jose Jose Chant” poll…
I wasn’t sure what to vote for because I certainly don’t think that it should be played before every single at bat, but I’m not sure if only playing it when he’s just gotten on base is the right answer either because I can definitely think of some other instances I might want it played, including some instances where I’d want it played before the at bat. Like, sometimes the fans start the chant up before/during an at bat to acknowledge that he’s been having a great game so far, and sometimes they start it up when the team is putting together a rally and it’s an important at bat to fire up Jose and everyone else. Your poll doesn’t allow for these instances, and there isn’t really any way you can do a poll where people can only choose one answer that would give good results.
What if you made a new poll with some more options and allow users to pick multiple responses, for example:
When should Shea play the “Jose-Jose-Jose” chant?
1) Before every Reyes at bat
2) Before key Reyes at bats
3) Before Reyes at bats in games where he already has a HR or multiple hits
4) After he gets on base
5) After he hits a HR
6) After he steals a base
7) After he drives in a run
8) Never
And of course I may be missing some
Personally I’d vote for 2/3/4/6 (since 4 likely implies 5 and 7) if those were the options and we were allowed multiple votes. I think this poll would give you a much more accurate idea of Mets fans’ opinions on the chant.
zzz
When the Mets were winning and Jose was hi fiving and dancing no one complianed. In ‘06 they said he was young and having fun and so on. Then he struggles and the Mets don’t make the playoffs in ‘07 and now everyone says he needs to stop dancing and grow up.
DBMustache, thats just how things are – look at the ‘86 Mets. If they had blown that season, people would have been all over them for doing curtain calls and goofing off in the dugout. Instead, they just get a book “the badguys won” absolutely – if jose reyes plays great this year and starts dancing again – few will complain
Exactly. I couldn’t agree more. I was ecstatic with Jose in 2006 – great year, and lots of exuberance. I want to see more of that.
On the other hand, he could “focus” and put up bigger numbers. Or, he could fall away from what makes him who and what he is and totally blow it.
Tough call, but I don’t ask Jose to change who he is. This whole discussion has put way too much of the responsibility for last years collapse on him when in fact the whole team was responsible for it.
Oops – that comment was supposed to be for DerekBellsMoustache.
“He literally would walk out of my office as I was talking to him,” Randolph said. “And he was sincere. This kid works as hard as anyone and he loves to play, so as a manager, what do you do?”
I want to like willie, but that makes me mad. Your the kids manager, grow a pair.
absolutely. i couldnt believe it when i read that.
cerrone these metsblog minutes are completely pointless and uninformative.
and dress professional, you are on television
I don’t speak for Matt, but if you don’t care for it, you don’t have to watch.
And I like that he dresses semi-casual… it reminds us that Matt is first and foremost a fan like us.
I personally like that Matt is getting some air time – it’s great to see a fan actually represent his team on tv. However, I would have to agree with the dressing – although you always see Kevin wearing something casual, it’s always when he’s outside – think about it….whenever he’s in a studio he’s dressed in a suit.
I don’t personally read this site for the fan confidence ratings. i appreciate Matt’s opinions and the info and links he provides. That said, SNY probably brought Matt in because of the success of the website (and perhaps a good word from one of the staff members who reads the site. I believe at least some of them do.) Still, the executive types who plan the show probably see him as a fan-liaison of sorts. Theyre not going to ask him to wax on about what he thinks the mets need to do in the bullpen (at least not just yet in his career) Theyre going to ask him what the buzz is with the fans. So thats the information he provides them. I see nothing wrong with it. Much like the blogosphere and blog format themselves, I think Matt’s potential contributions are something that the mainstream media still needs to tweak and figure out. Its a nice start.
what a kind human being you are.
Matt, is that a MetsBlog tee or a NYC Sanitation Dept shirt?
Yea the Metsblog minute doesn’t get into specifics and fan polls aren’t incredibly important but guess what…
HE ONLY GETS A FREAKING MINUTE OF AIR TIME!!! In that time he can’t possibly lunge into any important topic b/c those topics usually require more discussion/debate ( more time needed)
Its your opinion so i’m not saying what you said is wrong but I just don’t agree IMO
Plus who cares how he dresses – professional or not – he already has the deal signed with SNY.
completely off topic from this thread, but i need someones help.
I’m writing a player profile paper on david wright for my sports management class, and i was wondering if anyone knew this…
When wright was on the apprentice, and he bought all those hot dogs, what was the cause? in other words, what was the charity for
no specific charity the winning teams project manager got all the proceeds and put it towards their charity. needless to say even with the help of dwright the women lost so technically his money went towards stephan baldwins mothers cancer charity….gotta watch something in the offseason right
all due respect matt,
“who cares?” You do realize that reyes’ antics fired up an otherwise sleeping team the second to last game last year. Hanley Ranirez said, “I want to kill the Mets”. What did Hanley do Matt, on the final day of the season? He blasted Glavine. The entire Marlins team was fired up. If Reyes didn’t act like a child, perhaps the Marlins’ minds would have been on women and golf, instead of trying to bash the Mets brains in.
As Keith Hernandez just stared, Willie Randolph shuld have niped this in the bud early on.
Are the keys on your keyboard messed up?
Whether the Marlins were “fired up” or not we should have still won the game. Just because the Marlins played to win doesnt mean they wouldnt have anyway with or without Reyes’ antics. Bottomline we had a great team that didnt play well collectively and I place the majority of the blame on Glavine. Speaking of Glavine, good ridance Tommy Boy. Never accepted you as a Met and I wish Omar didnt bail you out last year when Atlanta didnt want you. He was always a Brave and is now back to where he always wanted to be. He begged them to sign him before this contract and they said no. Wish we did too. Hated him on the Mets. Hard to go from hating a player from a rival and then rooting for him when he comes to us for money. His heart was always in Atlanta and he regretted becoming a Met. Now we have Johan who is a thousand times better and wants to be here. All is well now. Cant wait to smoke Glavine for 10 earned runs every time we face him.
hey at least we got draft picks so he did do 1 good thing for us.
Don
In fairness to Reyes, it wasn’t his antics that woke up the Marlins. It was Milledge’s after that 2nd homerun that did it. Reyes was just trying to defend him. Thats what was reported on tv and in the papers, so try to get the facts right before you start calling people childish.
MudvilleNine,
Here is a fact, the Marlins catcher charged Jose Reyes not Lastings Milledge. Oh and did you see Reyes celebrate with Milledge like i did after the Milledge homer?
I love Reyes, but let’s not make excuses for behavior that isn’ classy. The only way you can get away with that type of behavior is if you are the 86 Mets or some absolutely dominating team. You can be Gary Carter and do a curtain call every second. But when you are collapsing especially, there is no room for having a show-off handshake with everyone on the team. bottom line, he needs to knock it off, that is why he himself said he’d cut down on that, and hat is why, Keith hernandez, a baseball mind I respec, is on the same page on me as this one.
You can claim I don’t have the facts but I laid them out for you.
Lets leave the guy alone. Reyes signed a deal with us for what amounts to a huge bargain. As he is in my opinion one of the top 5 to 10 players in the game we are lucky to have him at the beginning of his prime and at such a cheap price. How Reyes goes so do the Mets. He sets the stage and provides the excitement for the club. He is still at a young age so lets cut him some slack and chalk it up to imaturity. If he tones it down too much he wont be as exciting and may lose the love he has for playing the game. He is just entering his prime and as he matures he will figure out his way. In the meantime I say let him be. Willie handled it and Reyes has already come out and said he realizes he must tone it down a bit and will. I personally dont care how he celebrates as long as he keeps producing like he has and will continue to do. Just my opinion though
I agree 100 percent. Reyes is making what around 5 million a year. There are players that make more than him that bat .260 with awful numbers. Everyone can complain about Reyes’ performance but he did way way way more than his salary suggests
like a little girl, “they get mad.” come on jose.
Good to hear Keith Hernandez on M&MD, calling a spade a spade.
He rightly said Reyes histrionics were totally unecessary and and served no purpose other than to piss offf the opposition and call unneeded attention to himself.
Kudos to keith.
I’ve got to say I dont even search the net anymore because of your blog. That being said, you need a shave. Sorry I’m of the old school and think you should take the time especially after 12:00 in the afternoon to look clean shaved. It only gets worse as you get older and trust me I’m of the older METS fan base. Hey what can I tell you that I wouldnt tell my METS devoted sons… get a shave and yell LETS GO METS!!!!!
on the one hand, Jose’s exhuberance & expression of joy is nice & can rub off on teammates & fans.
on the other hand there are times it is unnecessary. is it worth pissing the other team off to the point that you take a fastball in the ribs, or close to the chin ? in the 2nd to final Marlins game last year didnt their catcher become a bit overly aggressive towards Jose over the celebrations ? I seem to remember it being written that the guy is like a loose cannon.
Jose Reyes Brang a lot of excitment to the game last year, But most of the time he was in the dogout he looked like he was annoying. He should be more serious, But also having fun. Its a Game