In his final game, David Wright received an outpouring of love, endless chants and a trip to the broadcast booth. Jose Reyes had plenty of support by association. And after what is likely to be a final season as a Met went — from his struggles at the plate and in the field to at times frequent booing — it was a memorable sendoff in its own right.
It wasn’t just Wright’s final game. It was likely the last start for Jose Reyes, in a Mets uniform at least, and the sellout crowd chose to honor him in a 1-0, 13-inning win over the Marlins.
Reyes — the team’s all-time leader in triples, stolen bases and leadoff home runs — was back in the leadoff spot and playing shortstop, where he spent the majority of his career in Queens, next to Wright. The once-popular “Jo-Se, Jose, Jose, Jose” chants echoed throughout the packed stadium in his first trip to the plate. When he bunted Dominic Smith over in the 10th inning, Reyes received another nice hand.
“It was a really neat experience to share this with him,” Wright said of starting alongside Reyes for the 878th time, the most of any duo in Mets history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Wright took the field first in the opening inning, and Reyes was the first to follow. They shared several hugs throughout the evening, once when they were shown on Kiss Cam and later when Wright was pulled in the top of the fifth inning to a standing ovation. In five at-bats, Reyes doubled and made a few nice plays in the field at shortstop, too, before moving over to third base in the fifth.
“He made some really good plays. I told him before the game, I said, ‘I’m going to play the line and you got everything else,’ and he did that,” Wright said. “I’m trying to focus out there and he’s just jawing with me the entire game. It brought back so many memories.”
Unlike Wright, who never left the organization, the 35-year-old Reyes bolted following the 2011 season, signing a six-year, $106 million contract with the Marlins. A four-time All-Star, he wound up coming back to Queens after he was cut by the Rockies following a domestic violence incident and played a significant role in the team’s run to the wild card in 2016. But his play worsened a year ago and he struggled immensely this season, posting an anemic .190/.261/.322 slash line with a poor .583 OPS, by far the worst of his career.
He heard boos and there were whispers he could be let go on several occasions. The Mets ended up holding onto Reyes, giving him this night alongside Wright, a back-to-the-future sendoff for the two infielders and close friends.
“When we told him he [was hitting leadoff], he had the biggest smile I have ever seen him have,” manager Mickey Callaway said, “and he smiles every single day.”