Big Apple shortstops meet in showdown
Big Apple shortstops meet in showdown
06/29/2006 10:15 PM ET
By Ryan Mink / MLB.com
One turned 23 years old on June 11. The other turned 32 years old on Monday. They're both shortstops in the Big Apple and they're both one of the main reasons their clubs are a couple of the most competitive in baseball.
They are the Mets' Jose Reyes (the younger of the two) and the Yankees' Derek Jeter. Reyes, very much like Jeter did 10 years ago when leading the Yankees to their first World Series championship since 1981, has the Mets looking like a playoff-bound team.
That journey continues Saturday as the Mets take on the Yankees in the second game of the weekend series in the FOX Saturday Game of the Week.
Jeter will get another look at a shortstop who has impressed him thus far this season.
"I don't get to watch the games, but I see the highlights," Jeter said. "He's exciting to watch."
Jeter continued to lavish Reyes with praise, saying the young Mets speedster reminded him of Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners. Reyes has 34 stolen bases in 42 chances and touts a .293 batting average as of Thursday afternoon.
"Speed never slumps," Jeter said before joking with reporters. "But I was a little faster when I came up."
Yankees manager Joe Torre actually said Jeter wasn't all that impressive before his first full Major League season in 1996.
"There was even talk the last week of Spring Training as to whether we made the right decision that he was going to be our shortstop," Torre said. "I didn't know anything about him. He was OK. He looked a little raw, didn't do anything spectacular."
That quickly changed when Jeter hit a home run and made an over-the-shoulder catch in his first game that season. Torre said the veterans started looking to Jeter for leadership around June or July, sensing that he was something special.
"He was either at the start or finish in every rally that we had into the playoffs," Torre said.
Reyes, who is already in his fourth season with the Mets, seems to be on his way toward becoming on of the game's elite shortstops, as well. Reyes was named Player of the Week for the second consecutive week Monday. He batted .613 (19-for-31), scored 12 runs, hit two homers and stole four bases in the week.
Jeter didn't allude to any specific similarities between him and Reyes. But Mets manager Willie Randolph did liken the two shortstops.
"They're not the same, but they are the same," Randolph said. "I see either one and I think perennial All-Star. You can win a championship with either of them. They do it [in] different ways. And Derek has the longer track record. ... They're special athletes. Look in the dictionary under shortstop, either one could be there."
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
06/29/2006 10:15 PM ET
By Ryan Mink / MLB.com
One turned 23 years old on June 11. The other turned 32 years old on Monday. They're both shortstops in the Big Apple and they're both one of the main reasons their clubs are a couple of the most competitive in baseball.
They are the Mets' Jose Reyes (the younger of the two) and the Yankees' Derek Jeter. Reyes, very much like Jeter did 10 years ago when leading the Yankees to their first World Series championship since 1981, has the Mets looking like a playoff-bound team.
That journey continues Saturday as the Mets take on the Yankees in the second game of the weekend series in the FOX Saturday Game of the Week.
Jeter will get another look at a shortstop who has impressed him thus far this season.
"I don't get to watch the games, but I see the highlights," Jeter said. "He's exciting to watch."
Jeter continued to lavish Reyes with praise, saying the young Mets speedster reminded him of Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners. Reyes has 34 stolen bases in 42 chances and touts a .293 batting average as of Thursday afternoon.
"Speed never slumps," Jeter said before joking with reporters. "But I was a little faster when I came up."
Yankees manager Joe Torre actually said Jeter wasn't all that impressive before his first full Major League season in 1996.
"There was even talk the last week of Spring Training as to whether we made the right decision that he was going to be our shortstop," Torre said. "I didn't know anything about him. He was OK. He looked a little raw, didn't do anything spectacular."
That quickly changed when Jeter hit a home run and made an over-the-shoulder catch in his first game that season. Torre said the veterans started looking to Jeter for leadership around June or July, sensing that he was something special.
"He was either at the start or finish in every rally that we had into the playoffs," Torre said.
Reyes, who is already in his fourth season with the Mets, seems to be on his way toward becoming on of the game's elite shortstops, as well. Reyes was named Player of the Week for the second consecutive week Monday. He batted .613 (19-for-31), scored 12 runs, hit two homers and stole four bases in the week.
Jeter didn't allude to any specific similarities between him and Reyes. But Mets manager Willie Randolph did liken the two shortstops.
"They're not the same, but they are the same," Randolph said. "I see either one and I think perennial All-Star. You can win a championship with either of them. They do it [in] different ways. And Derek has the longer track record. ... They're special athletes. Look in the dictionary under shortstop, either one could be there."
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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