New York Mets all-time starting lineup

FUKUOKA, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 8: Jose Reyes #7 of the New York Mets hits the ball during the Aeon All Star Series Day 5 - MLB v Japan All-Stars at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome on November 8, 2006 in Fukuoka, Japan. MBL All-Star team won today's game 5-3, meaning they have won every one of the five game series. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)
FUKUOKA, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 8: Jose Reyes #7 of the New York Mets hits the ball during the Aeon All Star Series Day 5 - MLB v Japan All-Stars at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome on November 8, 2006 in Fukuoka, Japan. MBL All-Star team won today's game 5-3, meaning they have won every one of the five game series. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 10
Next
FUKUOKA, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 8: Jose Reyes  (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)
FUKUOKA, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 8: Jose Reyes  (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images) /

More from Empire Writes Back

There was a time that chants of “Jose, Jose, Jose” would fill the sky in the Queens night. That was when Jose Reyes was at the apex of his career.

Reyes was the spark plug the Mets needed at that time. In his first stint with the Mets he was the man. From 2003-11 Reyes could seemingly do no wrong in the field or at the plate. At the plate, when the Mets hit him first in the lineup, he hit .294/.344/.447 (.312/.344/.448 in the first at bat of the game) with 376 extra base hits (79 of which led off the game; 16 lead off home runs), 353 stolen bases, and 674 runs. He even hit for the cycle.

As the Reyes went, so did the Mets. He helped lead the Mets to the NLCS, where the Mets were oh so close to making it to World Series for the sixth time in franchise history. Without the Reyes, the Mets would not have been even that close to a National League pennant.

The passion of Reyes was infectious, and it helped the team even when he wasn’t playing. The Mets all-time team and starting lineup must have Reyes on it. He would spark the lineup like no one else, and provide the all-time Mets team with the juice to beat anyone, even the all-time Yankees team. Say what you will about what Reyes has become, but he was one of the best leadoff hitters in the history of baseball, and definitely in the top-two in the history of the Mets.