Right before every game my high school baseball team plays, our coach, ex-Major League player, Ted Lawrence, reminds us to do one thing: hustle. It is the key motivator to our team's success, and it is the thought that runs through our minds all game. Run out every ground ball, make the routine plays in the field, know where you are suppose to be on every pitch.
This idea of hustle, however, should not be unique to the sixteen players I practice with every day. Granted, it is incredibly difficult for any Major League player to show the same hustle day in and day out for 162 games. However, it is a necessity for a championship team. It is the reason why Derek Jeter has become the five-time World Series champion he is today. It is the reason why college phenom Stephen Strasburg has received all the hype he has gotten over the past year. It is the reason why high school all-star Zachary Tax will be pitching Division 1 baseball next year for Columbia University, despite a type 1 diabetic condition. Hustle is the number one indicator of how good a work ethic a player has, and no matter what level of baseball a player is at, it is a vital factor for a team's success.
The question you might be asking now is what does this idea of hustle have to do with the New York Mets? For at least the first five games of the season, the Mets showed a tremendous lack of hustle, very similar to the 2009 squad. Players weren't always ready in the field, the offense was striking out at key moments in the game, and guys were making mistakes on the bases. On defense, it was almost as if every player on the field were hoping the ball wasn't hit to him. On offense, it was as if every player was hoping he wouldn't be the guy to have to get the big hit. Then, on Saturday April 10, something changed. Just when it seemed like Jose Reyes was never coming back from an array of injuries, the electric bolt that make the Mets run finally returned to the team after an eleven month absence.
Ever since 2003, Reyes has become an essential component to the Mets' success. When he is in the lineup, the Mets have a record way above .500, and when he's not, the Mets have a record way below .500. It's that simple. He creates an energy around this team that is contagious. He is a true five-tool ball player and helps the Mets on all counts of the game. He never gives up an at-bat and he will go after every ball as if the season is on the line. And by portraying the factor of hustle so well that has been missing from this team for so long, he is affecting the other twenty-four players on the roster, serving as a role model for those who forgot the meaning and the benefits of hustle. Suddenly, they're not giving up on games and just rolling over as seen in the twenty-inning marathon with the Cardinals. They're able to score runs late in games, and they're able to make more defensive plays in the field. They are playing like a championship ball club.
So, what does this mean for the rest of the 2010 season? Well, I've said from the beginning that getting Reyes back was a key to this team's success. But another one is the return of Carlos Beltran. The Mets still have a lot of holes, arguably more than the average team. Bottom line: Reyes has to help this team stay around the .500 level until Beltran comes back, which will hopefully be in late May. Once that happens, the "core" of this team that has seemed to disappear over the past couple years will finally be restored and healthy, and the Mets will be able to play meaningful games in September once again. But until that happens, they have to keep on hustling, and it has to be all the time.