An Open Letter to Wally Matthews

Dear Wally,

Have you lost what's left of your mind?

Once again you waste resources with a crappy column bashing the Mets. This time, you decided to attack Jose Reyes, asking if he wants to be Derek Jeter or Rey Ordonez. You see Jeter as a "winner" and Ordonez as a "loser". Now, I (and most Mets fans) would agree with you on Rey-Rey, but as for Jeter, we got a problem.

Exactly what has Jeter won in the past 7 seasons? Nothing. No rings. No championships. He "led" his team to losses to the Diamondbacks and the Marlins in the World Series. He "led" them to the biggest choke in baseball history in 2004. He "led" them to a first round loss last season.

I don't want Reyes to be Jeter, someone who as Captain should have put aside his ego and not been an ass toward Alex Rodriguez, simply because Alex has significantly more talent than Jeter. Someone who as Captain bent over when Roger Clemens was signed, and then resigned, despite having been thrown at by Clemens in the past. Someone who as Captain has had teammates traded who he did not get along with.

The fact is that since other key cogs of the winning Yankee teams of the late 1990's left (O'Neill, Bernie, etc), Jeter has not been able to seal the deal. So tell me Wally, if Jeter gets so much credit for all the winning then, why does he not get the balme now for the losing? If he was such a great player, he would be able to lead the Yankees to victory every year, no?

Has Reyes struggled a tad at the start of this season, yes. As has pretty much every other hitter on the Mets. Reyes' April 2007 was fantastic, but no one in their right mind would expect him to be able to do that all the time. Oh wait, we are talking about you. For example, lets take the past two games in Chicago. David Wright failed to get a hit. Carlos Beltran was awful. So it is not all on Reyes. Even when he does get on base, the team is failing to drive him in.

You note the Mets record last April was 13-6. Right now they stand at 11-9. So tell me, what is the difference? Two games, when there are still a few games left in the month? Tell me, did Jeter share in the blame last season when the Yankees got off to a 9 - 14 April? That included a 7 game losing streak, where the Yanks lost 4 to the Red Sox. Doesn't the #2 hitter share blame, especially one who is the Captain, and is synonomous with "winning"?

You note stats for Reyes, yet an in-depth look, or at least a modicum of intelligence would show reasons behind his slow start. One is the presence of Luis Castillo in the #2 spot. Luis has been a black hole this year. Why would a pitcher want to challenge Reyes when they know they have a good shot at getting Castillo out on one of his patented 24 hop grounders to short? So they give him nothing to hit. Jose meanwhile, realizing he needs to get on base is swinging, and failing. It is little coincidence that he started to hit better when Castillo was dropped in the order and Ryan Church was moved to the #2 spot.

Perhaps Jose was pressing since you and your fellow writers spent the winter bashing him for his slump in September. And for "firing up" the Marlins on the next to last day of the season (which reminds me, if they were so annoyed, why did they not show more fight during THAT game?) The bashing of his "silly handshakes" caused him to bottle up his emotions. It is little coincidence that once Beltran told him to have fun that he started to play better. I like players who enjoy the game much more than guys who just seem to go through the motions. Show some energy, show some flair. I prefer my manager let my players be themselves and not make stupid rules like "No Candy" like Joe Girardi.

I do not deny that Reyes has gotten off to a slow start. At least you have the common sense to note that the season is young, as is Reyes. However, you once again show a lack of knowledge when you write an article trying to tie a Met to a Yankee. Let Jose be the best player he can be, without trying to compare him to some overrated egomaniac in the Bronx.

Eagerly awaiting your firing,

Ed in Westchester