The old Reyes is back, thanks to Beltran

No one is ever allowed to knock Carlos Beltran for his leadership skills again.

The mass of stories making it's way around the web right now details how Beltran talked to Jose Reyes and told him, "Man, I want you to be the Reyes you always have been."

Apparently, it worked. Reyes hit his first home run of the season last night, and later in the same inning, Beltran took Matt Chico deep for a three run blast. After Beltran's home run, the camera flashed to the Mets dugout, where everyone could see Reyes up and dancing on the field, being his old, excitable self again.

Thank you, Carlos Beltran. Here are some quotes from around the web:

NY Post:

"As a teammate, I know, I see when somebody's not happy and I didn't think he was happy," Beltran said last night. "I tell him 'I want you to be the Reyes that you always have been."

NJ.com:

"I want to smile and have fun," said Reyes, who hit his first home run of the season. "It's hard for me to be quiet in the dugout."
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"He didn't feel right," Beltran said. "We're happy that he's doing it again. We don't care if other teams get offended. We're going to play the game like that."

Daily News:

"Carlos Beltran, he's the guy, kind of quiet in the dugout," Reyes said. "He needs that, he needs the thing I do in the dugout. That's why he come to me and talk to me." Asked if he would help Beltran learn how to be more of an extrovert, Reyes smiled.

"He's not going to jump at all. He's not like that," said Reyes.

Surfing the Mets:

Said Reyes: “Everything is back.”

On the Mets Beat:

Carlos Delgado also played a role in this, Reyes said.

Everyone is always down on Beltran for not being outspoken enough, but that's just the way he is. Beltran is a professional player. He goes out and plays the game without all the riffraff. The media is down on him because they never get anything out of him. He plays but doesn't talk about it. Good! Just because he's in New York doesn't mean he has to be a media darling.

I absolutely love Beltran. Sure, he's injured occasionaly, but not like many other players. As Fire Joe Morgan pointed out, Beltran has played 151, 140, and 144 games for the Mets over the past three seasons. I bet a lot of people don't realize this. Beltran is invaluable to this team with his glove, his bat, and his leadership.

And good for Delgado to get in there. Now someone needs to tell him to get back to writing in his diary everyday so he can start hitting again too.

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