The Darren Reed Spring Training Award
Talkin' Mets Latest Award Announcement For Spring Training
This winter Talkin’ Mets announced that we will honor the “Person of the Year” for the player, manager, executive, or event that shaped the Mets season. Billy Eppler was the first recipient of that award.
Mike Silva announced another award on yesterday's show, the Darren Reed Spring Training Award. What is this award, you ask? It’s for the most outstanding player in spring training who should have made the opening-day roster but, due to circumstances, did not.
Why is it named after Darren Reed? That is because Reed was a Met in the late '80s/early '90s who consistently excelled in spring training but could never crack the then 25-man roster. From 1988 to 1991, Reed batted .337 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs in the Grapefruit League. One highlight was a March 1991 walk-off grand slam in a game that saw the Mets win 5-4 after having 2 outs and none on in the ninth against the Phillies and future Mets reliever Chuck McElroy.
In 2012, Mike had the opportunity to interview Darren on 1240 AM WGBB Long Island to discuss how he came across his name on the old NY Baseball Digest website and the challenges he faced during his career.
Professional baseball is hard. Getting drafted and excelling in the minors to just get a sniff of the big leagues is even harder. To make it is nearly impossible when you assess the odds. Fans and pundits sometimes forget this when they are opining on the sport. This segment should bring light to the ups and downs of the journey and how thin the line is betwen success and failure.
Beyond the Mic has made this free for all subscribers to honor the start of spring training games. Listen to the latest Talkin’ Mets from the Vault below.
**Please note this is an audio from the early days, and the sound is not perfect hi-resolution**