Who would ever think that the New York Mets would capture their East Division title of the National League after completely missing the post season in 2014? Nobody thought that they would make such a strong showing during most of the second half of the season.
However with a strong showing during such a period, but a slight let down toward the end of the regular schedule, it did not take long for the surprise of some new personnel on the field and at the same time have Terry Collins be a contender for Manager of the Year honors in the National League. Collins, the coaching staff, and the players turned in a tremendous job.
By dominating at home at Citi Field in Flushing, the team captured its division title by seven games and a .556 percentage.
It was a team effort with pitching and defense showing the way with the starters and reserves showing off their specialties.
Ruben Tejada was one of the individuals who did his share of the work. He is a versatile player who can perform at any position with the infield — short stop and second base, his specialty. He saw action in 116 of 162 games and in the process made some timely hits. He is now a power hitter, hitting those balls out of the ball park.
A native of Western Panama and born on Oct. 27, 1989, Tejeda is 26 years of age, with much baseball still left in him. Ruben, Jr., is the son of Ruben, Sr., a mechanic, and also the son of Dona Tejada, a secretary.
While growing up, Tejada had a favorite player who he admired and it was not a Met, either. It was New York Yankee’s infielder Derek Jeter, who is now retired.
The 5-11 Tejada bats and throws right-handed and played in the minor leagues or New York Mets system before moving up to the National League. He has been with the Mets ever since. He made his major league debut on April 7, 2010.
This past spring, he wanted badly to get his short stop position back and worked hard for it.
“He went out and had a very good year offensively,” said Manager Terry Collins during the closing week of the regular season. “(Defensively) we knew that he had great hands. Ruben made a good run toward the end of the season. He won a lot of games for us.”
He ended the regular season with a career batting average of .255. He hit 10 home runs although he is not a power hitter.
Now let us see what he can accomplish on and off the field during the playoffs, better known as the second season, if the Mets make it that far.
