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] Wright and Reyes have reached full-blown stardom together this season and each was voted a National League starter for the All-Star Game. Along the way, out of view of the fans, the two have worked to forge a friendship to complement their partnership on the left side of the Mets’ infield, solidifying a tandem the Mets hope will last well beyond the planned opening of their new stadium in 2009.
Despite their distinctly different backgrounds, Reyes, a Dominican, and Wright, a Virginian, are, at essence, talented 23-year-olds who understand they have a responsibility to each other and to an organization that is banking a considerable part of its future on them. On the field, at shortstop and at third base, they are positioned 20 feet apart; in the clubhouse, the distance between them is maybe half that. Slowly and surely, a bond is forming.
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Reyes understands that his job is to score runs, steal bases and hit triples. Wright crushes homers and anchors a powerful heart of the lineup. They are part of a larger Mets constellation of standout players, and they are growing increasingly aware of each other. They do not infringe on the other’s turf. Their paths intersect, but they do not collide.
“You have two kids from two separate worlds, and you would never know it because they get along so well,” General Manager Omar Minaya said.
Even on days when Pedro Martínez prances around wearing a Yoda mask, it is the interplay of Reyes and Wright that invigorates the clubhouse. On a recent afternoon at Fenway Park in Boston, Wright started poking fun at Reyes’s halting, though rapidly improving, English. Reyes retaliated by reminding Wright that he knows more English than Wright knows Spanish.
“Ooh, touché,” Ramón Castro said.
For his part, Reyes has taught Wright some Spanish, though not enough to guide him through a breathless phone call from one of Reyes’s cousins, a huge Wright fan. But he’s improving, Reyes said.
“We communicate great already,” Wright said. “But I’d like to learn more. I’d like to do anything that would make our relationship stronger.”
Asked how he is feeling, Reyes does not change his answer. He is always good, papi. Tranquilo. He would make a great companion on a roller coaster, laughing at each stomach-turning loop. His mere entrance into the clubhouse prompts hoots and snorts. He struts in, often with a cellphone to his ear, wearing an outfit perfect for a nightclub: designer jeans, trendy sunglasses, garish shirt and jewelry that overflows from his Gucci slip-ons.
Cliff Floyd calls Reyes the Dominican Lenny Kravitz. Wright calls him a rock star. But after games, Reyes retreats to his apartment in Bayside, Queens, where he lives with his parents, and his girlfriend and their 18-month-old daughter, Katerine.
Wright, like his handshake preferences, is understated. He pulls off the fraternity look with ease: flip-flops, madras shorts, a pastel polo shirt and a visor that conceals an often unruly head of hair. A bachelor, Wright receives marriage requests by the gross. But he seems to have a sense of perspective, having established a charitable foundation and making a noticeable effort before games to sign autographs and pose for photographs.
Dominican and Virginian, leadoff hitter and slugger, their evolving friendship seems too good to be true, as if it were from a children’s book.
“But it isn’t,” Wright said. “We never played on the same team in the minors, but we were always aware of each other, you know? We understand that this is a job, but we can’t not have fun out there together. We keep each other loose.”
Wright said he might surprise Reyes and accept his open invitation to visit him in the Dominican Republic this off-season.
“Just show up on his doorstep,” Wright said.
“I’d love that,” Reyes said. “I’d show him around the cities, introduce him to my family. We’d have a great time.”
And there would be one other thing on the agenda. By next season, Reyes said, they will have advanced from their current handshake. Something a little more intriguing is in order, he said.
“We’ll have a new one next year,” Reyes promised. “I’ve already got something in mind.”
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