Among the first Mets Rickey Henderson greeted yesterday was star pupil Jose Reyes. It didn’t take long for Reyes to crack a smile.
“Now we’re going to be tricking the pitcher a little more,” Henderson, the Mets’ new first-base coach, told Reyes.
If there’s a match made in Mets heaven, Henderson and Reyes could be it, with the past and present having converged, perhaps to transform an already excellent base-stealing team into one for the ages.
Reyes, with a major-league-leading 46 stolen bases, is the biggest factor in that equation, but Carlos Beltran and David Wright are other key components for a team that leads the majors with 110 steals. Henderson, baseball’s stolen-base king, will be their guide.
“It’s going to be crazy,” Reyes said. “We can use a guy that has a lot of energy. We’re not going to see him once or twice every two months; now he going to be with the team every day, so it’s going to be better for me.”
Henderson built relationships with many of the Mets as a spring-training instructor, making his full-time addition to the coaching staff welcome news for many. He also will oversee the outfielders. Former first-base coach Howard Johnson will handle the hitters, replacing Rick Down, who was fired Wednesday.
Wright said it makes no difference that Henderson has no previous major-league coaching experience. The Mets will have no problem listening and learning from him.
“You get an advantage when you’ve played the game and were successful at the big-league level,” Wright said. “You automatically have the respect of the clubhouse.”
Beltran said he has learned plenty about stealing bases from Henderson in a short time.
“Henderson always said, ‘I never tried to take a big lead. I always tried to get the best jump I could get,’ ” Beltran said.
With Henderson just a few feet away from Mets baserunners in the coaching box, Beltran said such lessons will be regularly reinforced.
“I know he will be ready to say, ‘Carlos, this will be a good count for you to steal,’ ” Beltran said. “He’s good at that, so it’s going to be fun having him at first.”