Some rivalries last forever.
Speaking on Baseball Night in New York on Tuesday, former Mets infielder José Reyes touched on his beef with the Philadelphia Phillies, and specifically, Chase Utley.
Reyes was asked which team, or player, he disliked the most.
“Philadelphia, because I always got to Philly and they would ‘boo’ me,” he said. “The guy that I don’t like, we never (said) hello to each other, was Chase Utley.
“We went to Japan, to play that series in Japan, he played second base, I played shortstop. We never said hello. So after what he did to (Ruben) Tejada...” Reyes trailed off, shaking his head.
Reyes is referring to Utley’s controversial slide in the 2015 National League Divisional Series. Utley, who was with the Dodgers at the time, slid into Tejada, breaking his right leg.
Reyes batted .283 with 517 steals, 1,180 runs and a a 37.4 WAR (Baseball Reference) in his 16-year career. He departed the Mets after the 2011 season, signing with the Marlins. He returned to New York in 2016 as a free agent after a trade to the Colorado Rockies in 2015 and a release a year later. He retired in New York after the 2018 season.
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(NJ Advance Media’s Jimmy Hascup contributed to this report.)
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Bridget Hyland may be reached at bhyland@njadvancemedia.com.