ShareThisPORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - As Jason Bay arrived at the New York Mets' spring-training headquarters Tuesday morning, the three-time All-Star found himself amid familiar surroundings.
Well, sort of.
"I spent a few lovely months here with the St. Lucie Mets," Bay said at Tradition Field, still called Thomas J. White Stadium back when he played there. "I don't still remember anything, though. It was so long ago."
It was 2002.
Bay, then a minor-league outfielder, had been traded in March, moving from the Montreal Expos to the Mets, who assigned him to their Class A affiliate on the Treasure Coast.
Four months later, however, the Mets sent him to San Diego and, the following May, he hit a home run in his major-league debut.
Now, he's back -- back with the Mets, back at Tradition Field.
And things have changed.
There are more houses, more people, more places to shop and eat and socialize.
There's even a Starbucks.
"I live in Seattle," Bay said, "so the coffee is a big deal to me."
Bay, meanwhile, is a big deal to the Mets, who signed him to a four-year, $66 million contract in December.
The Mets suffered through a noticeable power shortage last season, when All-Star third baseman David Wright hit only 10 home runs and the team lost several key players to injury en route to losing 92 games and failing to reach the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
So, they're relying on the 31-year-old left fielder to add some much-needed pop to the lineup. And the Mets need that power.
Last season, while playing for the Boston Red Sox, Bay hit 36 home runs (2nd) with 119 RBI (3rd) to rank among the American League's leaders and earn his first Silver Slugger award.
But can he do it in New York, where the fans and media are as demanding as any anywhere? Can he put up similar numbers at Citi Field, hardly a hitter-friendly park? Did either of those factors give him any pause before deciding to take the Mets' offer? Bay says no.
"I honestly never gave the ballpark any second thought," said Bay. "Or geography. A lot of people had me pegged as a West Coast guy because I live in Seattle. But you get a chance, if you're lucky, to be a free agent once or twice in your lifetime. Why are you going to limit yourself to a ballpark or a city? I played in Pittsburgh. It's not PETCO (in San Diego), by any means, but it's definitely not Fenway (Park) over in left field, either.
"I'm confident with myself. At the end of the day, I try to get on base and try to knock in runs. If you knock in 100 runs with 10 home runs, so be it. That's by no means my plan."
Bay said he doesn't set numerical goals, but, "Every year, I set out to play in as many games as I can, because I feel if I do that, the numbers will be there."
They'll need to be -- if the Mets hope to re-energize their skeptical fan base and stay with the defending N.L.-champion Philadelphia Phillies in the East.
And despite the cynicism that surrounds this team in New York, Bay believes these Mets are good enough to win.
"I obviously knew the performance last year, record-wise, wasn't what a lot of people wanted," Bay said. "I also understand there were a lot of injuries. But I can't really understand where all the animosity was coming from. I don't really get it.
"Maybe that's good for me, just to come in with a clean slate and see what I see. But there's no reason to think this year shouldn't be a lot better."
If you think Bay is a bit naïve, don't be fooled.
Remember: This is the guy who was traded to Boston to replace Manny Ramirez and performed better than many expected. So don't look for him to wilt under the pressure of playing in New York.
"I think if I would've come some straight from Pittsburgh, like I came from Pittsburgh to Boston, there might've been a little bit of a period of getting used to how everything works. Now, I feel I'm comfortable."
Certainly, he looked comfortable sitting in the dugout, surrounded by the Mets media swarm, easily chatting about both baseball and non-baseball topics.
Such as: His British Columbian roots, which made Canada's loss to the U.S. this week in Olympic hockey tough to swallow: "That stung a little bit."
His high school curling experience: "They needed an extra guy. I wasn't any good. It was more of an excuse to go out on the ice and sweep around for a couple of hours and get a little exercise, then drink a couple of beers afterward."
ESPN's Peter Gammons telling a Boston radio audience in December that Bay would rather play in "Beirut than Queens" this season: "(It) didn't really sit well with me, only because I never spoke to Peter Gammons. If it had been portrayed as that was his opinion, fine by me. But it was portrayed as he had some inside scoop. I didn't think it was fair."
He also said he feels as healthy as he ever has.
And he's glad to be here.
Again.
Especially now that we've got a Starbucks.
(Ray McNulty is a columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers in Florida. For more of his thoughts on sports, you can follow his blog at www.tcpalm.com/mcnulty. He can be reached at ray.mcnulty(at)scripps.com. )
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