MET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE – A year ago, former replacement player Rick Reed sat in on the Players Association’s annual spring training meeting, a sign of tacit informal acceptance from the union.
But yesterday at the same meeting Reed decided on his own not to attend. The 32-year-old pitcher who is by far the most prominent former replacement player sat at a picnic table outside the clubhouse with a couple of minor-leaguers.
Reed, the most prominent player to cross the picket line in 1995 and play in replacement games, said he wasn’t told by anyone to get lost, but decided he should not be there.
“Why would I want to sit in on something I’m not a part of?” Reed said. “Nobody asked me to leave. I just decided to do it on my own. What am I going to get out of it?”
Reed applied for readmission into the union last year and when he joined the meeting he was hopeful he would get back in. But back then a high-ranking union official said Reed and the other replacement players would never get back in.
Reed was asked if his decision not to attend the meeting showed an acceptance on his part that he would never get in.
“No,” he said. “I’m not giving up.” *Jason Isringhausen, who was sent to the minors on Tuesday, said the Mets told him they want him to pitch 180 major-league innings this year, which means they are either deceiving him or they have him in their plans for this summer.
Isringhausen and Paul Wilson reported to minor-league camp on time Wednesday, despite the fact they could have taken three days off. Both have been pitching very well this spring, but Isringhausen is further behind in his rehabilitation from elbow surgery.
He has known since the winter that he would spend at least a month in Triple-A Norfolk before anything happens. *Bobby Valentine ran out his Opening Day lineup last night, with Rickey Henderson leading off followed by Edgardo Alfonzo, John Olerud, Mike Piazza, Bobby Bonilla, Robin Ventura, Brian McRae and Rey Ordonez.