In perhaps his final game with the New York Mets Wednesday night, vainglorious shortstop Jose Reyes made an inglorious exit.
From the New York Times:
Reyes, in Batting Race, Goes 1 for 1, Then Exits
If Jose Reyes indeed played his last game for the Mets on Wednesday afternoon, his final exit from Citi Field played out in curious fashion.
Reyes, who will be a free agent after the season ends, entered Wednesday locked in a tight race for the National League batting title with Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. He started the day batting .336, just ahead of Braun, at .335.
And so Reyes batted – actually, bunted – once, got a hit, and departed, knowing that Braun would “[have] to go 3 for 3 or 3 for 4 to overtake Reyes in the race for the batting title.”
(For the record, Braun went 0 for 4, finishing at .332.)
Bad form by Reyes, and bad timing too: He pulled his disappearing act on the 70th anniversary of Ted Williams’ opposite choice.
Again from the Times:
A footnote: Wednesday was the 70th anniversary of Ted Williams’s decision to play a doubleheader on the final day of the 1941 season even though he could have sat out and finished with a .400 batting average. Williams was 6 for 8 in the two games and finished with a .406 average, the last time anyone has hit over .400.
Teddy Ballgame vs. Jose Bush League.
No contest.
Campaign Outsider 
You just pointed out the difference between the small players of today, and the giants of yesterday. Ted Williams put a truly historic accomplishment on the line, and enhanced it, while Jose Bush League, with the complicity of his manager diminished his accomplishment. Today’s players may be more muscular, and better conditioned (when they feel like it), but with the salaries they earn, are not hungry to excel. Who among them today, are going to be remembered as heroes, 20, 30, 50 years from now?
Amen to that, Al.