The re-birth of Fernando Tatis

As has been well documented, the New York Mets have made a huge turnaround in their season since manager Jerry Manuel took over for Willie Randolph just over a month ago. One of the big reasons for the resurgence has been Fernando Tatis. Tatis replaced Ryan Church in right field about two months ago. Church, himself a good acquisition by the Mets in the off-season, had been playing well statistically but is currently sidelined with post-concussion syndrome after a few incidents.

Tatis is a veteran who is known for hitting two grand slams in a single inning back in 1999, while with the St. Louis Cardinals. That season he went on to post 34 home runs, 107 RBI, 21 stolen bases, and a .298 batting average. Since then he's been all over the majors, minors, and even out of pro baseball.

In 2007 Tatis signed with the Mets and spent the season with the New Orleans Zephyrs, New York's AAA affiliate. He spent much of this spring with the Zephyrs until getting called up in May. As a Mets fan here in Oregon, I hoped to see New Orleans when they made their trip to Portland in early May. Unfortunately I already had plans for a weekend in Reno then, and couldn't make it to the games. The one name that stood out to me on the Zephyrs roster was Tatis, because of his exploits years ago. Soon after the Mets called him up.

Tatis currently has a .322 batting average along with 7 homers and 28 RBI.

Here's to hoping he continues to play well, and helps lead the team into the playoffs.