Rajai Davis, The Missing Met, Shows Up In Time For Game-Winning Heroics Vs. Nationals

Rajai Davis Saves The Game Getting lost in New York City is not uncommon. Showing up late for work is not uncommon. But Rajai Davis’ story is. He got...

Rajai Davis Saves The Game

Getting lost in New York City is not uncommon. Showing up late for work is not uncommon. But Rajai Davis’ story is. He got lost at his place of work after being just a bit tardy.

The New York Mets called the journeyman up from the minors at around 5 p.m. on Wednesday. At the time he was at batting practice with Triple-A Syracuse in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, before a scheduled game. Davis contacted Uber and spent about two hours (going roughly 110 miles) heading for Citi Field and the Mets’ meeting with the Washington Nationals.

You know New York traffic. He arrived during the third inning.
In the eighth, in his first at-bat with the club, he hit a three-run homer as the Mets broke loose for six runs in their eventual 6-1 victory.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

“I think I saw him in the fifth or the sixth for the first time,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. “He got here about the third. He Ubered over, got ready, came out, hit a homer, came inside, didn’t know where the clubhouse was, how to get back in, had to ask some people, ‘Which way do I go to get back in the clubhouse?’ And just slapped high-fives going into the line. Yeah, a whirlwind day for Raj; great at-bat.”

Davis, 38, grew up in Connecticut as a Mets fan. He hit one home run last year with the Cleveland Indians; the Mets are the eighth team of his career. His homer came as a pinch hitter. And so he helped win a game against the Nats, and not for Syracuse against the Allentown Iron Pigs.

In summary?

“Well,” said Davis, “it was a normal day when it started.”

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman