PORT ST. LUCIE — Zack Short received sad news Sunday morning that his grandmother passed away. Two hours later, the Mets called him into manager Carlos Mendoza’s Clover Park office where he received the best news possible: He made an Opening Day roster for the first time in his career.
“It was a crazy, crazy morning,” an emotional Short said.
It was a wild swing of emotions for the infielder who grew up in the Hudson Valley rooting for the Mets. Not only will he be on the field for Opening Day festivities for the first time, but he’ll be wearing the uniform he always dreamed of wearing as a kid.
“It’s something bigger than me, that’s for sure,” Short said. “I remember growing up watching the Mets basically every day. My dad’s side of the family got me on the fandom.”
As Short previously told the Daily News, his father Wayne, a golf pro, would leave notes on Short’s bed every morning during the summer telling him whether the Mets won or lost. His mom, Tracie, had summers off as a teacher and would take Short to see the Yankees, the preferred team of her side of the family. But Short was all in on the Mets.
He loved the upper deck at Shea Stadium. When Wayne bought tickets for a game during the 2000 World Series, 5-year-old Zack wanted to sit in the upper deck, even though his father offered to spring for better seats. It’s a core memory for Short, who will now get a chance to play in front of other parent-child duos in the upper deck of Citi Field.
“I remember vividly walking up the stairs or the seats or whatever, into the upper deck,” Short said. “Seeing Shea Stadium from up there, it’s pretty cool.”
Short, who was claimed off waivers from the Detroit Tigers in November, came into spring training hoping to crack the team out of camp, but knowing it was an uphill battle with utility infielder Joey Wendle having been signed to a Major League contract. The two infielders developed a friendship this spring with their lockers next to one another with Wendle, a veteran leader, offering advice and encouragement on how to handle the situation this spring.
Short impressed the Mets right away with his glove and his range, especially at third base, where he made acrobatic diving plays in early Grapefruit League games. But then he started hitting and didn’t stop, and the Mets had to rethink their roster plans.
The 29-year-old Short made adjustments over the winter that helped his ability to hit to the opposite field. A right-handed hitter, Short hit .303 with one home run — a grand slam — three doubles, eight RBI, two stolen bases and an .895 OPS.
“I always had a tough time crashing forward,” Short said. “There are a lot of hitting philosophies out there and this offseason I really tried to figure out a way to stay back while going forward. I got to work really early this offseason and I kind of figured there’d be change coming in my career with the Tigers. It was kind of a look-in-the-mirror type of situation where it’s like, you can keep going down this pathway of your life every day, or you can try to switch something. And if you’re going to go down, you can at least go down with a fight.”
Each time another round of cuts came, Short waited for his call to Mendoza’s office. It never came. Still, every day he would look to his left and see Wendle and expect it to come.
“It’s funny, Joey and I joked about that very recently,” he said. “We drove together down to Jupiter last time that we were there. He’s great. He was like, ‘Listen, I get it, I’m sure it was tough to see that.’ After that, the calls kind of never came.”
How long Short will last with the Mets is unknown. He’s out of minor-league options and it’s not common to carry two utility infielders. The Mets will have to make room on the roster when J.D. Martinez is ready to be activated as well.
If he hits, he’ll stick. Short is hoping to gain some insight into hitting from Martinez, who loves to share knowledge on the subject with other players. For now, it’s a feel-good story for a lifelong Mets fan.
“It still hasn’t hit me,” he said. “But I think when I make that drive to Citi Field on Thursday, and put that jersey on – the real jersey on – for the first time, it’s going to hit pretty special.”
