Jose Reyes made his return to the Mets -- and MLB -- last night after serving a 52-game suspension for violating MLB's domestic violence policy, and FS1's C.J. Nitkowski noted a "lot of people are a little upset" by his return to the game ("MLB Whiparound," FS1, 7/5). Reyes received a standing ovation prior to his first at-bat, and MLB Network's Tom Verducci said, "I personally wouldn’t do that because I’m not going to sign off like nothing happened, something very serious happened.” MLB Network’s Cliff Floyd: "The proper reaction is probably just to sit there and hope he helps your team and then you cheer for him later" ("MLB Tonight," MLB Network, 7/5). ESPN's Adnan Virk said, "Some moralists don’t like the fact the Jose Reyes is even back in Major League Baseball, but he served his punishment" ("Baseball Tonight," ESPN, 7/5).
BLUEPRINTS FOR SUCCESS: In N.Y., Billy Witz writes it is "hard to miss the fingerprints" of Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein on the rosters for next week's MLB All-Star Game. Cubs players "make up the starting infield" for the NL, while CF Dexter Fowler, "whom Epstein acquired in a trade, was also selected as a starter." And even though Epstein left the Red Sox after '11, "all four of the All-Star starters with the Red Sox were acquired" while he was their GM (N.Y. TIMES, 7/6). ESPN’s Buster Olney said of Cubs SS Addison Russell being voted into the starting lineup, “Another guy benefitting from the fact that the Cubs’ fans turned out to vote. You can just imagine the Cubs’ fans sitting on the computer, just hit all the Cubs’ names. He gets a lot of the votes” ("MLB All-Star Selection Show," ESPN, 7/5).
GAME ON: The GUARDIAN's Jasper Jackson reports EPL club Manchester City has hired 18-year-old gamer Kieran Brown to represent the club "at eSports tournaments and fan events." He will "play for the team" on the EA's "FIFA 16," do "live streaming on Amazon’s gaming site Twitch and making videos for the club’s YouTube channel." EPL club West Ham and Bundesliga club Wolfsberg also have both hired gamers this year (THEGUARDIAN.com, 7/6).
