Marauders Coach Reyes Looks To Repay Pirates

Milver Reyes took the initiative to strap on the shin guards, the chest protector and mask when the catcher on his high school team failed to arrive for a playoff game.

It was certainly a decision the 28-year-old native of San Felipe, Venezuela, does not regret. Not long after becoming a starting backstop, the Pittsburgh Pirates offered a contract to the former third baseman.

That is when it became decision time for Jose Reyes and Carmen Colmenarez. Knowing that their son still had one year of high school remaining, they reluctantly agreed to let Milver sign with the Pirates on July 7, 1999.

“That was very hurtful for my parents, but they knew that was my dream and they supported me,” Reyes said.

Less than two months away from his 17th birthday, Reyes was among the young prospects completing their education and training at the Pirates’ Venezuelan Academy. Having shown enough promise during the 2000 Venezuelan Summer League season and fall instructional league play in the United States, Reyes earned his first invitation to minor league spring training at Bradenton’s .

Reyes never hit higher than .227 for Pittsburgh’s affiliates at the Rookie, Short-Season Class-A, Low Class-A and Class-A Advanced levels from 2001-05. He reached the Double-A level in 2006 and split the 2007 season between the Double-A Altoona Curve and the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.

A 53-game stint with the Curve in 2008 signaled the beginning of a transition, but not the end of the dream for Reyes. Although he played 14 games in Altoona in 2009, he was mostly a player/coach for the Pirates’ South Atlantic League affiliate in Charleston, W.Va.

“The Pittsburgh Pirates have treated me very well,” Reyes said. “I love being a Pittsburgh Pirate, so I decided it was time to start my new career as a coach and continue to represent the Pirates.”

As a player/coach for the first-year Bradenton Marauders in 2010, Reyes was forced to catch two games. He hopes that his duties this season are restricted to working with Bradenton catchers Carlos Paulino and Ramon Cabrera, coaching first base and filing reports to and Pittsburgh brass.

“More than anything I was worried about making it all nine innings because it was so hot,” Reyes said about last year’s catching experience. “I saw two catchers from different teams suffer from dehydration. I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this.’ Luckily, I had continued doing my workouts.”

Reyes considers himself fortunate enough to have worked on the staffs of former Marauders manager and current Altoona manager P.J. Forbes and Garcia. He feels that learning different approaches to the game is crucial to him rising through the coaching ranks and eventually becoming a manager.

Ultimately, Reyes intends to be in uniform when the Pirates win a World Series championship. It would be the best way to pay back the organization for giving him a career and providing him the opportunity to raise 3-year-old daughter, Mercedez, and 4-month-old son, Milver Alejandro, with his wife of eight years, Servita, in Palmetto.

“Baseball has taught me everything,” Reyes said. “It has taught me to be a good son, a good father and a good husband. It has taught me that the way you take care of your business or your job is how you’re supposed to take care of your home life and your family.”