Jason Bay returned to New York last night, though not to Citi Field, the House of Horrors that may have helped wreck his career with the Mets.
Bay said he is not taking any pleasure in his former team still not being able to find major-league caliber outfielders.
“I’ve kind of moved on,” Bay said of his days with the Mets before he batted second and went 0-for-4 for the Mariners in Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Yankees in The Bronx. “I’m just trying to enjoy baseball again.”
Bay still is blaming himself for his failure with the Mets.
“It’s all on me,” Bay said. “New York didn’t work out. … It’s something I’ll always — not regret — but obviously wish I’d done better.”
Bay, who agreed to a buyout last offseason, has gotten off to a decent start in Seattle but still is hitting just .241.
“It’s still been a struggle,” said Bay, who has had considerably more success against lefties than right-handers. “I’ve had to adjust to not being in there every day.”
Bay has hit four homers for the Mariners, half as many as he hit all of last year with the Mets, and he has given up trying to figure out what went wrong.
“I kind of struggled at the wrong time,” Bay said. “I feel it’s behind me and when I got to Seattle, I don’t want to say I’m at peace with it, but I can only control what I can control. I wish I had done better [with the Mets], but that’s not helping me now.”
Instead, Bay is trying to make the best of things in the AL West.
“I turned down offers with more playing time to be close to home,” he said. “I had to basically make the team out of spring training, and I knew that.”
Bay also no longer has the pressure of a huge contract hovering over him.
“If I’m playing right now, it’s because I deserve to be playing,” Bay said. “It’s not because of external factors pushing one way or another. … In a weird way, I kind of relish that.”