There sure are a lot of guys leaving spring training this year, not sure what to make of it.
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JUPITER, Fla. -- Florida Marlins second baseman Pokey Reese failed to show up for two consecutive days of spring training without explanation, briefly raising concerns regarding his whereabouts before he contacted his agent, the team said Friday.
General manager Larry Beinfest said Reese gave no indication that he was taking time off, and for two days the team had no idea where he was.
"We tried to track him down starting yesterday," Beinfest said Friday. "He was playing well. He looked healthy. We were happy with him, and he appeared to be happy."
Worries were allayed Friday evening by Reese's agent, Mike Nicotera.
"We have been informed through his agent that he is safe," said team spokesman Matt Roebuck, who added that the club had been told nothing further.
Nicotera didn't return calls seeking comment.
Reese missed a workout Thursday. The Marlins had him in the lineup for Friday's game against Baltimore, but he again failed to show.
Reese, a two-time Gold Glove winner, spent all of last season on the disabled list with the Seattle Mariners following shoulder surgery. He signed with the Marlins in December.
"I'm not upset with him," manager Joe Girardi said before Reese surfaced. "I just want to hear his voice that he's OK."
Reese, 32, who grew up in a depressed neighborhood in Columbia, S.C., has been forced to cope with a succession of family tragedies. His fiancée died in a car crash in 1993. Three years later, the mother of his son, Naquawan, died while delivering a child fathered by another man.
Naquawan went to live with his maternal grandmother and great-grandmother. Both women were murdered Dec. 24, 1997.
"Baseball helps me free my mind from the past," Reese said shortly after reporting to spring training with the Marlins last week.
He began his major league career in 1997 with Cincinnati and won a World Series ring with Boston in 2004.