Continuing through the lot of 8×10 photos I recently acquired, today we’ve reached Jose Valentin.

Valentin played in the majors for parts of 16 seasons, spending 8 years with the Milwaukee Brewers, 5 years with the Chicago White Sox and one year with the L.A. Dodgers before arriving in New York in 2006.

The Mets originally expected Valentin to be a utility player, but he ended up becoming the team’s starting second baseman in 2006. Valentin hit .271 with 18 home runs and 62 RBI in 432 at-bats. For a good part of the season, he was a key contributor to the Mets’ offense. By the time the playoffs started, Valentin was starting to look tired. He only managed six hits in 33 at-bats, though he did drive in five runs (three in the Mets 12-5 victory in NLCS Game 4 and the only two in the Mets 4-2 loss in NLCS Game 5.)

Valentin returned in 2007, but had his season cut short when a foul ball broke his right tibia. He attempted comebacks in 2008 and 2009, but he didn’t make the team either year.