FORT MYERS, FLA. - Twins staffers used to tell Ben Revere that he had an unusual effect on the general manager.
"They said, 'We never see Terry Ryan smile,' " Revere said. " 'But when you're around, he always smiles.' "
Turns out, Revere can make Ryan cry too.
He got to the verge of it, anyway, during the phone call last Dec. 6 when Ryan broke the news to Revere that his six-season career with the Twins was over. The Phillies had offered two young pitchers for the Twins' base-stealer, and the offer was too good to turn down.
"We talked for at least 30 minutes. Terry kind of teared up a little bit, and made me tear up," Revere said of that goodbye call. "I told him, 'Thank you for the opportunity, for giving me a chance to get to the big leagues.' "
Revere thought he had inherited center field and the leadoff spot when Denard Span was traded in late November. Instead, he was shocked a week later to be headed out of town too.
On Wednesday, Revere saw his former teammates for the first time since the trade, and he quickly reminded the Twins of what they will be missing. Wearing No. 2 instead of his old No. 11 -- "Of course, Denard called me and said, 'Oh, you want to copy me, don't you?' " Revere said with a laugh -- he led off the exhibition game by lining a single to right, stole second, then scored on a single by Ryan Howard.
"That's what he does," manager Ron Gardenhire said of his former outfielder, who collected two hits in four at-bats and scored two runs in the Phillies' 12-5 loss to the Twins. "He put a couple of nice swings out there. He can hit."