MLB teams
Adam Rubin, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Slain NYPD cops' families visit Mets

MLB, New York Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Two new lockers were assembled in the New York Mets' spring training clubhouse Friday, each bearing the name "Ramos."

Justin and Jaden Ramos, the teenage sons of slain NYPD officer Rafael Ramos, are special guests of captain David Wright and the ballclub this weekend. Ramos and partner Wenjian Liu were ambushed while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn in December.

Wright, the son of the retired assistant police chief in Norfolk, Virginia, reached out to Ramos' sons shortly after the tragedy. The Mets invited Justin, 19, and Jaden, 13, to spring training. Both are Mets fans.

Wright described the phone call to the sons in December as "one of the more difficult things I've ever had to do."

Said Wright: "I think it was Christmas Eve. You've got a couple of kids who just lost their father. I have no idea what to say. The only thing I really could say is to just offer my condolences and let them know that their father is a hero and how much I appreciate what their father did for the community, the city."

A Mets official chaperoned Jaden through the clubhouse Friday, introducing him to Mets players, including starter Matt Harvey. Both sons will be in uniform this weekend as ball boys. 

Liu's widow, Pei Xia Chen, and her family members are also visiting this weekend as guests of the ballclub. Mets owner Fred Wilpon met with the families Friday, telling them that he was 28 when he lost his father, and his dad's memory is still an influence on decisions he makes to this day.

"The fact that they took the offer to come down and hang out means a lot to us, because obviously with my situation with my father, we've got a very close relationship with the police department," Wright said. "To have part of that [extended police] family down here means a lot.

"Even if they weren't Mets fans, I grew up with a police officer as a father. The phone call was more about that and not baseball or the Mets."

Both families went to dinner with Wright and other players Friday.

"That was awesome," Justin Ramos said. "Like every five minutes, I would run up to him, 'I'm having dinner with David Wright.' In fourth grade, he was like my biggest idol. That definitely is a surreal moment for me."

Ramos' widow, Maritza, said it was great to see smiles on her boys' faces.

"It's actually brought a smile to my face to see them so happy," she said. "What the Mets are doing is amazing. I've always been a Mets fan. So thank you to the Mets. Thank you to everyone who has shown so much love and support to our family."

"We will always remember that we had a wonderful time with the Mets at spring training," said Liu's widow, Pei Xia Chen.

Honoring police officers is important to Wright, whose father, Rhon, retired Jan. 1, 2014, in their native Virginia. David Wright's charity foundation regularly honored police officers last season at Citi Field.

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