Sports

JERSEY JONES HOMECOMING A BIT SOONER

In the mind of Bobby M. Jones Port St. Lucie, isn’t a retirement paradise. For the injured Mets reliever, it’s been a purgatory only Dante could have created.

Jersey Jones had been recovering from tendinitis in his left shoulder in the Mets’ spring training home, but a knee injury in a rehab start there lengthened the long road back.

Finally, the 29-year-old left-hander flew into the New York area Saturday night and threw a 10-minute bullpen session yesterday, hastening a return that seemed impossible a few weeks ago.

“I’m happy they brought home last night so I could see my family,” said Jones, a father of two. “I really appreciate it. It did a helluva lot of good, I think.”

From here, Jones can see the future. Out of options, he can pitch in the minors on rehab. If the Mets can’t keep him when he becomes 100 percent healthy, they’ll try to pass him through waivers.

He said the club will probably want him to make three or four rehab starts before this happens.

“It’s not my decision,” he said. “If I can’t be here, I’ll be with somebody else. But this is where I want to be.”

Jones was placed on the disabled list on March 29 with left rotator cuff tendinitis. On May 20, he suffered a right knee injury while trying to field a grounder in a Class A game. He returned to New York after the knee injury, but the training staff felt he could get more one-on-one support in Florida.

Jones tried not to go stir crazy through the whole process. He tried fishing with outdoors enthusiast Eric Cammack, who’s on the 60-day disabled list.

Mainly, he was one of the best customers at a local movie theater that was just built. No word on whether he saw “Dude, Where’s My Car?” or “Monkey Bone.”

“I’d go back there just about every night and check some things out,” Jones said. “That’s what it’s come to.

“You’ve got to do some things to keep your mind healthy.”

Jones seems to be in a great frame of mind now. He joked about buying his rental car, which he’s used for the past five months.

“I told the guy at the Enterprise I was going to put rims on it and tint the windows,” he said. “He called me up the next day and told me to change cars. Said I had that one too long.

“Everybody’s been working with me a little bit to keep me sane.”