David Wright reflects on Mets’ jersey retirement plans: 5 takeaways from No. 5

On By Littum

David Wright began his discussion of the New York Mets retiring his jersey number by taking a moment to acknowledge the wildfires in Los Angeles. For Wright, whose wife is from Southern California, the situation hits close to home. He expressed his empathy for the victims of the wildfires, those who have lost their homes.

This was typical of Wright, the Mets’ all-time leader in so many statistics and someone who also set a standard when it came to representing the club off the field.

Wright finally spent an hour Wednesday revisiting the anecdotes and accolades that made his 14-year career, all with the Mets, worthy of special recognition. New York will be out of Wright’s no. 5 in a pre-game ceremony before the match at 4:10 p.m. vs. Cincinnati Reds on July 19.

“I don’t think it hit me,” Wright told reporters on a video call. “I don’t think it’s ever going to hit me. I really feel it’s a bit undeserved, given the skill and performance of some of the acts that I’ll be up there with.”

A little undeserved? Perhaps only Wright would even suggest such a thought. Wright is the franchise leader in hits (1,777), RBIs (970), runs (949), doubles (390), extra-base hits (658), walks (762) and Baseball-References WAR for position players (49.2). He is second in games played (1,585) and home runs (242). He is third in batting average (.296). He is fourth in stolen bases (196) and on-base percentage (.376). He won two Gold Glove Awards at third base. He made seven All-Star teams. In 2013, he was named the fourth captain in franchise history.

Wright’s no. 5 joins 10 others: Tom Seaver (41), Mike Piazza (31), Jerry Koosman (36), Keith Hernandez (17), Willie Mays (24), Dwight Gooden (16), Darryl Strawberry (18), manager Gil Hodges (14), manager Casey Stengel (37) and Jackie Robinson (42).

“I joke that I think there should be a special section for my number because it probably doesn’t deserve to be among the really, really good players in the organization,” Wright said. “So I am incredibly grateful for the honour. I don’t take it lightly. I am humble. For the organization, the fan base, the city, the ownership, Steve and Alex Cohen, to see me in this light, that obviously means a lot to me.”

Wright’s session with reporters Wednesday went beyond the numbers, leading to five thoughts on his legacy.


David Wright tips his cap to the crowd after a game late in 2018, the final season of his career. (Brad Penner / USA Today)

Wright joins Seaver as the only players to have their number retired and enter the Mets Hall of Fame on the same day. In 2013, Seaver threw the ceremonial first pitch of the All-Star Game at Citi Field, where Wright caught it. So it fits. But the bond between the two franchise giants goes even further.

According to Mets vice president of alumni relations and former longtime press relations guru Jay Horwitz, Seaver loved Wright’s appreciation of history. As Wright tells the story of their relationship, Seaver would do most of the talking, with Wright being the willing listener. Whenever Seaver was around the clubhouse, whether it was after a media scrum in the clubhouse or during the team’s stretch, he would pull Wright aside and talk about things like balancing life on and off the field.

Every year, Seaver invited Wright to his vineyard in Northern California. Seaver would ask Wright to bring boots because he wanted to put Wright to work. But as a reward, Seaver would offer wine and dinner. The two Mets icons never experienced that reunion until Seaver’s death in 2020.

Wright calls it one of his biggest regrets.

“I never took that offer up,” Wright said. “And to this day I wish I would have taken him up on that offer.”

The connection between Wright and Mets fans always felt real, especially to those who grew up in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Wright, called up in 2004, was one of the top Mets prospects who actually broke out. Immediately he was good. Better than that, he felt like one of their own.

Wright grew up just outside Norfolk, Virginia, which for years served as the home of the Mets’ Triple-A team. Wright’s father worked as a police officer, and many of his friends provided security for the Triple-A team when they were off duty. So Wright would get autographs or foul balls or pictures with the Norfolk players. One of his biggest thrills as a kid, he said, was turning on the television to see the player he had just met appear on the screen a week or so later as a member of the Mets.

The Mets, Wright’s favorite team, then drafted him in the first round in 2001. He developed in spring training under the eyes of former Mets notables such as Tim Teufel and Howard Johnson. These were some of Wright’s father’s favorite players.

When the Mets announced their plans this week to retire Wright’s jersey, another member of 1980s Mets lore reached out to Wright: Keith Hernandez, another former Mets captain. Hernandez’s text message contained heartfelt passages and was one of the first Wright received about the honor. When he got it, he immediately called Horwitz to confirm its legitimacy.

“It meant a lot to me for a guy of his stature, what he’s done for this organization and in the game, to reach out and share those kinds of words,” Wright said.

No one has captained the Mets since Wright.

“The captaincy is the greatest honor I will ever receive on a baseball field,” Wright said. “You cannot proclaim yourself captain. It must be bestowed upon you.”

Wright still remembers the day ownership and the front office pitched him the idea of ​​being a captain during spring training.

“I immediately thought, this is not the way this is supposed to work,” Wright said. “This should be someone the players trust. And I don’t care if it’s a guy who has 20 years of experience or a guy who’s a rookie, they should go talk to these guys and make sure , that’s the way they look at me. Because that was the main thing. I didn’t want to be this self-proclaimed leader of this team. I wanted to be seen in that light by other people. “

In carrying out his role as captain, Wright said he tried to keep the “rah-rah stuff” to a minimum. It wasn’t in his nature to be loud or call a lot of team meetings. Instead, he wanted the players to feel that when they had meetings, they were important. He also had a personal approach to getting to know teammates.

“I tried to find every guy every day and pat him on the back and just have a conversation for a couple of minutes,” Wright said, “just to know what makes them tick or how I can lead them better. “

What is Wright most proud of in terms of his accomplishments on the field?

It was an approach he said his father and mother, who drove school buses before becoming elementary school teaching assistants, instilled in him.

“I felt like that blue collar bring-your-lunch-pail-to-work mentality stuck with me my whole career,” Wright said. “I knew I wasn’t the most talented, most gifted player on the field, but I always felt I was the most prepared.

“I think every player, including myself, has regrets. What if this happened? What if it didn’t happen? I can honestly look at you and say I felt like I got the most out of my 6-foot, 200-pound – very slightly athletic – body. I reached my ceiling.

“And that’s something that I don’t think a lot of players can say. I put my head on my pillow at night and I can say I left it all out there. I gave it everything I had. I worked so hard I could. And there’s really nothing I could have done differently on that side.”

For others, it’s easy to look at Wright’s career and wonder: What if? What if he wasn’t diagnosed with spinal stenosis in 2015? What if he continued to be an everyday player into his 30s? After all, from Wright’s age-21 season in 2004 to his age-31 season in 2014, he was on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

“It would have been different if I felt like there was something left in the tank that I had to offer and I think I was completely out of fuel,” Wright said. “Physically, I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

Wright appeared on video from his home office. The room lacked a lot of decor. But the memorabilia in that room was especially special to him.

Next to his Team USA jersey hung his World Series jersey from 2015. Elsewhere, his National League Championship Series ring is mounted. There was also a photo of him and his teammates celebrating in Wrigley Field after winning the pennant that year.

By that season, Wright already figured the end was near for his career. He played in only 38 games in the regular season.

“It shows how important that year was, not necessarily to me personally — you know, I got a chance to come back and experience a lot of the good times coming up in the playoffs — but as an organization and as a city and as a fan base, what fun it was to be a part of that year.

“At that point, the writing was on the wall for me. So I think maybe I was a little more emotional, or a little more, you know, and took the time to enjoy it and appreciate it. But I remember that I sat at my locker and just stared at that patch and smiled and said, ‘How cool is this?’

“It really, really meant a lot to me, and in a way it ended for me, a great run, a career where I accomplished more than I could have ever dreamed of accomplishing. To be able to end it with a World Series- performance was really, really special.”

(Top photo by David Wright: Adam Hunger/Getty Images)