David Wright
David Allen Wright is an American former professional baseball third baseman who spent his entire 14-year Major League Baseball career with the New York Mets. Chosen by the Mets in the 2001 MLB draft, he made his MLB debut on July 21, 2004 at Shea Stadium. Internationally, Wright represented the United States. Wright was nicknamed "Captain America" after his performance in the 2013 World Baseball Classic where he led the tournament with 10 RBI and a.438 batting average and was named to the All-World Baseball Classic Team.
Wright is a seven-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and a member of the 30–30 club. One of the most beloved players in franchise history, Wright is the Mets' all-time leader in career plate appearances and holds many other franchise records for position players. He was named captain of the Mets in 2013, becoming the fourth captain in the team's history. Wright is the third player to play in at least 10 MLB seasons and play his entire MLB career with the Mets.
Throughout the latter half of Wright's career, he was plagued by injuries, most notably spinal stenosis, as well as additional ailments in his neck and shoulder. After missing significant time from 2015 to 2018 and receiving word from doctors that his spinal stenosis would not improve, Wright announced that 2018 would be his final season as an active player. Wright finished his major league career with a.296 career batting average, 242 home runs, and 970 runs batted in. Upon completion of his playing career, Wright was named a special advisor in the Mets front office.
Early life
David Allen Wright was born on December 20, 1982, in Norfolk, Virginia, the oldest of four sons of Rhon, a police officer in the Norfolk Police Department, and Elisa Wright. Wright grew up a Mets fan due to his proximity to the Class AAA Norfolk Tides, whose stadium was ten minutes from his home. Wright took hitting lessons alongside fellow future Major Leaguer Michael Cuddyer in elementary school and played on teams with Ryan Zimmerman, Mark Reynolds, B. J. Upton and Justin Upton during high school. Wright played baseball at Hickory High School in Chesapeake, Virginia. He committed to play college baseball at Georgia Tech before his senior year of high school. As a high school senior, he had a.538 batting average.Professional career
Draft and minor leagues
The New York Mets selected Wright in the 2001 MLB draft during the supplemental round as compensation for the Mets' loss of Mike Hampton to the Colorado Rockies in free agency. Wright was selected after future teammate Aaron Heilman, who had been selected in the first round. According to then-Mets manager Bobby Valentine, Wright had caught the attention of coach Tom Robson who had actually been sent "down to Virginia to scout someone else."Wright progressed steadily in his first three years of minor league play, winning the Sterling award for best player on the class A St. Lucie Mets in 2003. In 2004, he quickly rose from the Double-A Binghamton Mets to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides to the major leagues.
New York Mets (2004–2016, 2018)
2004
On July 21, 2004, Wright made his major league debut starting at third base against the Montreal Expos at Shea Stadium. The next day, Wright picked up his first career hit, a double off of Expos' pitcher Zach Day. On July 26, Wright hit his first major league home run, a solo blast off of pitcher John Patterson. Wright finished his rookie season with a.293 batting average, 14 home runs, and 40 RBI in 263 at-bats in 69 games, and was voted as the This Year in Baseball Awards Rookie of the Year.2005
Wright made an over-the-shoulder barehanded catch during the seventh inning of a game at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres on August 9, 2005. With one out in the inning, Brian Giles hit a broken-bat blooper beyond the edge of the outfield grass. Wright, retreating quickly with his back to home plate, extended his bare right hand and caught the ball cleanly while crashing to the field. Wright maintained control of the ball after landing hard on the outfield grass. The sellout crowd at Petco Park acknowledged the splendor of the catch with a standing ovation lasting several minutes. This play was voted the "This Year in Baseball Play of the Year."In 2005, the 22-year-old Wright played in 160 games and batted.306 with 27 home runs, 102 RBIs, 99 runs scored, 42 doubles, and 17 stolen bases, leading the team in average, runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, RBI, doubles, and finishing second in home runs to Cliff Floyd. Wright was also in the top 10 in the National League for average, hits, total bases, RBI, extra-base hits, and runs. However, his 24 errors tied him with Troy Glaus for the most errors by a third baseman in the major leagues.
2006
In 2006, Wright was named National League Co-Player of the Week for June 12–18 along with teammate José Reyes. For the month, Wright batted.327 with 10 home runs and 29 RBIs.Wright also provided his share of heroics throughout the 2006 season. His first game-winning hit occurred on May 5 with a 2-out double just out of the reach of a chasing Andruw Jones in the bottom of the 14th inning off Jorge Sosa to defeat the Atlanta Braves, 8–7. Two weeks later on May 19, he hit a walk-off single off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera that just sailed over the head of center fielder Johnny Damon as the Mets rallied to beat the Yankees in the first game of the 2006 Subway Series, 7–6. He capped off the month on Memorial Day, May 29, with a single to the wall in left-center field off Arizona Diamondbacks closer José Valverde scoring José Reyes from first base as the Mets defeated Arizona, 8–7. Wright also made a game-saving stop at third base of a would-be game-tying single by Mike Lieberthal for the final out of a 4–3 Mets victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on August 5.
Wright was voted into his first MLB All-Star Game as the starting third baseman for the NL. During the 2006 season, Wright collected 74 RBIs before the All-Star break, breaking the Mets record previously held by Mike Piazza, who had 72 RBIs in 2000. Wright also participated in the 2006 Home Run Derby, reaching the final round but finishing second to Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies. He hit 22 home runs in the contest, including 16 in the first round, the third-highest total in any one round in the history of the Home Run Derby. The following night, he hit a home run in his first All-Star Game at-bat off American League starter Kenny Rogers.
Wright ranked among the club's top three hitters in all offensive categories for the 2006 Mets, who were the second most run-scoring team in the National League. Fans at Shea Stadium have routinely greeted Wright's performances with chants of "M-V-P, M-V-P." According to then-teammate Tom Glavine, "He's probably been our most clutch hitter over the first half of the season and he's certainly thrown his hat into the MVP talks."
On August 6, 2006, Wright signed a 6-year, $55 million contract extension with the Mets, as well as a $1.5 million signing bonus. The contract paid him $1 million in 2007, $5 million in 2008, $7.5 million in 2009, $10 million in 2010, $14 million in 2011, and $15 million in 2012. The contract also contained a club option for 2013 worth $16 million. Wright has already announced that he will donate $1.5 million to the Mets Foundation throughout this contract.
The Mets clinched the NL East title in 2006 and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2000. Wright finished the 2006 season batting.311 with 26 home runs, 116 RBI, 40 doubles, and 20 stolen bases in 154 games played. However, he struggled in his first postseason, going 4-for-25 in the Mets' NLCS loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, and batting.216 in 10 postseason games.
After the season, Wright participated in the 2006 MLB Japan All-Star Series along with teammates José Reyes, Julio Franco, and John Maine.
2007
As of April 21, 2007, Wright had a hitting streak of 26 regular-season games; the previous team record was 24, held by Mike Piazza and Hubie Brooks. He had a hit in the 12 final regular-season games of the 2006 season, and had a hit in all of the first 14 games of the 2007 season. Wright's hit streak of 26 regular-season games ended on April 21, 2007, against the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium.On September 16, 2007, Wright became the 29th player in baseball history to join the 30–30 club, after hitting a 7th inning solo home run against the Philadelphia Phillies at Shea Stadium. He is only the third player to reach this milestone before his 25th birthday, and only the third Met to reach this milestone in club history, the other two being Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry.
Wright finished the 2007 season with a.325 batting average, 30 home runs, 107 RBI, and 34 stolen bases. He was awarded the 2007 Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger Award at third base. Wright also was fourth in the NL MVP voting receiving 182 votes.
2008
Wright began the year with two doubles, including a bases-clearing double, in finishing 2–4 with three RBIs in the Mets' Opening Day victory over the Florida Marlins, 7–2. With the RBIs, Wright was already halfway to matching his RBI production from the preceding April. In the final game of the series, Wright went 3–5 with a home run. On April 13, 2008, Wright hit his 100th career home run, a solo shot off of Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jeff Suppan.On August 7, Wright hit the first walk-off home run of his career against the San Diego Padres, giving the Mets a 5–3 victory.
On November 5, Wright was announced as the recipient of the Gold Glove Award for third basemen. It was the second consecutive year in which Wright won the award. His teammate, Carlos Beltrán, also won the award for center fielders. He also won his second Silver Slugger Award.
On December 22, Wright was announced as a member of Team USA in the 2009 World Baseball Classic to be held in March 2009. The third base position was taken by Alex Rodriguez in the 2006 WBC.
Wright finished seventh in the voting for the 2008 NL MVP award after finishing the season with a.302 batting average, 33 home runs and 124 RBI.