David Wright’s Jersey Retirement A Fitting Tribute
Wright will go down as a forever Met and a franchise icon. And he was my first true baseball hero…
It has been quite the monumental week for the New York Mets.
Coming hot on the heels of signing Juan Soto - one of the best hitters the game has ever seen - to a history-making, record-breaking contract, the Mets announced plans to honor a franchise icon, a player who knows a thing or two about the art of hitting.
David Wright will have his number 5 jersey retired by the Mets in 2025. He will also be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame. Both ceremonies will take place before the Mets’ game against the Cincinnati Reds on July 19 at Citi Field.
Wright will go down as one of the most beloved Mets ever. It also isn’t a stretch to suggest that having his jersey retired and raised to the rafters of Citi Field is long overdue. The homegrown Met spent his entire career in Queens, captaining the team from 2013 until his retirement.
What doesn’t get spoken about enough when it comes to Wright’s career in orange and blue is just how elite a hitter he was. Man, could Wright hit. Watching Wright hit at the plate was sometimes like watching Michael Jordan at his peak, or having a front row seat to see Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel. And no, that isn’t being too hyperbolic. At the very peak of his powers, Wright was one of the best pure hitters in the game. If you were lucky enough to catch enough of his at-bats, you would feel confident in making that same bold statement.
The numbers tell the same story too. From making his debut against the Expos in July 2004 - a series in which he collected his first big league hit - Wright built a career on doing damage at the plate and getting on base at an incredibly high clip. From 2004 through 2013, there was no denying that Wright was one of best pure hitters in all of baseball. During that span, in 1,374 games, the former captain slashed .301/.382/.506/.888 with 222 home runs, 345 doubles, 876 RBIs, 853 runs scored, 183 stolen bases and a 46.5 bWAR, which ranked ninth best all-time among third basemen to have played at least 1,200 games at the position through their age-30 season.
Put simply; Wright was well on pace to be inducted into the Hall of Fame with several exclamation points attached.
Instead, and what will arguably go down as one of the biggest what-ifs in franchise history, Wright saw his career come to a premature end following a string of rehabilitating injuries. He fractured a bone in his back following a collision with Carlos Lee in 2011, and he was never the same after that. Wright was eventually diagnosed with spinal stenosis in 2015 - a condition that limited him to just 77 games over the final four years of his career. Faced with excruciating pain every single day, Wright ultimately decided to retire after missing the entire 2017 season. He fought back against a boatload of adversity and showed a ton of heart to play two final games at the end of the 2018 season, which culminated in a hugely emotional send-off at Citi Field.
Still, despite that tough and sobering end to his career, Wright will still go down as a forever Met. He was a seven-time All-Star. He finished top 10 in MVP voting three times. He was a two-time Gold Glove winner. He finished with a career slash line of .296/.376/.491 with 242 home runs, 390 doubles, 970 RBIs, 949 runs scored and 196 stolen bases.
Furthermore, Wright still holds franchise records for hits (1,777), doubles (390), walks (762), RBIs (970) and runs scored (949). He also ranks second all-time in Mets franchise history in home runs (242), behind Darryl Strawberry.
So, yeah, if it were not for the injuries, I think it is safe to assume Wright would have secured a place in baseball history forever by being inducted into Cooperstown.
As is always the case when looking back at a player’s career, it is important to balance the stats with the eye test. And, as storied as some of Wright’s numbers are, they don’t do justice to just how special a player he was to watch out on the baseball diamond. The third baseman authored a slew of iconic, heroic moments, including playing instrumental roles in leading the Mets to the NLCS in 2006, and to the World Series in 2015. His home run in Game 3 of the World Series against Kansas City at Citi Field will live on forever in Mets lore. Wright carried this franchise to new heights, using his god-given abilities with the bat, along with some highlight-reel plays with the glove, to will his team to wins. He gave all Mets fans hope and reasons to get excited with his ability to come up clutch in the biggest moments. When you think of Wright, you think of the monster home runs with everything on the line, the game-saving hits and the gravity-defying, mind-warping, hero ball plays with the glove in the field.
David Wright was Superman wrapped up in a Mets uniform.
Wright was also a heart and soul player. And, ultimately, that’s why he became my first Mets hero. As I’ve told the story before, I was born in England and grew up watching soccer, but my true love was always American sport. It just took a while to find that bit out. Anyway, I picked the Mets as my team in about 2013 and Wright was the player I gravitated towards first. Everything about him just oozed sports hero. I thought he was so cool and I just loved how he played the game of baseball. He dedicated his entire life to America’s National Pastime and to the team he grew up rooting for. He never, ever cheated the game and he gave baseball his mind, body, heart and soul. I mean, he quite literally put his body on the line for the game he loved and for the team he loved. And I fell in love with Wright the player because of that.
I like my sports heroes to be full of grit and hustle. I want my sports heroes to ooze blood and sweat every time they step out on the field. And I want my sports heroes to leave it all out on the line no matter what. And Wright ticked all of those boxes. You can say that David Wright is one of the big reasons why I became a Mets fan in the first place. And one of my biggest sporting regrets is not seeing Wright play live. I would have given anything to witness a majestic at-bat from the Captain in person. Anything.
I also think that there was something beautifully romantic about the timing of this announcement. It came in the same week the Mets shelled out a ton of money for a generational hitter in Soto, the box office superstar they hope will be the one to bring a World Series to Queens. Something Wright didn’t do but, boy, did he ever give everything he had in trying to do so.
So, with all of that in mind, it is only fitting that Wright will finally get his jersey retired by the Mets, joining Tom Seaver (No. 41), Mike Piazza (No. 31), Jerry Koosman (No. 36), Keith Hernandez (No. 17), Willie Mays (No. 24), Dwight Gooden (No. 16) and Darryl Strawberry (No. 18).
David Wright probably doesn’t get enough credit for just how good a hitter he was, nor for just how much he meant to the New York Mets. He certainly meant a lot to me as I was beginning a lifelong love affair with the game of baseball.
But, thankfully, come next summer, Wright will be honored the way a franchise icon should be. And his No. 5 jersey will be raised to the rafters of Citi Field to reside there forever.
Where it has always belonged.
i saw him, in real time, get hit by a pitch. devastating.