All Time Mets Third Baseman: David Wright: Part Two (2008-2012)

In 2008 the Mets put aside their disappointing season collapse & looked forward. Big things were once again expected in the final season of Shea Stadium as the new Citi Field loomed in the background getting its finishing touches nearing completion.

Wright drove in three runs, gathering up a pair of doubles on Opening Day in Florida in a 7-2 win against the Marlins. Two days later he had a three hit day with his first HR of the year driving in three more runs in a 13-0 shut out of the Marlins. In the middle of the month he homered in three straight games with a big day on April 15th against the Washington Nationals . That day Wright drove in five runs in the Mets 6-0 win, including a two run HR off Odalis Perez & a double off Joel Hanrahan.

On April 29th, He added a walk off game winning single on April 29th, against the Pittsburgh Pirates to finish the month of April. He closed out the month with 23 RBIs. In May he had an eight & nine game hit streak and then followed up in June by driving in twenty four runs. With the Mets struggling at .500 in mid June, the team fired manager Willie Randolph & gave coach Jerry Manuel the position. The whole thing took place while on a road trip to Anaheim, Wright drove in two runs in Randolph's last game a 9-6 Mets win. After losing the first game under Manuel, the Mets won the second 5-4 with Wright gathering two hits with two RBIs.

In that months subway series he drove in runs in three of the four games, including a four hit three RBI day in the first game of a June 27th cross town double header. On July 7th he had a four RBI day in Philadelphia leading New York to a 10-9 win over the Phillies. He added another four RBI day, including a HR on July 17th at Cincinnati in a 10-8 Mets win.

On August 7th Wright hit a dramatic walk off HR against former Met, Heath Bell to beat the San Diego Padres 5-3. The next day as the Marlins came to town, Wright hit a two run HR off Ricky Nolasco as Oliver Perez & Aaron Heilman shut out Florida 3-0 on a combined two hitter. On September 10th, the Mets had an important win at Shea, against the Washington Nationals. In the 13-10 win, Wright led the charge with three runs driven in, keeping New York 3.5 games up on the Phillies.

In mid September he had two four hit days, also hitting three HRs over two games against the Atlanta Braves. He also homered in back to back games later in the month as well. The Mets once again blew the chance for the playoffs on the last day of the season, losing the last game ever played at Shea Stadium. Wright had driven in runs in five straight games from September 21st through September through the 25th. He also had a nine game hit streak which ended on the last day of the season where he was 0-4.

At third base he led the league in assists (286) & games played (160) posting a .962 fielding %.

For 2008 Wright batted .302 (tenth in the NL) leading all Mets regulars, as well as leading the club in most offensive categories: on base % (.390- 7th in the NL) RBIs (124- second most in the league) hits (189- also second in the NL) doubles (42-7th in the NL). He scored 115 runs (3rd in the NL) walked 94 times (5th in the NL) had a league leading 11 sac flies & was on base 287 times (2nd in the NL). 

He was second to Carlos Delgado in HRs (33) which was 9th in the NL. Wright came in 7th in the MVP voting & may have done better if the Mets had won the NL Eastern title. At third base he played 160 games, most in the league, led in assists (286) & was second in put outs (114) with a .962 fielding %.

In the 2009 Mets home Opener at the new Citi Field, Wright hit the first Mets HR at the new park, a three run shot in the 6th inning off Carlos Silva to tie the game. But in the 6th inning a Pedro Feliciano balk allowed the winning run to score after he had reached on a three base outfield error.

Wright started out the year with a ten game hit streak & had a dozen multi hit games in May. In a three game series against the Giants in San Francisco he had three straight three hit games, while driving in nine runs in the series. He put together a big 12 game hit streak the next month & was batting .350 in late June.

At the All Star break the Mets were in fourth place, six and a half games back, it was clear bad times were here again. Wright made his fourth All Star team, starting at third base going 1-2 in the NL's 4-3 loss. He was still batting .324 at the break, but only had five HRs & his power numbers were down in the new large Citi Field dimensions. He began to take criticism as the team fell further down in the standings. He missed two weeks of action going on the DL while suffering a concussion after getting hit in the head by a fastball from San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain.

He returned on September 1, wearing a new style Rawlings batting helmet, to help the impact of getting hit. In the month he only hit two more HRs as his average fell off to .307. The two HRs came on a big three hit, six RBI day at Philadelphia in a rare happy occasion during the last month of the dismal 2009 season.

In 144 games Wright hit just 10 HRs leading the injury ridden club in hits (164) RBIs (72) & doubles (39). At third base he led the league in put outs ( 119) & was third with 18 errors posting a .950 fielding %.

In 2010 Wright appeared at Spring Training two weeks early, in order to get a head start on the new season. 2010 was a better year for Wright although the Mets still finished at 79-83 in fourth Place. On Opening Day he hit a two run HR off Florida's Josh Johnson in his first season at bat, as the Mets began on a happy note 7-1. Two weeks later he reached a personal milestone as he got his 1000th career base hit.

On April 27th he had a big four RBI game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field. In the game he hit a bases loaded triples off George Sherrill & added an RBI base hit in the 10-5 Mets win. In the first week of May he hit three HRs & had 18 RBIs for the month.

In June he was the NL Player of the month batting over .400 with 14 multi hit games, 30 RBIs & six HRs. It began with a three hit game on June 1st in San Diego, where his 6th inning HR proved to be the 4-2 game winner. From June 10th through June 17th he drove in runs in seven straight games, 14 RBIs overall in that stretch. He hit a pair of HRs at Camden Yards in Baltimore on June 13th driving in four runs, in the 11-4 Mets win.

After driving in a run in each of the three games at Baltimore, he drove in runs in all three games at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. In the series Opener he drove in three runs against the Indians in a 7-6 Mets win.

A month later, On July 30th he hit a pair of HRs in a the first game of a double header against the D-backs at Citi Field, driving in five runs in the Mets 9-6 loss. The next day he led the team to a 5-4 win as he drove in three more runs against Arizona with two more hits. In August after not hitting another HR in over three weeks since the Arizona game, he hit four HRs from August 17th to August 26th, getting his average back up to .290.

In September he hit two HRs on the road in back to back games. at Chicago & Atlanta. From September 19th on he his six HRs including one in three straight games beginning in Philadelphia on September 26th, followed up with back to back HR games at home against Milwaukee. After his hot month of June, he didn't hit as well the test of the way, as his average fell on the season to a career low .283 up to that point. He still played in 157 games as he staying healthier on the season.

Wright hit 29 HRs with 36 doubles 19 stolen bases a .354 on base % while driving in 103 runs. It was his fifth year of driving in over 100 plus runs & he made his fifth All Star team as well. He led the league in sac hits for the second time. At third base he led the league in assists (321) put outs (110) & errors (20) putting up a .956 fielding % turning a career high 34 double plays.

That season the Mets brought up the highly touted prospect Ike Davis and Wright was now being looked at as the veteran of the younger team.

In 2011 Wright struggled again, he missed over two months of action with a stress fracture in his back, as the team fell to fourth place once again. There were even rumors during the season that he may be dealt away, as the team owners; the Wilpons had financial troubles losing money in the Bernie Madoff scandal. The team had a new manager in Terry Collins & a new GM in Sandy Alderson. Once again the Mets seemed to be in a rebuilding mode.

One of his highlights on the year was a single against Philadelphia on April 5th, giving him his 90th career game winning hit. The hit passed Mike Piazza for most game winning hits in Mets history. In July on his return from the DL he went 2-5 against the Florida Marlins and had a big return series going 6-14 with a HR three doubles & six RBIs. On August 8th in a home game against San Diego, he hit a two run HR, & then in the bottom of the 9th inning with the Mets down 8-6, he hit a single scoring Jason Pridie. The Mets won the game when Wright crossed the plate on a Lucas Duda base hit.

Wright would hit a three run HR when the Mets went to San Diego the next week in a 7-4 New York win. On September 16th in a 12-2 Mets win at Turner Field in Atlanta, Wright hit two HRs & drove in five runs for his biggest game of the year.

He finished 2011 with his lowest average to date .254 4 HRs 23 doubles 61 RBIs 54 walks & a .345 on base %. It was the first time in six years he did not make the All Star team.

In 2012 there was a lot of talk that Wright may be finished & that his time in New York was nearing its end. The Mets had already parted ways with their other franchise player, Jose Reyes fresh off his batting title year. Gone too were Carlos Beltran & any other remnants of the 2006 NL Eastern team,

It was a young rebuilding team that had a great first half, surprising everyone by being in second place. They faded in the second half finishing a poor 74-88 in fourth place.

Wright would lead the team in hitting (.306) RBIs (93) on base % (.391%) walks (81) doubles (41) hits (178) & runs (91) as well as at bats (581) & tie for games played (156) with Ike Davis & Daniel Murphy. He was second on the club with his 21 HR to Ike Davis who hit 32 HRs.

On Opening Day Wright drove in the only run of the game with a 6th inning single off the Braves Tommy Hanson in the 1-0 win. The win also marked the return of Johan Santana from his injuries, although he pitched five shout out innings he earned no decision. That week Wright showed he was not done just yet, as he drove in runs in his first five games & hit two HRs. He fractured his pinkie & would miss just three games, returning to go 3-5in a game against the Phillies.

On April 25th he passed Daryl Strawberry for on the all time Mets RBI list, with his 735th career run driven in, it came with a two run HR against the Miami Marlins. He would close out April batting .389 riding a ten game hit streak to May. On June 5th he passed Jose Reyes when he hit a solo HR off the Nationals Jordan Zimmermann for the all time Mets Runs Scored title (736).

His HR numbers were a bit lower but his average was up, in June was on a fifteen game hit streak & was leading the National League in hitting. At the start of July he drove in runs in all three games of a home set against the Philadelphia Phillies. He had two separate four RBI games where he hit HRs in that set as well, as the Mets took two of three.

He was also among the league's best in batting, hits, on base % runs scored & slugging but was snubbed for the starting position at the All Star Game. The San Francisco Giants Pablo Sandoval earned the start even though his numbers were nowhere near Wright's.

In the second half of the year the Mets fell apart, they began with a six game losing streak that Wright helped break on July 19th. That day he hit two HRs & drove in five runs in the Mets a 9-5 win at Washington. In August he struggled not hitting a HR until the 24th & his average fell from .333 to .316 by September.

In late September he got hot again, hitting four HRs in the final week & half of the season. On September 23rd, he hit a 1st inning HR off Ricky Nolasco whom he always hit well against, & drove in another run later leading the Mets to a 3-2 win over the Marlins. Wright would then have two three RBI games in which he hit HRs in a three game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field.

On September 26th at Citi Field, Wright passed Ed Kranepool as the Mets all time leader, during a 6-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On December 1st 2012 Wright signed an eight year 138 million dollar deal, making him the highest paid Met in history. This secures Wright as possibly being the most recognized Met in history when all is said & done. Maybe only behind Tom Seaver & Mike Piazza. Wright can possible be the only superstar Met in history to remain with the club for his entire career.

All Time Mets Leader Board: Wright is the Mets All Time leader in RBIs (818) hits (1426) walks (616) doubles (322) total bases (2398) & strike outs (1009). He is also tied with Ed Kranepool in sac flies (58). He is second at bats (4742).

Wright is third all time in HRs (204) Mets games played (1262) as well as in batting average (.301). He is fourth in stolen bases (166) on base % (.381%) slugging (.506%) & hit by pitches (36).

He is called one of the nicest guys in baseball, a true gentleman known for his politeness. He arrives at the ball park early & signs auto graphs before as well as after games. He currently resides in the lower East Side of Manhattan as well as Manalapan, New Jersey.

Charities: The David Wright Foundation is his own charitable organization in which it brings an awareness about multiple sclerosis. The Foundation raises money through events, contributions & various projects. Its first annual gala was held at the NY stock Exchange in 2005 raising two million dollars. He is also very active in the Boys & Girls clubs of America.

Wright has a Delta Airline MD-88 plane named after him. The planes name along with his Jersey number 5 & his signature appear on the boarding door. The plane is a shuttle between New York, Boston & Washington D.C.