The ironic half about all this — concerning the quantity retirement, concerning the Mets Corridor of Fame induction, about The Captain, the No. 5 changing into immortalized within the left-field nook at Citi Area, your complete celebration that unfolded — is that David Wright doesn’t need to be the focus.
It’s uncomfortable, he mentioned. He needs to share it with others. He has “never been one to want the spotlight,” his mom, Elisa, informed The Publish after Wright spent 35 minutes reminiscing about his 14 seasons with the Mets and concerning the ceremony that’d give him a everlasting place of their historical past.
However July 19 was all about Wright. Concerning the homegrown third baseman, who spent his whole profession in Queens earlier than again and neck accidents compelled him to retire in 2018, changing into the eighth participant in franchise historical past to have his quantity retired. If his closing recreation drew the label of “David Wright Day,” then this was the sequel, the encore — random sunshower and all — that preceded the Mets’ recreation in opposition to the Reds.
Wright was joined on the sector by his spouse, his three youngsters, his mother and father and loads of former teammates and members of the Mets group who formed his profession from a first-round decide to some of the memorable gamers in franchise historical past.
Wright traded his customized burnt orange jacket for a blue Mets Corridor of Fame one, matching along with his son, Brooks. As he strolled onto the sector for the ceremony, he stopped at third base — a particular one lined in gold — and took within the thunderous roar greeting him.
He watched as his No. 5 joined No. 41 (Tom Seaver), No. 31 (Mike Piazza), No. 36 (Jerry Koosman), No. 17 (Keith Hernandez), No. 24 (Willie Mays), No. 16 (Dwight Gooden) and No. 18 (Darryl Strawberry) atop the ballpark. He took a lap across the discipline in a cart afterward, too, and acknowledged followers alongside the best way.
“I never accomplished my goal of bringing a World Series back to Queens,” Wright informed the group throughout the ceremony, “but I promise you, I gave it everything I had and wanted it just as badly as you did. And I think this fanbase recognized that and was willing to genuinely have my back and support — support me unconditionally through the good and the bad, and for that, I will always be thankful.”
This was the intersection of the Mets’ historical past with somebody nonetheless linked to the present roster as a former teammate of Brandon Nimmo’s and an everyday presence at spring coaching. This was a return residence to have fun a profession that felt prefer it ended yesterday, Wright mentioned — creating the sensation “you get when you come home from like a long trip.”
Nonetheless, lower than two hours earlier than the ceremony, Elisa Wright wasn’t sure. Her son had simply talked about desirous to “keep it together better” than he did in 2018, when his closing recreation — his sendoff at Citi Area — turned emotional, however with what was going to unfold Saturday, “how could he not be,” she mentioned. The emotion, in Wright’s voice and thru others wiping their eyes, ended up being palpable throughout the ceremony.
It capped every week that featured the premier of a documentary about his profession and loads of nostalgic moments, from each Wright and those that witnessed his profession. There was the spotlight of the homer in opposition to the Phillies in opposition to a months-long absence in 2015. The run to the World Sequence later that 12 months. The magical run of 2006 and the possibility that obtained a means in 2007, which Wright mentioned nonetheless stings to at the present time. He joked with former teammates Jose Reyes throughout his press convention and remembered the Port St. Lucie dialog when a coach predicted they’d kind the left facet of the infield for the subsequent decade. These moments all strung collectively as Wright completed first in Mets historical past for hits (1,777), RBIs (970) and loads of different classes.
Accidents derailed the ultimate stage of his profession. The again stays an “unknown” wrinkle of his life, with a process from a year-and-a-half in the past serving to some lingering points.
However seven years after that contributed on to the tip of his profession, Wright is at peace. That, then, turned Saturday right into a celebration of his legacy.
“It took a while for my brain and my heart to kinda match up with that,” Wright mentioned in his press convention, “but I think that very few athletes get the ending that they want, that storybook ending. And I certainly wouldn’t call mine a storybook ending, but it’s better than 99 percent of what athletes get — and I’ll forever be grateful for getting that opportunity.”
