Mets: David Wright’s future should include a number retirement and statue

David Wright played his last MLB game, but New York Mets fans should get another chance to honor him at Citi Field in the future.

New York Mets fans haven’t seen the last of David Wright. As a member of the franchise’s Mount Rushmore, he’s surely going to come back to Citi Field plenty in the future.

Specifically, we have two big moments we can hope for. One is obvious with the other needing a change in the way management does things.

Wright will undoubtedly have his number five retired. The Mets, who have only retired the numbers belonging to Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza, hold a very high standard for this honor. If anyone deserves to have his name added to the short list, it’s the Captain.

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Less likely, we see the Mets add a statue to the Citi Field grounds. Why not begin with the best player to call the ballpark home?

While Wright’s best years took place at Shea Stadium, he helped usher in the next era of Mets baseball at the new stadium. He was the face of the franchise for more than a decade and the unquestioned leader. Since his MLB debut, few teams can say the same about anyone they’ve employed.

Seaver and Piazza certainly deserve statues as well, and there’s no reason why the organization can’t eventually do the right thing and add those too. In fact, it’s okay if they start with them and add the Wright statue in a few years.

Wright’s retirement should remind us all how few players stay their entire career with one team. In the era of free agency, it’s rare to see anyone of Wright’s caliber stick around. Players either go after the money or become the casualty in a July 31st trade.

Wright bucked the trend and played all of his big league games with the Mets. This deserves the highest of honors, which in the next few years, we should see.

I can’t imagine Wright hiding from the fans and going J.D. Salinger on everyone. His tenure as a Major League Baseball player was as much about being an ambassador to the game as it was about winning. He did both with the utmost class.

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September 29, 2018, was declared David Wright Day by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio. There’s at least one more in store in our future. Make sure to save up a sick day.