New York Mets: Top five moments of David Wright’s career

New York Mets Captain David Wright had a terrific career while playing in Queens. Although it was cut short due to injury, there were still some Amazin’ moments. Let’s look at Wright’s top 5 moments from his career.

David Wright will always be a fan favorite for the work he did on and off the field in his years for the New York Mets. He is currently the franchise all-time leader in multiple categories and finished his career in second or third place in many others. This has resulted in many great and memorable moments for the Captain.

Wright played in 14 different seasons for the Amazins’ and was one of the top players in the league for most of them. He was on pace for a legitimate Hall of Fame case before injuries derailed his career, but he will certainly end up in the Mets Hall of Fame at the least, in addition to his number being retired.

He was the face of the franchise and had an endless amount of memorable moments. Let’s take a look at his Top 5 moments from his career with the Mets.

5) Barehanded Catch in San Diego

In just Wright’s second year in the league, and his first full season, he made one of the best plays you will ever see by a third baseman. Fifteen years later the play is still seen and talked about often enough to show just how special it truly was.

On August 9th, 2005, in the seventh inning of a game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego, outfielder Brian Giles hit a bloop behind third base that Wright went back on and made a barehanded catch with his back facing the infield. Wright somehow was able to hold onto the ball as he dove headfirst onto the outfield grass.

Wright’s amazing catch was eventually awarded “Play of the Year” in MLB.coms “This Year in Baseball Awards”. It was no secret at the time of the catch that it was something special, and the award showed that along with the fact that the catch is still being talked about 15 years later.

4) Home Run in Philadelphia in Return from IL in 2015

2015 was when we first learned about Wright’s spinal stenosis and how it would affect his playing ability and ultimately his career. April 14th Wright was put on the IL for a hamstring injury and while out with it he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis.

Over four months later on August 24th in Philadelphia, Wright returned from the IL. Leading off the second inning he clobbered a ball into the second deck to get the Mets on the board. The length of the home run was impressive enough in itself as not many have been into the second deck in Philadelphia, but the fact that Wright hit it in his first at-bat and was returning from a serious back injury made it even that much more impressive.

Wright’s home run that night was part of a record-breaking day for the Mets. His home run was the first of eight for the Mets on the day, setting the franchise record for home runs in a game.

3) Walk-off Hit against Mariano Rivera

Throughout Wright’s career, he came through with clutch hits after clutch hits. It did not take Wright long to begin his clutch hitting as one of his most memorable clutch hits came early in his career against one of the pitchers of all time.

In Wright’s third season and second full season, he made his presence felt in the Mets Yankees rivalry. On May 19th, 2006, Wright faced off against the greatest closing pitcher in baseball in Mariano Rivera. With runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Wright clobbered a ball to center field that beat Johnny Damon and landed just shy of the fence which resulted in a walk-off single.

Wright got the Mets off to a good start in both the series against their crosstown rivals and in the early season. The Mets would obviously go on to win the National League East that year as Wright had an MVP caliber season.

2) All-Time Mets Leader in Hits

It takes a lot for a player to be the all-time leader in a category for a franchise. Wright’s presence will always be felt with the Mets as he is atop multiple all-time leader categories for the Amazins.

On September 25th, 2012, Wright tied Ed Kranepool for first all-time in hits for the Mets with 1,418. The next day on September 26th, Wright took sole possession of first place in all-time hits for the Mets as he beat out an infield single against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Wright was always a hits machine as he would routinely hit .300 and collect over 160 hits a season. With him constantly collecting hits it was only a matter of time before he became the Mets all-time leader in hits.

1) World Series Home Run at Citi Field

Wright was blessed with the opportunity to taste playoff baseball early in his playing career. Unfortunately, Wright had to wait quite some time in between playoff appearances, but he made some noise when he finally got his second opportunity.

In game 3 of the 2015 World Series, the first one in the history of Citi Field, Wright clobbered a 2-run home run to give the Mets the lead in his first at-bat. For such a rollercoaster of a season for Wright, this scenario could not have been written better. An injury-riddled season, hitting a go-ahead home run in your first at-bat in the first World Series game at Citi Field.

Five years later so much joy is still brought from thinking about that at-bat and watching the video. It is safe to say most fans will agree with this as their favorite all-time moment from Wright’s career. The entire moment was perfect and could not have been written any better.

Honorable Mentions

A few honorable mentions that just missed out on the list. Wright’s first and only 30 home run 30 stolen base season in 2007. Wright became the first Met to join the 30/30 club since former Met third baseman Howard Johnson did in 1991 and only the third Met ever to join the club.

Wright being named the fourth captain in the franchise’s history. During Spring Training of 2013, Wright was named the fourth captain in the history of the Mets. Wright was named the first captain of the Mets since closing pitcher John Franco was named captain in 2001.

The first Mets home run at Citi Field. Wright did not waste a whole lot of time to cement his name in Citi Field history by hitting the first Mets home run there. Wright hit the home run on the first Opening Day in Citi Field’s history, a 3-run home run in the 5th inning to tie the game on April 13th, 2009.

Wright has had tons of great and memorable moments in his career. To narrow it down to only five is not easy at all, the list could go on and on.

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