3 former NY Mets players who were "The Man" and don't get enough credit for it

3) David Wright

David Wright is the only home-grown player to be drafted by the organization, come up through the organization, and play his entire career with the organization, and have the kind of success that could garner some Hall of Fame attention.

It’s true, there were two other Mets who were home-grown and spent their entire careers with the organization – Ed Kranepool and Ron Hodges. But there’s no way you can compare Kranepool and Hodges to Wright.

David Wright was the kind of player any and every organization would love to have. He was a truly gifted offensive player, with a combination of power and speed, that is rarely seen. He hit a total of 242 home runs and stole 196 bases…to go along with a .296 career batting average.

Wright played a total of 14 seasons but there were only eight seasons where he wasn’t sidelined and was able to perform at full strength. Every Mets fan knows that the spinal stenosis did him in.

Wright had his career shortened due to injury to his body. But so did a number of Hall of Famers. I always like to point to Sandy Koufax. The beloved Koufax was an amazing player. But he was only dominant for a short period of time and his career stats are obviously lower than lesser pitchers who are in the Hall. The same could be said for David Wright.

Wright was an All Star third baseman. He was heart and soul of the Mets and carried himself with great professionalism. He was honest and forthright with the media and never shied away from anything, even things went bad. He was a great teammate and a model member of the organization.

All of that being said, Wright seemed to always take a back seat to another. When he first arrived, there was Mike Piazza. Then came Carlos Beltran and soon after Carlos Delgado. And there were guys like Moises Alou and Gary Sheffield. The Mets signed Jason Bay. There was always some big name player front and center. And, of course, Jose Reyes was creating excitement right next to him.

All the while, David Wright was doing his job, hitting home runs, stealing bases, fielding his position, and paving a path that SHOULD have led him to the Hall of Fame, but his body failed him in the end. And while the Mets will soon FINALLY retire his No. 5 in his honor, he was never really viewed as the “straw who stirred the drink” like Straw was before him, which may have been just fine with him, but he deserved better.