David Wright Career Tracker

We have a Mets forum! All right! I guess I can post about my Met - David Wright!!

Spoiler:

David Wright was brought up by his parents Elisa and Rhon in Chesapeake, Virginia. His father was a police officer. David and his brothers lived in a strict household with a lot of rules and responsibility. David is of Italian descendent.Wright attended Hickory High School in Chesapeake, Virginia. In high school, he was a three-time All-State selection and, as a senior, was named the Virginia All-State Player of the Year. He finished his high school career with a .438 batting average, 13 home runs, and 50 RBI. Although Wright had signed a letter of intent before his senior year to play baseball at Georgia Tech after high school, he opted to enter the draft when it became apparent he could be selected in the first round.

Wright was chosen by the Mets in the 2001 amateur draft as the 38th overall pick. His selection was in a special supplemental round after the first round as compensation for the Mets' loss of Mike Hampton to the Colorado Rockies in free agency. Wright was the Mets' second selection in the draft, following current teammate Aaron Heilman who had been selected in the first round.

Wright progressed steadily in his first three years of minor league play, winning the Sterling award for best player on the class A St. Lucie Mets in 2003. In 2004, he quickly rose from the class AA, Binghamton Mets, to AAA, Norfolk Tides, to the major leagues. On July 21, 2004, he made his major league debut starting at third base against the Montreal Expos. Since then, Wright has been the Mets regular starting third baseman.

Wright, along with shortstop Jose Reyes, combine to make one of the best young duos on the left side of the infield in the Majors. David Wright is ranked second among third basemen in ESPN fantasy baseball, behind the cross-town New York Yankees counterpart Alex Rodriguez.
During his first major league season, he had a .293 batting average, 14 home runs and 40 RBI in 263 at bats in 69 games.

In 2005, the 22-year-old Wright played in 160 games and batted .316 with 27 home runs, 99 runs, 102 RBI, 42 doubles, and 17 stolen bases, leading the team in average, runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, RBI, doubles, and finishing second in home runs to Cliff Floyd (34). Wright was also in the top ten in the National League for average, hits, total bases, RBI, extra base hits, and runs. Wright's diving, bare-handed catch in the August 9 loss to San Diego was voted the "This Year in Baseball Play of the Year." At the same time, his 24 errors tied him with Troy Glaus for the most errors by a third baseman in the major leagues.

David Wright caught a ball bare-handed and over the shoulder during the seventh inning of a game at PETCO Park against the San Diego Padres on August 9, 2005. With one out in the inning, Brian Giles hit a blooper 20 feet beyond the edge of the outfield grass. Wright, retreating quickly with his back to home plate, extended his bare right hand and caught the ball cleanly while crashing to the ground. Wright would maintain control of the ball after landing hard on the outfield grass. The sellout crowd at PETCO Park acknowledged the splendor of the catch with several minutes of applause.
Wright is noted for his unaffected politeness and work ethic. He has developed a reputation for arriving very early to the park for games and being uncommonly accommodating with fans and reporters.

In 2006, Wright was named National League Co-Player of the Week for June 12-18 along with teammate Jose Reyes. It was Wright's second Player of the Week award. He was also named National League Player of the Month for June, becoming the first Met since Howard Johnson in 1991 to capture the award. For the month, Wright batted .327 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI.

Wright also provided his share of heroics throughout the 2006 season. His first game-winning hit occurred on May 5 with a 2-out double just out of the reach of a chasing Andruw Jones in the bottom of the 14th inning off Jorge Sosa to defeat the Atlanta Braves, 8-7. Two weeks later on May 19, he hit a walk-off single off vaunted closer Mariano Rivera that just sailed over the head of center fielder Johnny Damon as the Mets rallied to beat the Yankees in the first game of the 2006 Subway Series, 7-6. He capped off the month on Memorial Day, May 29, with a single to the wall in left-center field off Arizona Diamondbacks closer Jose Valverde scoring Jose Reyes all the way from first base as the Mets defeated Arizona, 8-7. Wright also made a game-saving stop at 3rd base of a would-be game-tying single by Mike Lieberthal for the final out of a 4-3 Mets victory over Philadelphia on August 5.

Wright was voted on to his first MLB All-Star Game as the starting third baseman for the NL. During the 2006 season, Wright collected 74 RBI before the All-Star Break, breaking the Mets record previously held by Mike Piazza, who had 72 RBI in 2000. Wright also participated in the 2006 Home Run Derby, reaching the final round but finishing second to Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies. He hit 22 home runs in the contest, including 16 in the first round, the third highest total in any one round in the history of the Home Run Derby. The following night, he hit a home run in his first All-Star Game at-bat off American League starting pitcher Kenny Rogers. Wright's homer was nearly the difference in the game as the National League led 2-1 for most of the night before closer Trevor Hoffman blew the save in the top of the ninth inning. The NL lost, 3-2.

Wright ranked among the club's top three hitters in all offensive categories for the 2006 Mets, who were the second most run-scoring team in the National League. Fans at Shea Stadium have routinely greeted Wright's performances with chants of "M-V-P, M-V-P." According to teammate Tom Glavine, "He's probably been our most clutch hitter over the first half of the season and he's certainly thrown his hat into the MVP talks."

On August 6, 2006, Wright signed a 6-year contract extension with the Mets worth $55 million, as well as a $1.5 million signing bonus. The contract will pay him $1 million in 2007, $5 million in 2008, $7.5 million in 2009, $10 million in 2010, $14 million in 2011, and $15 million in 2012. The contract also contains a club option for 2013 which is worth $16 million. Wright has already announced that he will donate $1.5 million to the Mets Foundation throughout the course of this contract.

The Mets captured the NL East title in 2006 and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2000. Wright struggled in his first postseason, going 4-25 (.160) in the Mets' NLCS loss to the St. Louis Cardinals and batted a mere .216 in 10 postseason games.

Wright participated in the 2006 Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series along with fellow teammates José Reyes, Julio Franco, and John Maine.

As of April 19, 2007, Wright had a hit streak of 26 regular season games; the previous team record was 24, held by Mike Piazza and Hubie Brooks. He had a hit in the 12 final regular season games of the 2006 season, and had a hit in all of the first 14 games of the 2007 season.[8] Wright's hit streak of 26 regular season games ended on April 21, 2007 against the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium. Wright went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and walked once. On September 16th, 2007, Wright became one of the youngest players in baseball history to join the 30/30 club.

On September 16, 2007 David Wright became the 29th member of Major League Baseball's 30-30 club after hitting a 7th inning solo home run against the Philadelphia Phillies at Shea Stadium. He is only the third player to have reached this impressive milestone before their 25th birthday, and only the third Met to reach this milestone in club history, the other two being Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry.

His brother Stephen Wright attended Virginia Tech in 2007, and attended classes in Norris Hall, the scene of most of the shootings in the Virginia Tech Massacre. He could not get hold of his brother that day and did not find out he was all right until his brother, Matthew, a freshman at James Madison University, called and told him. As of March 2007, he had just bought an apartment in New York City's Flatiron District. Previously, while with the Mets, he had been staying in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His nickname in the clubhouse is Visine. Also, he is known as "Hollywood" in the clubhouse.

In 2005 wright , began his own charitable organization, the David Wright Foundation. Its mission is to increase awareness about multiple sclerosis and to raise money for multiple sclerosis organizations and projects. The Foundation hosted its first annual gala at the New York Stock Exchange Members' Club on December 16, 2005, donating the proceeds to two multiple sclerosis centers.

Sure would be an improvement over Inge.

gogetemtigers wrote:

Sure would be an improvement over Inge.

How about the Mets sign Rodriguez and we'll trade Inge for Wright? That trade would make no sense but who cares.

I like David Wright, he and John Maine are my Mets!

gogetemtigers wrote:

Sure would be an improvement over Inge.

Umm, yeah!

Inge Rules!

He is gonna hit 300 next season

gs78 wrote:

He is gonna hit 300 next season

...Wright will hit .320 next season though.

GOOO DAVID!

gs78 wrote:

He is gonna hit 300 next season

300 what? Double plays? Flyouts?

STRIKEOUTS??!

INGE RULES! GO BRANDON!

Wright OK after fouling pitch off left foot
X-rays taken after game are negative; third baseman will play in LA

MIAMI -- A cracked big toe didn't wipe the smile off David Wright's face or diminish his enthusiasm for the World Baseball Classic.

The Mets All-Star third baseman fouled a ball off his left foot in Team USA's 10-6 loss to Venezuela on Wednesday night at Dolphin Stadium.

The ball plunked Wright's big toe, cracking the nail and causing a great deal of discomfort and concern for a team riddled with ailments.

"A little sore. I'll be all right," said Wright, maintaining a smile and sense of humor for reporters afterward. "No problems. Fouled a ball off. Cracked a toenail. Other than that, things are good."

Wright maintained a positive outlook and gutted it out, playing nine innings on a sloppy, wet field on a night Team USA didn't have any reserves to replace him. Earlier in the day, the squad lost the services of first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who is done for the tournament because of a left ankle injury.

Wright wrapped the toe in between innings, and afterward, he was examined by Marlins physician Dan Kanell. An X-ray was taken and it came back negative, which was the best news he heard all night.

"It's tough to put weight on it," Wright said. "It hurt. But it was more nagging. You've got to put all the weight on your feet. You have to move side-to-side. I probably would have played through it in the season."

The cracked nail, Wright insists, will not prevent him from playing in the semifinals this weekend at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Asked if he was staying with the team, Wright responded: "One-hundred percent, yes."

Wright said he expects to hear from the Mets.

"They kind of check up on me," Wright said.

He added that he would overrule the Mets if they tried to tell him not to be with the club in Los Angeles.

When asked if he expected a call from the Mets, he joked, "I hope they don't call too early."

Wright has been a big advocate of the Classic, and despite all the injuries, he said the format is fine.

"A lot of this, at least what I see, is normal," Wright said. "In the middle of the season, you could play through it. The teams want to take every precautionary measure to make sure you're ready to go the first week in April.

"There is a difference between being hurt and being banged up. This is being banged up. Hurt is something is kind of a fine line. I didn't feel hurt. I didn't feel injured. I felt extra pain."

Before he got the X-ray, Wright admitted he worried that he may have done more damage than just a cracked nail.

"I guess so," Wright said when asked if he feared the toe may have been broken. "I've never broken a toe, so I don't know what that feels like. But they brought me in to get an X-ray, which is kind of precautionary. Everything turned out negative."

USA manager Davey Johnson kept monitoring Wright's condition between innings.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd have taken him out," Johnson said. "I asked him how he's doing.

"He basically tore off the toenail on his left foot, so he's not a happy camper right now."

Ouch!