David Wright – Farewell!

It’s the start of the 2001 draft. The Mets have their eyes on a few players with David Wright being in the back of their minds.

They got Aaron Heilman, who had a massacred career, but, the Mets had a compensation pick.

Allan “Bud” Selig stepped up to the podium and said, “With the 38th pick of the 2001 Baseball Draft, the New York Mets select David Wright out of Hickory High School, the White Sox have the next pick.”

That was the start of one of the greatest dynasties in the history of the sport, which I will narrate to you.

On a hot afternoon in Queens, the Mets played the Expos, David Wright went 0-4 in his debut. The next day, July 22, he got his first two hits, one of them a double. Then, four games later, he took his first of many trips around the bases. Fast forward to the 2006 postseason, he goes 8-37 with four walks and a home run in the whole postseason which was all the way to the NLCS.

Then, maybe a little over a year later, his back started to conk out and he began his what seemed then to a be a never-ending injury stint.

David finally came back to hype up the Mets who had just got into the postseason. He went 10-54 with a homer and the team went all the way to World Series with the karma of their captain. Then after he played in two games in two years, and he finally comes out of the clasp of injury. He is cleared to go to St. Lucie to play in some games.

David finally returns to The Big Apple after more than a month in St. Lucie and Las Vegas. Then after about a week on the bench, he eagerly comes out of his dugout with a feeling that his gut might fail him, he swung at the first pitch he saw and hit a bullet to third.

On September 29, he finally makes a start at third, wait for it--batting third. Before the game, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio made 9/29, “David Wright Day.”

Jose Reyes and David Wright are making their 895^th start together. A lot of things are happening. So, Wright steps up to the plate, with all of Citi Field, and probably a quarter of the Tri-State Area standing and cheering. You could see tension in David’s eyes. I actually heard fireworks in the background near our apartment. He draws a walk, then, he gets doubled up on a Conforto grounder. Then, a second at-bat, he pops out to the rookie first baseman in foul territory.

In a memorable stroll around the infield, David with tears in his eyes, waved to the fans for their support. He said he was ready to say thank you a million times to his fans. Mets fans rightfully cheered him today and throughout his illustrious career. He was the face of the Mets and baseball. He was the team captain and the poster boy of baseball.

David Wright had an outstanding career, he is and always will be my favorite player. Farewell, Captain America.

See you in the post season.