“Being a career Met meant the world to me; it was kind of crazy how it all came about, too, growing up a displaced Mets fan because we had the Triple-A team in Norfolk.”
The words of David Wright, who joined Joe & Evan on Monday, just two weeks ahead of the official release of his memoir “The Captain,” co-written with MLB.com Mets reporter Anthony DiComo.
It’s a memoir far ahead of its time, to some, who surely wish Wright was still patrolling third base in Queens at age 37 instead of two years into retirement. Wright described his initial diagnosis of the spinal stenosis that ended his career as “a challenge,” but told Joe & Evan that getting to relive some of the memories of his career in compiling the book was cathartic.
“It was kind of cool. I was a bit hesitant at first when Anthony, who did a wonderful job with the book, approached me, but once I agreed to it, I really enjoyed the process. As a player, you’re always looking forward to that next challenge or preparing for tomorrow, and you don’t get the opportunity to sit back and enjoy what you did the night before,” Wright said. “One of my favorite quotes, which I had in my locker my entire career, was ‘if what you did yesterday still looks big yesterday, you haven’t done much today.’ That’s how I tried to play my career, and getting to look back on it and relive some of the great memories, was pretty special.”
And for a kid from southeast Virginia who grew up a Mets fan, to relive having done all of that for his childhood favorite made it even sweeter in retrospect.
“My dad was a police officer, and some of the off-duty police officers worked security for the games, so we’d go to games and sometimes I’d get to meet a player or get a foul ball. It was the biggest thrill for me to turn on the TV later on, and see those same guys playing for the Mets,” Wright said. “To come full circle, to be drafted and developed by the team, have Howard Johnson be one of my key instructors in the minors, then play my entire career in New York – I think that’s why I have the type of relationship I do with the fan base and the city. NYC really welcomed me and made me an honorary New Yorker, and that meant the world to me.”
Even if the start of that journey meant displacing one of the most popular and productive Mets at the time in Ty Wigginton.
“He was having a great season, and the only thing I read about was that he was upset, and went into Art Howe’s office to talk about it, so I was very intimidated,” Wright said. “I knew from Spring Training that he was well liked and a clubhouse leader, and the last thing I wanted to do was upset the clubhouse, but Ty couldn’t have been more gracious – he took me under his wing, and it put my mind at ease right away, because that could’ve been such an awkward situation, but he made it so welcoming.”
Wright’s book will be available October 13, and WFAN will have more snippets and exclusive interviews about it in the coming weeks – but Evan had a chance to read an advance copy, and ask Wright whether or not the notion that The Captain helped Matt Harvey decide to keep pushing in 2015 despite suggested limitations in his first season back from Tommy John surgery was real or a Mandela Effect.
Wright’s answer?
“I will forever be grateful for what Matt gave to our organization. To Matt’s credit, he was hearing things from a lot of different people, and he made the decision to go forward, and I don’t think we get to the World Series without him – but when that came out and Matt addressed it, I asked him if we could talk bluntly about his thought process. We started talking about it before a day game in Miami, and we had an open conversation back and forth, and I told him, “I get it, there’s x amount of pitches you have coming back from surgery, but let me play Devil’s Advocate for a minute and explain how much of an opportunity we have here. He told me his side, and our conversation went so long, it went out to the bench. And it was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had, hearing from him what he had been hearing and what he was thinking. You won’t find a bigger Matt Harvey supporter than me for what he did for the organization, and basically carrying my sorry broken butt to the World Series.”
Powerful stuff, and stuff Wright can look back on now that he’s entrenched as a full-time dad, one that coached his three-year-old’s co-ed tee ball team before COVID-19 hit. Imagining Wright as a coach might make Mets fans’ mouths water, but rein it in, as he did say that he could see himself maybe doing some minor-league instruction or similar here or there, but not anything full-time.
One thing he is full-time about, though, is still being a Mets fan, and he looks forward to the Steve Cohen era.
“I will forever be grateful to the Wilpon and Katz families for what they did for my career and my family, so many things behind the scenes that had nothing to do with money or baseball,” he said. “But, I met Mr. Cohen in Miami a few years ago, and the passion that he has for the Mets and the knowledge he has for the game is great – and for what he doesn’t know, he will put people that do know in the right positions. I think over time, he will be able to build a sustained winner. I watch the games now and talk to the guys, and I’m as big of a Mets fan as anyone, so I certainly want to see sustained success.”
To hear more from Wright about the book, the Mets’ past, present, and future, and much more, check out his entire segment with Joe & Evan below!
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