27
2012
David Wright: Best Met Ever?
An article by 
With his third inning single last night, David Wright became the Mets’ all-time hits leader. He did so in more than 500 fewer games, nearly 600 fewer plate appearances, and more than 700 fewer ABs than the team’s previous leader, Ed Kranepool. Ultimately, this most recent record only scratches the surface of David Wright’s accomplishments as a New York Met.
In the eight and a half years since his MLB debut, Wright has compiled 321 doubles, 543 extra-base hits, 614 walks, 788 runs scored, 813 runs batted in, and 2,390+ total bases. Each ranks first all-time for any player donning a Mets uniform on a nightly basis. Wright also holds the second spot all time with a .301 career batting average. He’s tied for third all-time in slugging percentage (.506) and fourth all-time in on-base percentage (.381). His 203 home runs, often considered the most important statistical column, currently ranks third all-time as well.
Clearly, David Wright ranks amongst the best offensive players to ever lace up in the blue and orange, but does that make him the best of all-time? For all the positive records Wright currently holds and/or will hold if he ends up signing a contract extension in the not so distant future, he already holds the team’s all-time strikeout record, with 1,007. I’m sure there will be many of you who will find other reasons to deny Wright’s greatness. Often referred to as Captain Unclutch, Wright has posted a career .294 batting average with runners in scoring position. That includes five career grand slams and a career batting average of .331 with the bases loaded. Certainly not the numbers of a man who can’t come through when it matters.
Realistically, I think the most logically hesitation for most Mets fans to shy away from calling Wright the best Met ever is the fact that the team hasn’t won a championship during his tenure. Unlike Seaver, Kranepool and Ryan who were a part of the 1969 champion ship team, and Strawberry, Gooden and Carter who were a part of the 1986 championship team, Wright hasn’t been able to bring the hardware back to Queens. Should that matter? Maybe..maybe not.. But much like the fact the Mets won’t be headed to the playoffs may impact RA Dickey’s Cy Young bid, the players who contributed to a championship will forever hold a soft spot in the hearts of Mets fans who are fortunate enough to remember those times.
Others may argue that Wright, despite being widely considered to be the face of the franchise and captain of the team, has either been incapable or worse yet, unwilling to become the vocal leader we once anticipated. Ultimately, Wright’s name will always be attached to what will be considered a losing era in franchise history to this point, but should that take away from what he’s accomplished?
Do Tom Seaver’s 198 wins, his 2,541 strikeouts as a Met, and his contribution towards one of only two franchise championships trump Wright’s offensive contributions which have rewritten the team’s record books? Perhaps its a player like Mike Piazza, whose timely home runs account for some of the most significant moments in franchise history, who holds the biggest part of your Mets’ heart? The fact is that Wright’s career numbers to date, despite the slumps, the recent injuries, and the uncertain future should without question lodge him amongst the franchise’s greatest all-time players. However, is he the best?
Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83.
About the Author: Rob Patterson
Ultimately, I owe nearly thirty years of Mets related torture to my mother, who is the reason I became a fan. I was too young to remember the 86 run, but hope to see one I'll be able to recall much sooner than later. I enjoy writing about the team and welcome your feedback on my posts. Oh..and I am not with 28!
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
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While I would certainly put Mets All Time Hit Leader David Wright in the top of greatest Mets, he still has some work to do to surpass the Franchise as the greatest Met of all time.
that should read top 5 of greatest Mets
Good piece, to each its own no? You make good arguments, problem with that is, those players you mention in your articles, were not only met greats, but at some point consider the BEST at their respected position in baseball, not a one single moment DW has been the best 3rd baseman in baseball, hell, not even on the same division.. He’s been a good player for us no doubt, but again, when he had his best year, he was not the best player either and as we have seen, his numbers were in large part a product of having 3 of the best offensive players in baseball around him, once this team became “HIS” we’ve had back to back to back to back losing seasons. to be consider the best for a team, you must meet certain requirements DW hasn’t accomplished, if you go by stats, you put him among the best, but at no point, hell at no time i will consider him the best.
“Often referred to as Captain Unclutch”
If it’s said, there must be a reason behind it no??? The man has been as unproductive in the clutch as a tic tac for a whale with bad breath.. You can come up with all the numbers you want, i too thought the guy was a great clutch hitter in 2006 and 2007 (My MVP had the mets made the playoffs) however, in the playoffs in 2006 the guy disappear, and when it matter the most, 2008, we all know how his 243 with RISP didn’t help all year and he also had one of the most famous K in mets history against the Cubs, he’s been UnClutch and that name was given because he was, how else you explain people going BANANAS every single time he gets a clutch hit?
Tom Seaver got my vote. Ryan also had a better career but not so with the Mets. Thanks for pointing out Kranepool’s low number of plate appearances. It reminded me of how often he was used as a pinch hitter.
Patrick Ewing and David Wright. No championships for NY. Same with Rod Gibert. Good but not good enough for a championship. Well not enough supporting players you say. At times that may have been true but at other times they had all stars on their team that never won anything. I agree with the tone of your blog that championships rightly or wrongly are a measure of the man.
Blasphemy I say, blasphemy! How could you possibly leave Danny Heep off the list. Danny was Nolan Ryan’s 4000th strikeout victim. Davey Johnson loved him because he was a great utility player. I rest my case.
I was born in ’87, so I wasn’t around to see the ’86 team win it all. Therefore, David is my favorite Met. He’s certainly the best player we’ve had in my lifetime.
hey Robert – I think Wright is an interesting study to be honest. Here you have a homegrown Met who says all the right things, who was frankly put in a tough spot at a very young age to be the face of the franchise when people like Delgado wouldn’t talk to the media.
He’s a player that is disliked by a small minority of Mets fans mostly due to their own imagination with regards to the C word (clutch). I’d bet you if you polled a sold out Citi Field crowd (might wanna do it during the All Star game) you’d find an overwhelming amount of people say they either like Wright or know nothing about whether or not he’s clutch or not.
For example, Wright has played in 10 playoff games in his life. To judge him on those as clutch or unclutch is borderline ridiculous considering two points
#1 He was 23 years old
#2 He actually hit .333 in the LDS and drove in 4 runs.
To put point #1 into perspective, currently MLB has 10 qualified hitters age 23 or young. So we’re going to judge him on being clutch at 23 years old?
His critics ignore the fact that in 2007 a 24 year old David Wright hit .394 with 21 RBI in August (with a .516 OBP!), and .353 with 20 RBI in September.
Or in 2008, .310 with 20 RBI in August and .340 with 21 RBI in September.
From 2008 on – there’s no real value in any “clutch” moment to be honest. You can make all the arguments you wish about a strikeout in 2010, but it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things and frankly, measuring every at bat of his is not what “clutch” is about (assuming there is clutch.)
The truth is, in 2006, 2007, and 2008 when the team (and the fans) needed Wright the most – he was there. The only way to argue differently is to point at the LCS in 06 – and that means you’re using 7 games as evidence and ignoring over 100. He was 23-25 years old and had the weight of the fan base on his shoulders and when the 2 collapses occurred – he wasn’t the one to blame.
No other fan base rips apart their homegrown star the way some of these Mets fans despise Wright. Case in point – Troy Tulowitzki of Colorado. Tulo hit .167 in the LDS, .188 in the LCS, .231 in the WS, and .250 in the LDS in 09 but if you know Rockies fans – they love the guy. They don’t look for reasons to dislike their homegrown star.
Michael Young of Texas is another great example – Rangers fans love him, but his playoff record is pretty poor.
The hatred for David Wright by the vocal minority brings out the worst in a NY Sports fan. It’s why some players hate the idea of playing here. It’s why Carlos Beltran had to be shoved out of the dugout to wave to the crowd. It’s why people get mad when Eli Manning gets boo’d after winning 2 Super Bowl MVP’s. It’s Alex Rodriguez carrying the Yankees to the 2009 World Series, and still viewed by the fans as “not a true Yankee.”
That’s the truth. If you want to focus on little at bats here and there then all you’re doing is trying to formulate an argument that fits an agenda of negativity. Wright could win an MVP and a World Series, and the same people would find excuses to knock him moving forward.
WITH THAT SAID…
He’s the greatest Met of this generation yes.
The greatest ever? No. I don’t see how you can take that from Seaver to be honest. Somebody would need to win a few awards plus a championship to overtake Seaver.
PHilly has a strong track record of eating their own too. Just as Mike Schmidt. And more recently ryan Howard being boo’d.
HOF Mike Schmidt. Only Philly could boo a talent like that.
I went to a Yankee game against Boston late April 2007 and they booed the crap out of Mariano Rivera for blowing a save, his 2nd of the week. They booed him off the mound. If there was ever a player that should never be booed it would be Mo.
great point stick – and is there anything worse than being comparable to their fan base?
Yeah, Phillys a beast. Keep in mind that NY has love hate relationship with A-Rod and Boston has had that same relationship with some of it’s stars. Must be a NE thing.
It’s a Big City/Large Market thing!
People are used to getting what they want when they want it and because of the population there is always high competition and performance expectations or you lose your job (even the regular working joes feel this pinch)
As a result it gets translated to how they treat thier sports teams…
The what have you done for me lately!
Thats the biggest problem with a large market. Yes you have the ability to generate a large revenue when your good but if your not good enough there are much more to do and cheaper too!
So when you suck or look like your not going to win they don’t show!
Thats what happened to us and it didn’t happen to the yankees because they have spent to maintain the success and not suck!
Thier time is coming though as soon as the jeters are gone.
Excellent post Jessep. Whenever I hear people say that NYers are the most knowledgable sports fans I nearly puke. All you need to know about your fanbase is that Beltran was booed unmercifully here and one of the worst offensive outfielders in the sport was revered Jeff Francouer. Who’s numbers are right back to where they were in 2010 as I predicted.
Wright is one of the best position players this franchise has ever produced. Maybe if Strawberry didn’t ruin his career and stayed or if Alfonzo didn’t have a career altering back injury one of those two would be considered the best all around players but right now Wright has had the best career of any Met that came through the system.
Seaver is still the greatest Met of alltime. he’s on a totally different level from everybody else.
LOL you are just too funny!
Yeah they were booed by fans like you who just had this to say about them yesterday!
“Maybe somebody should’ve told those allstars to start playing like allstars so maybe we can at least watch the team play 500 ball with all those allstars”
And This:
“Maybe if they would’ve played like Allstars over the past few years and won some damn games, fans would’ve shown up and then Omar would still be here and the team would’nt have sucked ass for 4 years and choked for 2 years before that. ”
You can read the rest of this comedy act here:
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/09/rubin-doing-nothing-at-the-trade-deadline-was-a-kick-in-the-teeth-to-the-players.html
Yep all that from the same guy who said we should have traded them all away for missing the playoffs by a single game!
Yep fans like that booed guys like Beltran all over one missed curveball!
Is there where you say everyone but you is a Bull Artist?
Yep trading away players that proved they couldn’t get it done. Not the same as demonizing a guy who struck out against a nasty curveball. Or villianizing David Wright for not being Albert Pujols. I never bad mouthed any individual player. I wanted to trade them to rebuild and hopefully build a team that could get over the top. Big difference that you’re not bright enough to understand. I’d rather have a winning team with no stars than a losing tteam with a bunch of allstars.
“Whenever I hear people say that NYers are the most knowledgable sports fans I nearly puke. All you need to know about your fanbase is that Beltran was booed unmercifully here”
Well I guess you make yourself Puke which is quite understandable you make everyone else puke around here too!
Face it you ARE the guys who booed Beltran, Didn’t Appreciate what he did, Blame the suck on the guys who made it Suck less and wanted them gone!
Start Puking because you think your knowledgable and boo these guys!
Even trashed them in this thread which we all appreciate because it saves everyone from having to click on a link to see just how all over the place your opinion is based on who your talking to and what the subject is!
No consistency at all!
Okay Sir Twistalot. I never booed a player in my life, not even Jason Bay. That’s the type childish crap you do.
No you just blamed the All Stars (Beltran being one of them Reyes the Other) for 2007 – 2010 and wanted to get rid of them thats all…
Your the only one twisting here because you walked face first into your own roundhouse kick!
Show the post where I said I blame Beltran and Reyes for what happened here between 2007-2010. Show it instead of twisting words to earn you the nickname of “Sir Twistalot”.
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/09/rubin-doing-nothing-at-the-trade-deadline-was-a-kick-in-the-teeth-to-the-players.html
It was posted above…Ignoring it won’t make it go away!
Are you saying that when I said I don’t blame any one player I blame the entire team?
This comment?
No I blame the entire team not one player but I don’t dwell on losing players that were part of 2 consecutive choke jobs to bad teams and then follow that up by constantly getting hurt and underperforming and if you need to be reminded no one was showing up to watch said allstars which caused an owner to lose over 150 million dollars. Who do you get rid of when you can’t keep your current payroll, the guy making 18 million or the guy making 500K? None of these allstars were drawing enough fans to watch those allstars which gave them no choice but to get rid of them.
Were you this broken up after the worst team money can buy Part 1 was broken up in the early 90′s. We had a bunch of allstars then too. How about the worst team money can buy part II? Miss all those allstars too. Or is it just the part III version you long to return
Sir Twistalot is wrong again.
best overall position player. But Seaver is still above him counting pitchers.
When trying to measure Davids Wright’s greatness as a NY Met we have to consider that we’ve seen 2 David Wrights play in his first 8 years. There was the David Wright 2004-2008, and then there was David Wright 2008-2012. His overall clutch numbers are not all that bad, however they were achieved and pumped up during those first 4 years only. Since, he has been God Aweful in the clutch. And unfortunately almost the same is true for all of his numbers. I know it was purely coincidental and sounds rediculous to even mention, but the defining moment of the turn-around was his appearance in the Home Run Derby. If his numbers never declined from ’08 -12 this argument would be a no brainer and not even open for discussion. I can say this with certainty though, he is truly the greatest “home grown” position player to ever wear a Mets uniform. Now I know alot of critics will bring the championship issue into the picture to which I say this…HOGWASH. This is a team sport and every player that holds a ring or multiple rings had a supporting cast. To measure a players talent and greatness on a team championship ring is just rediculous. Two of the greatest, and I mean GREATEST in their sport, Dan Marino and Ted Williams never won a ring.
Since, he has been God Aweful in the clutch”
To quote a good friend of me… THIS ^
” he is truly the greatest “home grown” position player to ever wear a Mets uniform.”
To quote a good friend of Alex’s good friends.
^This.
If his numbers never declined from ’08 -12 this argument would be a no brainer and not even open for discussion”
To quote a good friend of my friend’s friend: “THIS^^
The HR Derby was in 2006. He had a rough 2nd half after that but he had his best season the following year in 2007 and a damn good 2008 so the HR Derby has nothing to do with his decline in 09,10 and 11. It had more to do with Citifield and its ridiculous dimensions. His 2012 first half should tell you that Citifield had more to do with his decline than the 2006 HR Derby.
The final chapter on David Wright has yet to be written. If the question was best position player the Mets have ever had you would have a good argument that he’d trump Piazza or Straw, but Seaver is the best Met ever and it would be hard for Wright to dethrone him. If he were to get 3,000 hits, and at least one ring, and one MVP, then you can put him in Seaver’s class, but not until those things happen.
I hate things like this because you can’t compare every player to each other and if you bring up any of Wrights faults you’re gonna be called a hater.
Fist off, let me ask you some questions…who’s a better hitter?
A. Wright
B. Piazza
C. Olerud
D. Hernandez
E. Reyes
F. Alfonzo
G. Beltran
H. Strawberry
I. HoJo
Who had a the best career?
Who had the best Met career?
Who had the best seasons?
Who was the best defender?
Who had the best power?
Wright has had the best all time Met career, but he’s not the best (position) player the Mets ever had…hell, he’s not even a HOF’er.
You take away Kranepool and Harrelson and nobody has player more games as a Met than Wright. Does that help or hurt Wrights status?
If Reyes was still here, he’d be the all time Met hits leader (with less games played)…so how does that factor? But Reyes hits in the top of the order, so he should have more hits…
We can argue about being clutch…but having a high BA with runners on base is what makes you clutch? Is getting the big hit in the 5th inning more important that getting it in the 9th?
Can you blame Wright for not producing when he’s have no support? But has Wright been able to carry a team the way that Piazza and Beltran have?
But can you ignore how great Wright was in 06-08?
Has Wright ever been the best 3rd basemen in the league? Will Wright even have a better career than Scott Rolen?
We can argue all day long and everyone has a different opinion and who’s to say who is right or wrong.
I really think we you start doing these types of arguments you do nothing but an injustice to Wright and all the great players he’s being compared to.
Best 3B in Met History? Yes especially if you don’t count the years edgardo played there.
Bets Met ever? Nah he’s good but not THAT good.
There are lots of guys you can rattle off (some have been here already) that were better players than Wright.
Some may not have been here as long as Wright has but if they were Wright would not be leading the Mets in hits either.
Beltran is one of the best Met players overall, Alfonso is close behind him, Hernandez must be considered above Wright as should Strawberry.
But that said, when you look at this team and who we have, Wright is about the only one who would look quite at home with those great teams with Seaver and the 86ers.
And thats why despite how some feel he hasn’t lived up to expectations or is worth the money he will get, he should be resigned and given a contract that will allow him to retire as a Met.
I agree with both statements make above.
Per Metsie
“Wright is about the only one who would look quite at home with those great teams with Seaver and the 86ers”.
Per Alex68
“He’s a good player on a team with stars, when it’s his turn to lead a franchise as the main guy the team will most likely be a losing team.”
Botom line Wright is a great complimentry type player. This is not a putdown. He is an allstar but not a superstar.
H is not a team unto himself thats the problem I think most people seem to have with him which maybe too much to ask of him.
As far as leadership goes he has never had to be the leader as there was always someone else. This is his first full year without Beltran who pretty much owned this team as the leader.
WHo is to say that after another year he won’t be more of a leader.
Still won’t carry a team but then again he shouldn’t have to no player should.
Change the title to best “home-grown” Met than you may have a debate.
But best Met? No. Not even close and I don’t even have to bring up names.
Even then you still have a few guys named Strawberry and Seaver ahead of him.
But your right he gets a lot closer to the top is you just limit it to homegrowns.
Yeah, I have only said best homegrown positional player. Even that leaves him right there beside of Straw and I could see a debate either way.
Seaver and Straw were also homegrown, drafted and developed by the Mets. So nothing’s changed.
Correct but guys like Hernandez and Aflonso aren’t ahead of him anymore….
I believe he may be the best met position player of all time. Seaver is the best met ever. Calling him unclutch is just a joke. The guy produces every wear with very little help in the lineup. An interesting stat was mentioned today. He’s hit 21 homeruns this season. 10 to put his team ahead. That’s clutch to me.
I’ll say this.. He’s had a good productive year in the clutch.. I’ll give him that. but to say the guy was the only person most of us did not wanna see with the bat on his hand with the game on the line is a straight up lie.. One thing i’ll say, his best year where from 2005-2008 true, but during those 4 years, the guy was not the leader, captain, best player on the team, so he had nothing to worry about, he started pressing in 2008 when it started to be said this was his team etc. well, since then, the mets have not had one good season and his decline has been very noticeable… He’s a good player on a team with stars, when it’s his turn to lead a franchise as the main guy the team will most likely be a losing team…
He’s a good player on a team with stars, when it’s his turn to lead a franchise as the main guy the team will most likely be a losing team…
Most, if not all teams will still be losing teams when the only good player is expected to lead the franchise. And of course that only good player becomes the “main guy”. Case in point….this years Pirates, not even McCutchen, with the year he has had, could turn the Pirates into a winning team.
Conversely, look at the player Granderson has become with the supporting cast on the Yankees. He went from being a good player to nearly superstar status with a supporting cast.
The only thing i want to say is hats off to R.A. for his wonderful year he had, and to david for breaking records to as a met. Now if the mets were smart, now is the time to sign both to at least 5 year deals with an option year, so that the mets now can build around them. Now is the time for the stupid wilpons to spend some money and bring in some new blood they need, stop saying we are spending money cus the fans are so mad at you for not caring and doing something that could have saved the season. Why don’t you people listen, what’s your problem. Like who cares get rid of bay, gid rid of torres, that’s a start. We need need speed and power to go with ike, david, and yes duda.. Thole needs to go back to the minors to think about his career. Cus we need a cather to go with kelly. We need to get the bullpen right too. get rid of the hitting coach, pitching coach, get rid of the manager and get rid of player delevopment postions and the owner and start brand new from top to bottom to get our mets back, we as fans are tired of be put on the back burner, now should be our time. We want our mets to be winners for a long time, not just one year, or two or three we want a winner for years. The manager we have is too soft, don’t always make the right decisions, even on the battling order. We need a mangaer with fire and so this team what winning is . We are intilted to be proud of our mets.
Wright may rank at or near the top of Met greats, but Seaver is an all-time great, still holding the record for highest HOF vote pct. Maybe when his career is over Wright will have a chance to be held in such high regard by both Mets fans and baseball fans in general, but he’s only got half a career under his belt, so it’s a bit early to call him the greatest anything.