It feels like decades since the Mets last swept a series, but this afternoon they have a chance to do just that. What makes it even more enticing is that it comes against an old nemesis, the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the Phillies who last swept the Mets at Shea Stadium, and sent the Mets reeling into their worst slump in over three years.

For a time it seemed the Mets were falling into a black hole with no chance of recovering. The slump had some of the players talking to themselves after every popup or ground-out, and even had  a few players slamming their bats and helmets to the ground after each strike out with runners on base. Rumors started swirling of discontent in the clubhouse, as some players like Tom Glavine and Billy Wagner, took  some fellow teammates to task. Simply put, it was starting to get a little bit ugly.

But then something amazing happened.

David Wright put his own personal slump behind him and started to hit again. As the Mets kept sinking in June, Wright kept hitting, and soon after he found himself being anointed the new cleanup hitter for the New York Mets. It was just about then that the Mets fortunes began to turn for the better again. With a hot David Wright batting number four, Carlos Beltran started to see more fastballs and more pitchers in the strike zone, and soon after, he began to scorch the ball. The Mets were starting to score runs again and were back to their winning ways.

David Wright is no longer just an up and coming star at third base for the Mets. He has become a difference maker on this team. He is fast becoming to the Mets, what Derek Jeter is to the Yankees, and though it may be too early to pin a "Captain" title on Wright, he has certainly exhibited that he has the qualities you look for and demand in a leader.

David Wright may not yet be the kind of player that can carry a team when he is hot like Mike Piazza or Darryl Strawberry used to do, but he has shown that he is more than willing to try. He has shown that he can separate himself from any negativity that can grow in a clubhouse during a losing streak, and remain focused and determined, and also positive.

Wright was born to play this wonderful game we call baseball. He is the charismatic face of the organization and an unspoken leader who does his talking with his bat and with his glove.

It’s time to put a "C" on David Wrights uniform.