“He was an absolute pro.”
That’s how Mets’ beat reporter Anthony DiComo of MLB.com described his experience with David Wright after the two finished writing “The Captain,” a memoir chronicling Wright’s life and career. (Release date October 13th).
“It was fun to kind to work with him and pick his brain about aspects of his career,” DiComo told Metsmerized. “I witnessed most of them during my day job as a reporter. But to see things from his perspective was really unique and cool,” said DiComo who has been on the Mets’ beat since 2007.
DiComo also got to see adversity through Wright’s eyes looking back at the third baseman’s difficult rehab process after being diagnosed with spinal stenosis in 2015.
“He went through a grind that year from a rehab perspective. A lot of that stuff was purposely kept hidden from us at the time. They didn’t want us seeing it and he didn’t want us to know what he was going through on a day-by-day basis,” said DiComo.
Wright played in only 38 games that season, but was able to return to the lineup in August after extensive rehab. Upon his re-activation, Wright was forced to go through multiple hours of preparation on game day just to be able to play on a regular basis.
Amazingly enough, he managed to re-claim the third baseman job and contributed down the stretch helping the Mets’ clinch the National League East division title and their first World Series appearance in 15 years.
The Mets fell to the Kansas City Royals in five games in the World Series, but Wright had a huge performance in their lone victory homering and driving in four RBIs on two hits in game three.
“Seeing the entire season and postseason from his point of view was awesome. I think most Mets fans under the age of 30 would say 2015 was the highlight of their fandom,” said DiComo.
Another memorable moment for DiComo when re-capturing Wright’s illustrious career was his final game before retirement in 2018.
While DiComo says he does not think Wright is satisfied with how things ended for him, he believes the former Mets’ captain is now at peace with the conclusion of his career.
Wright was able to gain closure by making it back for one last game to receive a special sendoff from the fans on a ceremonious night.
Fourteen seasons, 1,585 games, seven All-Star appearances, two Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves, 242 home runs, 970 RBIs, and a career slash line of .296/.376/.491. If injuries did not derail his career, Wright appeared to be on track for the Hall of Fame.
Alas, he will have to settle for going down as a lifelong Met, the fourth captain in franchise history, and one of their best players of all time. Not too shabby.
“I know he’s glad he had the opportunity to reflect and put everything from this career down in one place. To kind of have that, not just for him, but for his family and kids to look at later in life and see what his career was.”
“He was always there. He was always accountable. He was always understanding of what our needs were in the media, and that’s probably something that’s becoming rarer and rarer these days. So you appreciate those guys. David was an absolute pro,” said DiComo.
