Who needs a glove? David Wright put out that question while providing the greatest defensive highlight of his career during his first full big-league season.
San Diego’s Brian Giles lifted a soft fly ball over Wright’s head in the seventh inning at Petco Park—certain to be a hit into left field. It would’ve been challenging enough to make the catch with a mitt if he could even race back and do that. As he darts back for the ball, he notices the trajectory and where it was headed—leaving him little choice about his next course of action.
“It was over my right shoulder,” Wright said. “I couldn’t reach it with my glove, so I took a stab at it.”
Wright increased the degree of difficulty and reached out with his throwing hand, “as if he were a wide receiver catching a fade pattern in the corner of the end zone” said the New York Times. While falling down, he held on to the ball before landing on the grass in shallow left. It was one of the best grabs you’ll ever see, by a Met or anyone else.
It was such as tremendous effort that even the crowd in San Diego gave Wright a round of applause.
Injured first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, according to the New York Times, said he choked on a sunflower seed while watching it from the bench. “If that’s not the play of the year, I’ll protest,” he said. Both he and Cliff Floyd lobbied ESPN to give Wright an ESPY award.
The Mets lost, 8-3, but that not at all what’s remembered.
“We could have really blown it up if we’d won,” Floyd said.
No ESPY, but David’s snag did win MLB.com’s 2005 This Year in Baseball Play of the Year Award.
Wright’s hitting that season showed the improvement everyone in the organization hoped for. The day after his catch, he tied a personal-high with six RBIs thanks to a three-run homer, a two-run double and a run-scoring single. In all, Wright posted a 140 OPS+ for the year with the first of five 100-plus RBI seasons. But while his offense was a part of outstanding (and all too brief) career, his defensive heroics in San Diego is the lasting memory of the 2005 season.
