CheeringMetFan
My Daughter is a Yankee Fan!
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Posts: 1713
(7/12/04 7:30 pm)
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Meet the Mets' Mr. Wright
HOUSTON - Any day now, the world keeps whispering in David Wright's ear, counting down his coronation as the Next Met Savior. It's so close, the 21-year-oid rookie can't help but close his eyes and imagine the sound and fury of that first moment at Shea.
It could happen this week, but calmer voices within the Met organization are preaching patience. The club is sensitive to the growing hype that's enveloping Wright, and will likely wait until Ty Wigginton is traded - or at least until his hot streak runs its course.
But whether Wright arrives in July or August, or even after Sept. 1, when rosters expand to 40 players, the Mets are convinced he'll be their third baseman tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
Wright away or wait?
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Sports talk-show callers unite: Here are the arguments for and against bringing David Wright up to the Mets right now:
Bring him up now
• With a .341 average, what's left to learn at Class AAA?
• He could energize the entire team, the way Gregg Jefferies did when he arrived in 1988.
Not so fast
• Has played less than a month at Class AAA.
• Ty Wigginton is so hot, what's the rush to sit him?
Wright doesn't just hit - he hits for power into the gaps, boasting a .341 average with 16 homers and 52 RBI this summer. And Wright projects the kind of maturity that suggests he's not just ready to play at Shea, he's ready to begin what he calls "the cat-and-mouse game" with opposing pitchers, the kind only veterans seem to understand.
"To me, the fun part of hitting is the thinking part," Wright said. "It's the game within a game. You can't just perform on athletic ability. There's more to it than that."
Wright is getting his education in a hurry, having been promoted from Class AA to Class AAA this summer. Sunday, he took another step up the ladder, participating in the Futures Game, the equivalent of a one-day minor league World Cup. American-born minor league stars take on their foreign-born counterparts, a glossy exhibition for executives looking to measure their almost-ready-for-prime-time talent.
Wright, who played third and batted fifth for the U.S. team, didn't exactly leave the crowd at Minute Maid Park breathless. He made an error and went 1-for-3, including a four-pitch strikeout in his first at-bat against Seattle's Felix Hernandez.
Hernandez, a hard-throwing righty, took Wright apart with sliders down and away. Afterward, the young Met said, "I have to tip my cap to him [Hernandez]. He had great stuff. He made some great pitches to me."
In his next at-bat, however, Wright singled to center and later grounded out to short. The American team prevailed, 4-3, although no one really cared about the outcome. In fact, the game lasted only seven innings, as ESPN hustled the Futures off the field to make room for the celebrity softball event.
Wright admitted he was hoping for a breakthrough game during the national telecast, but the consolation prize is being able to spend the next two days hanging around the All-Star Game's festivities with his family. On Thursday, Wright leaves for Norfolk - at least that's what his airplane ticket says - but ask him about the Mets' schedule, and Wright knows exactly who's next.
"Phillies," is what Wright says with a smile. It doesn't take much to realize how badly he'd like to be at Shea for the start of the second half, but the Mets have a legitimate problem finding room for him.
Wigginton is hitting so well, one club official said, "there's no reason to sit him." Ideally, the Mets would like to use Wigginton to acquire Kris Benson from the Pirates, but the trade market is so lean, Pittsburgh GM Dave Littlefield has made it nearly impossible for the Mets to begin serious negotiations. Incredibly, they've asked for Wright, which is like asking the Mets to sabotage their future. Wright is on the same career path as Jose Reyes, and might be the best player the Mets have developed since Gregg Jefferies.
The irony is that Wright actually has the same physique as Jefferies, strong and thick-chested with short arms. The parallel extends even further than that, since Wright's agents, the Levinson brothers, also represented Jefferies.
Obviously, the Mets are hoping Wright succeeds where Jefferies failed - not so much at the plate, but in getting along with teammates. Coddled and self-absorbed, Jefferies was isolated in his own clubhouse from his first day at Shea - a lesson Wright already has absorbed.
"Gregg was a heck of a player ... but every player makes mistakes," Wright said. He smiles easily, and is impossible to dislike, and the gap between Wright's ego and his talent is so wide, it actually takes a few minutes to digest.
Can anyone this good be this pure? Wright has no attitude, no edge - just the kind of bat speed the Mets are dreaming about.
"I have to get myself ready to make this jump," Wright said. "I've been seeing better pitching at Triple-A than before. You can't just sit back and wait for a fastball at 2-0 or 3-1. The pitchers can throw any pitch they want for a strike, so that's been a bit of an adjustment."
The rush through the system is even more electric for Wright as it coincides with the Mets' surge to respectability in 2004. Just eight days ago, Wright had a taste of Shea's new energy, watching from the dugout in Norfolk as the Mets were finishing a three-game sweep of the Yankees.
A rain delay kept Wright and his teammates off the field, but the telecast from Shea beamed over the Tides' Diamond Vision screen. The moment Kaz Matsui scored the winning run against the Yankees, the young Mets - all of them just one phone call away - leapt off the dugout bench, high-fiving each other in celebration.
Wright wouldn't admit if that Mets' victory made him feel any closer to the big leagues. But this much is sure - that phone call is coming. Any day now.
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O & A ALWAYS WIN IN THE END
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