David Lennon over at Newsday had an insightful article on the growth, maturation, and the developing leadership of the Mets All Star 3B, David Wright.
On May 21st of this season, the Mets had just returned from a dreadful road trip through Florida, Atlanta, and Washington, which dropped he Mets two games below .500 (20-22). The Mets were in last place in the NL East, and Wright knew that this was an important time to confront the Mets manager and convince him to have a team meeting.
According to Lennon:
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Wright told Manuel the team was out of sync, so gathering everyone to clear the air might be a step toward fixing the internal issues. Manuel did, squeezing the entire roster into his office, and the Mets responded by winning 19 of their next 25 games. ____________________________________________________________
Other than last year when Wright got in Mike Pelfrey's face in the dugout about the way he was pitching, Wright's demeanor is one to exert his leadership behind the scenes. As first year Met Jason Bay says:
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"I get the feeling that David would never wear a 'C' on the front of his uniform unless everyone else on the team has to wear one, too." _____________________________________________________________
Bay also said that Wright is vital to the team in his leadership, comparing him to former teammate and Captain, Jason Varitek: _____________________________________________________________
"This one may come back to bite me a little bit, but he's a hard guy to get to know. In meeting everybody, [Jeff] Francoeur could get along with this chair in two minutes. With David, you have to be around him.
"But I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm the same way. But once he's comfortable being around you, I feel like he's opened up a lot."
_____________________________________________________________Anyone who watches the Mets regularly must have taken notice how Wright will freely stroll to the pitchers mound from 3B if he notices a pitcher is out of rhythm or is pressing too hard. Keith Hernandez has commented more recently how much he loves seeing Wright take charge on the field. As Wright has said: _____________________________________________________________
"I think it's kind of a maturation process. Baseball's not like a lot of other sports where you can come in as a young player and all of a sudden become one of the leaders. It's something that has to be earned, and that takes a little bit of time and you have to prove yourself.'' _____________________________________________________________
At 27, David Wright has proved himself.
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