(Photo Credit: NYIT Athletics)
The NYIT baseball team was treated to a nice surprise this morning when 14-year MLB veteran and New York Mets legend David Wright made an appearance at practice. He spoke to the team and also did an interview with SNY.
David Wright’s motivational words to the @NYITBears ? pic.twitter.com/zc0OBLutg8
— SNY (@SNYtv) January 25, 2019
David spoke of the importance of getting your work in when nobody is watching or telling you what to do, he also spoke about finding the motivation to work regardless of the weather conditions, which he feels is a major reason he was able to get to the big leagues and find success as a corner infielder that is 6’0″ and roughly 205 lbs despite obvious size disadvantages from guys like Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Giancarlo Stanton.
He also spoke of the importance of working smarter and not necessary always harder. He cited the well-documented story during his minor league career when he was batting over .400 on the road and barely .200 at home and it was discovered that he was taking close to 200 swings before the game, which was resulting in suffering fatigue during the games.
David is one of the most well-respected players to ever wear a New York Mets uniform. He finished his career with a batting average of .296, with an on-base percentage of .376, slugging percentage of .491 with 242 home runs and 970 RBI. During his peak years of 2005-’08, he had one of the best sustained runs among third basemen in the history of the game. He compiled a triple slash line of .311/.394/.534, averaging 29 home runs, 112 RBI, 82 walks and 22 stolen bases. He joined the 30/30 club in 2007, a season in which he easily would’ve won the National League MVP had the Mets not infamously squandered a 7 game lead with 17 games to go. It was no fault of his own, as the Mets third baseman won Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, was named an All-Star and finished fourth in MVP voting despite compiling 8.3 WAR, just behind Albert Pujols for most in the National League.
He finished his career with four Top-10 MVP finishes, seven All-Star game appearances and two Gold Gloves. He goes down as one of the top position players in Mets history, right there with Mike Piazza and Darryl Strawberry. Had he been healthy at all from 2015 on, he certainly would’ve overtaken Strawberry for most HR in team history.
I had the opportunity to meet David in 2005 before a game, and true to everybody’s word, he was nothing short of a gentleman. Like many young Met fans, I was enamored with his humility, his ability to play the game at a high level and to stay out of trouble despite playing under the microscope of New York.
He will now transition into the front office, serve as a Special Advisor to the General Manager.
