Craig Mitchell --The Trials and Tribulations of David Wright

Since when has hero bashing become all the rage? These days as the Mets stumble fumble and tumble through the dog days Met fans seems to have reached their breaking point.  Out are old allegiances, in is an unfocused intolerance.  Since 2004 David Wright has secured what was historically the Mets most insecure position, third base.  In their entire existence only a scant few players have stood out Howard Johnson, Robin Ventura round out the top three. Standing high above the rest is David Wright.

2014 marks Wright’s tenth season manning the hot corner for the Mets.  As of today he holds just about every offense batting record the Mets have. He’s FIRST in AB’s, Plate Appearances, Runs scored, hits, total bases, singles, doubles, RBI, Sac-flys and is Second in home runs and is a 7 time all-star. Now, unfortunately, Wright is having a challenging year in 2014. In 2013, he was in contention for the MVP early on, but injuries slowed him down. Still he finished with a .307 average with 18 homers and 58 RBI in only 112 games.  So far in 2014, he is batting .268 with 8 homers and 56 RBI in 121 games. Supposedly healthy but rumors of a nagging shoulder injury linger. There are also thoughts of the injury while healed led to a change of mechanics which have taken the Mets star into unknown territory known as mediocrity.

One would think, with as much as Wright, who is affectionately known as The Captain and even Captain America has accomplished in a Met uniform the fans would be in his corner. Sadly, more and more of the Met following are not.

Now it’s hard to tell if it’s only a select few who troll the internet, but the boos heard recently at Citi Field

seem to deny that theory. David Wright is hearing something he’s rarely heard at home and even on the road. Boos from Met fans. Saturday night in Los Angeles Met fans watched as Wright helplessly struck out on back to back at bats with runners on base and the Mets trailing. You can see it on Wrights face. He seems lost. He is doing what he’s always done, but it’s not working.  He’s had slumps before, but as most Met fans know the slump would last as long as it would last maybe a week, maybe two. But then you would have a game where Wright would start to hit line drives to right field. First at fielders, then in front of them, then over their heads and BANG he was back. All was well. That’s not happening this year.

So say its age. Wright turned 31 years old in December. Could it be? Already? Well, it has happened.  But as an example, Keith Hernandez was 30 in his first full year with the Mets in 1984. He was productive through the 1988 season, but was gone after 1989 (at the age of 35.). Howard Johnson comes to mind as well.  Johnson provided more power and speed than any Met third baseman EVER. He had some MVP caliber years. In 1989 at the age of 28 he batted .287 with 36 homers 101 RBI and 41 steals.  In 1991 he batted .258 and led the NL with 38

homers and 117 RBI while stealing 30 bases. But then in 1992 at the age of 31 Johnson fell to .223 with 7 homes and 43 RBI. Johnson was never the same again. 31 sounds young, but in baseball it seems to be the end of the prime. Johnson was out of baseball by 1995 and never batted over .238 or hit over 10 home runs again, even in his years in Chicago (Cubs in 1995) and Colorado in 1994. So, perhaps the decade of Wright being an elite player has come to an end.  Personally, I hope not.

But if it has, it has. It has come as a surprise to me and many other fans and especially David Wright. Now I

personally feel that while not exactly in his prime. David Wright has a lot left in the tank. He’s a terrific ballplayer, one of the best the Mets have ever had. But he’s human.  Anyone’s mechanics and head can get messed up by a shoulder injury. Hell, even casual fans could tell the entire first half of the year that Wright’s throwing was off. It was obvious that something was wrong. At the plate, his swing and approach has changed. It doesn’t seem like age, or lack of quickness. It seems like a timing issue. They say it’s mechanical. Even Wright admits to have been messing with his mechanics. That’s never a good sign. He’s fishing to correct what went wrong. You would think that Met fans would have his back. After all he is the most successful position player the Mets have ever grown at home.

His support seems to be dwindling. From my vantage point Wright lost a lot of support when he signed his 7 year contract extension last off-season.  Only because with the big signing the Mets were saying “Yes, this is our stud, our super-star” So expectations got pushed sky high. Wright became more than just our third basemen. He was signed to calm the outrage of just letting Jose Reyes go the year before. To many fans Wright has not met those expectations. Many are now starting to say that he has wilted under the pressure. Trolls on the internet are fast to say “He sucks”, “He’s never been clutch”, “and He’s nothing more than a decent player.”  How quickly they forget.

Being a Met fan these days isn’t what it used to be. The Yankees raise the bar so high, in terms of spending, that Met fans see dollar signs instead of talent. They see free agents instead of heart. I totally understand. This is New York. This is the biggest city in the country and that carries the expectations. Met fans see the Yankees 200 million dollar payroll and get angry seeing the Mets handled like a small market team.  All of that, I get.

What I don’t get is the seemingly lack of respect and reverence for one of the best Mets ever. No, he hasn't won an MVP or a World Series. But day in and day out for the better part of a decade, David Wright has been the jewel in the Mets crown.  No one in the line up wants to win more than David Wright.  I’m betting he comes out of this slump. I’m betting that he has some MVP type seasons left.  But even if I’m wrong, You won’t catch me booing David Wright. He’s been my hero far too long.