The Captain David Wright Returns Tonight
Its a day many people thought would never come this year. Its a day that some people feared would never come at all. DW, the Captain, returns tonight. One of the most beloved, loyal Mets in franchise history joins the team in Philadelphia tonight. I’m not expecting much from David. It would be unfair for anyone to put heavy expectations on him. His injury is a bizarre one. Its a permanent condition, not just a hurt body part. And dropping someone in the lineup at the end of August after virtually zero Big League competition this season and expecting him to be that franchise cornerstone $20 million player is just not realistic.
But what you can hope for is that “Willis Reed Effect.” There’s been a lot of fairy tale type of stories this year, why cant David Wright’s return fit into that category? Maybe a big hit or a big play and this team rallies around him a bit. Sparks them once again. There’s a lot of young players on this team who weren’t really around for the 06, 07 type of David Wright. They might not have as deep a connection to him as the fans do. But a guy like David Wright is never a bad player to have on the team and in the dugout, and a clutch performance or 2 here down the stretch would go a long way as for as momentum and confidence. I’d be lying if I wasnt a little concerned about him rocking the boat a bit. Things are going pretty damn well at the moment, and Uribe and Murphy have been performing. (At least Murphy with the bat) I’m particularly worried about Wright’s defense even more than his bat. But everyone has indicated the Mets dont see him as an every day player, so its not like they are just gonna play him night in and night out because of his contract. And I think giving him a few starts each week is fair. And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, he performs. The days of him as that 25-30 home run guy are long gone. The days of him even being a high average contact hitter may be in question. But this is a season where all the usual Mets moments that go wrong are going right. Things that are doomed to fail seem to be succeeding. So I, for one, am gonna have some faith that DW comes back and makes an impact.
Ya gotta believe.