David Wright: All Time Mets Third Baseman (Part One: 2004 - 2009)

David Allen Wright was born December 20, 1982, in Norfolk, Virginia. He was raised in Chesapeake, Virginia, growing up a Mets fan being in the area of the team's AAA clubs at Tidewater & Norfolk.

Wright attended Hickory High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, and was the 2001 Gatorade Virginia High School Player of the Year. 

Wright also earned All-State honors in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and was named Virginia All-State Player of the Year in 2001. Over his four-year career at Hickory, Wright hit .438 with 13 home runs and 90 RBI.

Wright was chosen as the Mets first round pick (38th pick overall) in the 2001 amateur draft, as
compensation for losing Mike Hampton to free agency. 

The six-foot right hand hitting Wright was chosen after the Mets first pick, Aaron Heilman.

In 2003 he won the Sterling Award for best Player at A ball St. Lucie with 15 HRs & 75 RBIs batting .270. The following year he batted ..363 in 60 games at AA Binghamton hitting 10 HRs with 40 RBIs. He was promoted quickly to AAA Norfolk where he hit .298 with 8 HRs & 17 RBIs in 31 games before getting called up to the Mets. 

The David Wright era began with a lot of hype as he was being called the franchise player of the future.

Mets Career: On July 21st, David Wright made his debut at Shea Stadium starting at third base going 0-4 in a 5-4 win over the Expos. He became the 129th Mets third baseman in team history & would remain there for the next decade, setting many team records.

In his second game, he collected his first career hit, a double off The Expos Zach Day, he collected two hits in that game, a 4-1 loss.

First Career HR: On July 26th, he hit his first career HR, it came in Montreal off John Patterson in a wild 19-10 Mets loss to the Expos.

Multi- Six RBI Game: On August 5th, he had season high six RBI game leading the Mets to an 11-6 win in Milwaukee. In the six-run top of the 1st inning, Wright hit a three run HR off Victor Santos. Vance Wilson followed going back-to-back. 

In the top of the 3rd, with the bases loaded, he hit a three run double coming off Matt Kinney. 

On August 19th, David came to bat in the top of the 9th inning in a 2-2 tie in Colorado. He hit a
two run HR into the left field seats, leading the Mets to a 4-2 win with the game winner.

Four Hit Game-3 Doubles On August 21st in a 12 inning 11-9 Mets win San Francisco, Wright
had his first career four hit game. He singled & hit three doubles in the contest. It was the 19th time in team history a Mets player hit three doubles in a game.

Multi-HR Game: On September 2nd, Wright hit a 4th inning three run HR off the Marlins Carl Pavano. In the 9th inning, he hit a solo HR off Josias Manzanillo for his first career multi-HR game. He drove in four runs in the 9-6 loss to the Marlins. 

He had a good September batting .309 
raising his season average to .293. He hit seven HRs while driving in 19 runs for the second straight month. Wright had 11 multi-hit games in the month with his second four hit game on September 11th in a loss to the Phillies.

Final Expos Game: On the last day of the season, Wright hit a two run HR off the Expos John Patterson & drove in a third run on an earlier sac fly, in the Mets 8-1 win in Montreal. It was the team's last game as the Montreal Expos, as they were relocating to Washington D.C as the Nationals the next season. 

The HR was his 14th of the season, all coming after the All-Star Break, which is second most in team history after Darryl Strawberry's 18.

Wright ended the year batting .293 tied with Colorado's Aaron Miles for best average by a rookie.

He hit 14 HRs with 77 hits 17 doubles a triple 40 RBIs 6 stolen bases & 41 runs scored. He posted a .332 on base % & .857 OPS in 69 games (263 at bats).

The Mets finished fourth under manager Art Howe going 71-91. In the off-season Willie Randolph was brought in as manager, the Mets also signed Carlos Beltran & Pedro Martinez. With the young Wright & Jose Reyes on the left side of the infield, things were looking up for the Mets.



2005: The 22-year-old Wright took over as the Mets starting third baseman full time. On Opening Day in Cincinnati, he went 1-4 with a double in the loss. The next day he hit his first HR of the season in another loss.

Grand Slam: On April 19th in a game at Philadelphia, Wright hit his first career grand slam, it came off Gavin Floyd in the 6th inning of a 16-4 Mets blow out at Philadelphia.

In May he drove in 18 runs, including a stretch where he drove in runs in four straight games &

another where he drove in a run in every other game over a ten-day period. He put together a 15-game hit streak in July & remained consistent in the first half of the year batting above .290.


From July 10th to July 28th, Wright had a season best 15 game hit streak, collecting 22 hits with five doubles, four HRs & ten RBIs.

Multi HR Game: On July 14th at Shea Stadium, David had his second career multi-HR game hitting a pair off the Braves Horatio Ramirez in a 6-3 Mets victory. He hit another HR the next game in a Mets loss.

On July 21st he collected two hits in the same 6th inning, leading off with a base hit & then adding a two run double in a 12-0 Mets blow out behind Kaz Ishi's 9six innings) Dae-Sungo Koo, Heath Bell & Danny Graves combined shut out.

In August he had his best month, in the first two weeks he hit safely in 10 of 12 games.



Defensive Play of the Year:
 On August 9th, at Petco Park in a game against the San Deigo Padres, he made a bare-handed over the shoulder catch on a Brian Giles bloop to left center field. Wright caught the ball with his back to the plate & held onto it after crashing then tumbling to the ground. 

The Petco Park fans gave him a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. The catch was later voted "This Year in Baseball's Play of the Year". 

Six RBI Day: The next day he matched his career high six RBIs while collecting four hits in a 9-1 Mets win at San Diego.

In the top of the 1st, Wright singled with two men on bringing in his first run. In the 3rd inning, he hit his 30th double of the year, bringing in two more runs giving the Mets a 5-0 lead. In the top of the 4th, David hit a three run HR off Brian Lawrence, for his 17th HR of the year & his 18th multi-RBI game.

Player of the Week Award: From August 19th - August 30th he also had an eleven-game hit
streak raising his average to .313 for the year. 
Starting on August 23rd he would reach base nine consecutive times over the next two games in Arizona, collecting seven hits while drawing two walks. 

On August 23rd he singled, hit two doubles, walked & drove in two runs. The next night he had his third multi-HR game of the year, hitting one off Buddy Groom & another off Brandon Lyon in a 18-4 Mets blow out.

On August 26th in San Francisco, Wright hit a 2nd inning HR off Kevin Correia, which was the only run in a 1-0 Steve Trachsel (8 innings) Braden Looper three hit shut out over the Giants.

Wright had a big month batting .378 with 37 hits, six HRs & 27 RBIs. 

Grand Slam: On September 24th in Washington DC, Wright came to bat in the 1st inning with the bases loaded & hit his second career grand slam, coming off the Nat's Livan Hernandez leading New York to a 5-2 win. 

The next day Wright had an RBI double then he hit a two run HR off Travis Hughes with the Mets down 5-4 to the Nationals in the 8th inning. Two batters later, the hot rookie Mike Jacobs homered as well leading the Mets to a 6-5 win. 

Multi HR Game: On September 29th, in an 11-0 blow out of the Rockies at Shea Stadium, he had his third multi-HR game of the year, hitting a two run HR off Sun-Woo Kim & another off Jose Acevedo. Wright had homered the night before in a loss to the Phils.

On October 1st, Wright hit his 27th HR of the year in a 3-1 win at home over the Rockies. Of his 27 HRs 11 of them either tied or gave the Mets a lead. He ended the season hitting four HRs & driving in seven runs in his last five games of the year.

For the 2005 season, Wright hit .306 (9th in the NL) with 42 doubles (7th in the NL) & 102 RBIs (10th in the NL). He was the first Met since Mike Piazza in 2000 to drive in 100 runs.

Wright had 176 hits (10th in the NL) with 70 extra base hits (10th in the NL) & 14 HRs (second on the club to Cliff Floyd). 

He also led the team in runs scored (99) on base % (.388%) walks (72) & OPS (.912).

Wright's 17 stolen bases were tied for second behind Jose Reyes.

He struggled on the field making 24 errors tied with Troy Glaus for the MLB lead. Wright did lead all NL third baseman in games played (160) assists (336) & helped turn 24 double plays.


2006 NL Eastern Champion Season:
 In this off season, the Mets brought in closer Billy Wagner, slugger Carlos Delgado, catcher Paul LoDuca & veteran Jose Valentin. 

With these additions the Mets had a star-studded good ball club that remained in first place throughout the season then easily winning the NL East in September.

As the season began, Wright sealed the Mets Opening Day 3-2 win over the Nationals with a 6th inning HR off Livan Hernandez. 

Mets Team Record: Wright became the first Mets player to drive in runs in his first six games of the season. He hit safely in his first eight games as well batting .469 with seven extra base hits & 12 RBIs.

Back-to-Back Multi-RBI Games: On April 7th, Wright hit a HR off the Marlins Jason Vargas, along with a sac fly & RBI single, for a three RBI game in the Mets 9-3 win at Shea. 

Walk Off Hit: On April 9th, with the Mets down 2-0 in the 7th inning, Wright hit a two-run triple off the Marlins Dontrelle Willis to tie the game.  

In the bottom of the 9th, with the score still tied at two, Carlos Beltran was on third base & Wright hit a sac fly to win the game with a walk off 3-2 victory.

On April 22nd, in a win at San Diego David stole two bases for the first time in his career. He would steal two bases in a game again that August. 

Multi HR Game: On April 28th, David hit two HRs in a 5-2 win in Atlanta. In the top of the 5th inning, he hit a solo shot off John Smoltz. 

In the top of the 9th the Mets were down 3-2, Carlos Delgado tied it with a sac fly & Wright put New York ahead with a solo shot off Chris Reitsma. He also had an RBI sac fly, leading Pedro Martinez to the victory.

Four Hit Game: On May 4th, he collected four hits, having the seventh four hit game of his career. He three singles, with a double & an RBI in Tom Glavine's (7 inning) Dauner Sanchez & Jorge Julio's combined four hit shutout.

Walk Off Double: On May 5th Wright had his second walk off hit of the year, this time coming against the Braves. The Mets & Braves went into extra innings tied 7-7 in the 14th inning. With two outs & Carlos Beltran on second, Wright doubled off Jorge Sosa scoring Beltran with the walk off win. 

In the game Wright had three hits & drew three walks, one with the bases loaded giving him two RBIs.

Subway Series Walk Off Hit: On Friday May 19th, Wright was the hero in the subway series opener at Shea Stadium. In the bottom of the 9th inning, Wright came to bat with two outs, the score tied 6-6 & Paul Loduca on second base. 

He drove a Mariano Riveria pitch deep into centerfield for the game winning walk off hit, scoring LoDuca in a subway series classic. The win had a feeling that the Mets were now the best team in New York.





Two days later, in the Sunday night series finale' Wright went back-to-back with Carlos Delgado hitting HRs off Aaron Small in the Mets 4-3 win. Wright would drive in runs in five straight games, with RBIs in eight of his next nine games totaling ten RBIs.

Walk Off Hit: On Memorial Day, May 29th, the Mets entered the bottom of the 9th inning down 7-6 to the Diamondbacks. Endy Chavez led off with a double & scored the tying run on Jose Reyes' single. Paul LoDuca singled & Carlos Beltran was walked intentionally. 

David Wright followed with a walk off game winning single off Jose Valverde, giving the Mets an 8-7 win. It was his fourth walk off win of the year.

Player of the Month: In June he won the co-Player of the Month Award sharing with his teammate Jose Reyes.  Wright hit 10 HRs with 29 RBIs, batting .327 with 15 extra base hits. 

He also had a ten-game hit streak, while hitting safely in 15 of 17 games to start the month. 

Multi HR Game: On June 4th he had his second multi-HR game of the season hitting a pair against the Giants in a 7-6 extra inning loss in San Francisco.  

On a ten-game road trip, Wright drove in 12 runs, with RBIs in eight of the ten games including six straight games with at least one run driven in at the end of the trek. 

From June 13th to June 15th, he homered in three straight games against the Phillies as the Mets swept the series at Citizens Bank Park. On June 15th he hit a 1st inning three run HR off Corey Lidle in a 5-4 Mets win.

Grand Slam & Five RBI Game:
On Sunday June 18th, Wright came to bat with the bases loaded 
in the 5th inning in an inter league game at Shea Stadium with the Baltimore Orioles. He hit his third career grand slam, coming off Adam Loewen giving the Mets a 4-1 lead. 

Earlier he had an RBI single giving him a five RBI game in the 9-4 Mets win.  

Multi HR Game: On June 22nd Wright had his third multi-HR game, hitting a pair off the Reds Eric Milton in a 6-2 Mets win at Shea Stadium. It was the seventh multi-HR game of his career.

The next day the club traveled to Toronto & Wright hit a three run HR off the Jays' Casey Janssen, driving in three of the six Mets runs in the 6-1 win. 

On July 1st, In the second game of the subway series in the Bronx, Wright began the game, with a two run double off Randy Johnson in the Mets 8-3 Saturday win. 

On the next homestand, Wright had two more multi-RBI games in wins over the Pirates at Shea.

On July 9th, the Mets were down 5-3 to the Marlins in the bottom of the 8th inning. Carlos Beltran brought the Mets within a run with an RBI single. Wright then blasted his 20th HR of the year, a three-run shot off Logan Kensing to lead the Mets to a 7-6 win.


2006 All Star: At the break, David was batting .316 with 20 HRs & 74 RBIs. It was the most RBIs a Mets player ever had in the first half of the season, breaking Mike Piazza's record of 72 set in 2000.

Wright was elected to his first All Star Game. Wright was one of five Mets represented at the All-Star Game along with teammates Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Tom Glavine & Paul LoDuca.

Home Run Derby: David participated in the HR derby coming in second place. His second half of the season wasn't as strong as his first half, with many people blaming the HR derby for cursing him.

All Star Game HR: In the bottom of the 2nd inning, in his first All Star at bat, Wright homered off Detroit's Kenny Rogers. He became just the second Mets player to hit a HR in an All-Star game. Lee Mazzilli had done in first in 1979. Wright went 1-3 in the NL's loss to the AL All Stars in Pittsburgh.

Quotes- Tom Glavine: "He's probably been our most clutch hitter over the first half of the season, and he's certainly thrown his hat into the MVP talks." 

Contract Extension: In August Wright signed a six-year $55 million contract extension, donating 1.5 million to the David Wright Foundation through the course of its lifetime.

On August 5th, in Philadelphia, he robbed Mike Lierberthal of a game winning hit, making the last out of the game with a spectacular play at third base saving the -4 Mets win.

On August 8th in a game with San Diego at Shea Stadium, Wright tied up the game with a 3rd
inning, RBI base hit. In the bottom of the 5th, he put the Mets ahead with another RBI single off Woody Williams in what was the winning run in the 3-2 win over the Padres. 

Grand Slam & Five RBI Game: On August 30th in an 11-3 win over the Rockies at Coors Field, Wright hit a 1st inning grand slam off Josh Fogg. It was his fourth career grand slam. In the 2nd inning, he collected an RBI single to give him his second season best five RBI game. 

100+ RBIs: Wright passed the 100 RBI mark & became the fourth Mets player to have consecutive 100 RBI seasons. Gary Carter, Darryl Strawberry & Mike Piazza were the others.

In September he had three multi-RBI games where he drove in at least three runs. On September 1st, David drove in three runs in a 8-7 win at Houston.

On September 9th, with the Mets down 2-1 to the Dodgers at Shea, Wright put the Mets ahead for good with a two-run single off Brett Tomko.

Mets Clinch the East: On September 18th, the Mets clinched the NL Eastern title at Shea Stadium, their first since divisional title 1986. Wright went 1-4 in Steve Trachsel's combined 4-0 shut out of the Marlins. He & Jose Reyes were now the young exciting faces of a Mets post season team.


On September 23rd he hit his 25th HR of the season, a three-run shot off the Nationals Mike O'Connor, getting him to 113 RBIs. On September 30th in Washington, he was one of five Mets players to HR in a 13-0 blow out of the Nationals. Tom Glavine threw six shutout innings to reach 15 victories. Wright finished the season hitting safely in 12 straight games.

Two Hits In the Same Inning: On October 1st, in the final game of the season, he collected two hits in the same inning for the second time in his career. In the Mets six run 2nd inning, he led off with a single off the Nat's Ramon Ortiz & later singled off Billy Traber.

Wright finished the regular season batting .311 (tenth in the NL) second on the club to Paul LoDuca (.318). 

He led the team with 40 doubles, tied with Carlos Beltran with 116 RBIs (7th most in the NL) & was third on the club with 26 HRs. 

Wright collected 181 hits with 51 multi-hit games on the season. He also scored 96 runs & stole 
20 stolen bases. He struck out 113 times for the second straight year, posted a .381 on base % & .912 OPS for the second straight year. 

Many believed he was the Mets best candidate for the NL MVP Award.

TV Celebrity: That year Wright appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman as well as MTV's all request Hour with teammate Cliff Floyd.



2006 Post Season-NLDS:
In the Game #1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS at Shea 
Stadium, Wright doubled home Paul LoDuca & Carlos Delgado in the 6th inning, putting the Mets up 4-1. 

The Dodgers tied the game in the top of the 7th inning as Guillermo Mota blew a three-run lead. 

But in the bottom of the 7th, Carlos Delgado put New York up 5-4 with an RBI single. Wright doubled to bring home Carlos Beltran with the Mets sixth run, in the 6-5 win. 

In Game #2 he collected a 6th inning single off Bret Tomko, going 1-4 in the Mets win.

In the final clinching Game #3, Wright drove in the Mets first run in the 1st inning with an RBI single off Greg Maddux. He came into score on Sean Green's base to make it 3-0. He went 1-4 the rest of the way in the 9-5 victory.

Overall, in the NLDS Wright batted .333 (4-12) with a pair of doubles & four RBIs.


2006- NLCS: Davis struggled in the NLCS loss to the St. Louis Cards going hitless in the first three games. 

In Game #4 at St. Louis, Wright hit a 3rd inning, two outs solo HR off Anthony Reyes in the Mets 12-5 win. The Mets hit four HRs on the night, with Carlos Beltran hitting two & Carlos Delgado the other.

Wright collected a hit in each of the last four games, striking out one time in each game as well.

In the final Game #7 loss, he drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single off Jeff Suppan, The Mets lost the game, getting upset by the eventual World Champs ending what were high hopes for Championship.

In the NLCS Wright batted just .160 (4-25) with a double a HR & two RBIs. Overall batting .216
in ten post seasons games.

2007- Mets Hitting Streak Record: Wright began the year with a fourteen-game hitting streak. He had ended the previous year with a 12-game hit streak at the end of the regular season. The 26-game streak marked a new Mets record breaking the previous streak of 24 games held by Mike Piazza & Hubie Brooks.

From April 19th to April 29th, Wright drew a walk in ten straight games. After his 14-game hit steak, he reached base on walks in his next nine games. He reached base safely in the first 23 games of the season, third best streak in Mets history, tied with Bud Harrelson & Cliff Floyd.

But overall, he went into a slump after that ending April with a .244 average & no HRs.

Family Scare: That month his younger brother Stephen, was enrolled at Virginia Tech. University, attending classes at Norris Hall, which was the scene of the tragic shooting events at the Virginia Tech. Massacre. David eventually got hold of his other brother & found out Stephen was safe.

$$$: At that point one of David's many endorsements included Vitamin Water in which he was the spokesperson. That May when the company was sold to Coca Cola, Wright netted $20 million in the deal, overnight.



In the Saturday afternoon, May Subway series 10-7 Mets victory at Shea Stadium, Wright hit a pair of two run HRs off Mike Meyers. The next day he hit a HR off Tyler Clippard.

In the month of May he hit eight HRs with 22 RBIs. He drove in twenty or more runs in four months of the 2007 season.

Multi-Stolen Base Game: On May 13th, in a 9-1 win at Shea over the Brewers, David collected a pair of hits with a walk & had a career high three stolen base game. On the season he was seven for seven in steals, yet to get thrown out.

On May 17th, the Mets entered the bottom of the 9th inning down 5-1 to the Cubs. They rallied to load the bases and get to 5-3. Wright who had not played in the game, was sent up & made his first career pinch hit appearance. He singled off Scott Eyre bringing the Mets within a run. Carlos Delgado then won it with a two-run walk off single.

Multi-HR Subway Series Game:
On Saturday May 19th, Wright hit a pair of two run HRs off Mike Meyers in the 1st & 3rd innings of a Mets 10-7 subway series win at Shea Stadium. The next day he hit another HR, coming off Tyler Clippard.

From May 27th to June 16th, he went on a 17-game hit streak batting .343 with four HRs, five doubles & 11 RBIs. He also drew 11 walks & stole seven bases in the streak. He became the first Met to have three separate 15 game hit streaks in a career.

HRs in Four Straight Games: On June 7th, Wright hit a HR off the Phillies Cole Hamels in a loss at Shea. On a road trip to Detroit, although the Mets lost two of three to the reigning AL Champs, Wright homered in all three games. 

On June 8th, he homered off Chad Durbin in Jorge Sosa (8 innings) & Billy Wagner four hit shut out over the Tigers. It was the first time in his career, he homered in four straight games.

Walk Off Double: On June 23rd, in an interleague game against the Oakland A's in front of 52,000 at Shea Stadium, Wright drove home the game's only run in the bottom of the 9th inning with a double off A's pitcher Santiago Casilla.

On June 25th he was caught stealing for the first time of the year, ending a 16 straight stolen base streak that season.

On July 4th Wright had three hits with a three run HR & four RBIs off the Rockies Josh Fogg at Coors Field in a Mets 17-7. On July 7th Wright hit a solo HR off Houston's Woody Williams to tie up a game in the 6th inning. The game lasted into the 17th when Carlos Beltran & Wright both drove in runs giving the Mets a 5-3 win.

2007 All Star:
Wright started at third base for the NL All Star team at San Francisco's AT & T Park. Teammates Jose Reyes & Caros Beltran also started for the NL representing the Mets. Billy Wagner also got a bullpen spot on the team. 

He went 1-3 with a 6th inning single off Justin Verlander in the 5-4 AL victory.

Most Mets Games on Left Side of Infield: On July 16th, Wright & Jose Reyes started their 395th game together on the left side of the infield setting a Mets record. The previous record was held by Howard Johnson & Kevin Elster.

After the break, from July 18th to July 24th, he tied his career high by driving in runs six straight games. On the California road trip to San Diego & Los Angeles, he drove in a total of eleven runs in a five-game span, hitting two HRs. 

He would drive in runs in five straight games in August to bring his average back up to .320. He had 14 multi-hit games that month batting .394 while driving in twenty-one runs. 

Four Hit Game: On August 2nd, in a 12-4 win at Milwaukee Wright had second four hit game of the season getting him back over the .300 mark. In the 1st inning, he collected his 26th double of the year & in the 5th he hit his 19th HR of the year, this coming off Chris Capuano. He also had a pair of singles as well. It was his sixth career four hit game.

Multi HR Game: On August 11th, David had his ninth career multi-HR game, hitting a pair off the Marlins Scott Olsen in a loss at home.

On August 22nd, Wright tied a franchise record by drawing four walks in a nine-inning game, he also drove in a run in the Mets loss to the Padres at Shea. 

Wright had a good September hitting safely in 20 of 24 games.  He hit six HRs from September 1st
through the 16th but no more the rest of the way. 

On September 2nd he hit a solo shot off the Braves John Smoltz in a 3-2 Mets win at Atlanta & then another the next day in Cincinnati. On the following home stand, he hit four HRs, including two against the surging Philadelphia Phillies. On September 14th, he took over tenth place on the all-time Mets HR list with his 96th HR.

30/30 Club: On September 16th, Wright homered off the Phillies Geoff Geary to become the third Met in team history to join the 30-30 club joining Howard Johnson & Daryl Strawberry. He is the third youngest player in MLB history to reach the milestone & the 29th player overall.

Mets Monumental Collapse: On August 25th, the Mets had a seven-game lead atop the NL Easten division. A five-game losing streak & a disastrous four game sweep in Philadelphia dropped their lead to just two games. But then they won ten of the next twelve game to bring that lead back up to seven games on September 12th.

Then the Phillies came to Shea & swept the Mets in a three-game series, as they went on a five-game losing streak as their lead fell to just 1.5 games. The Mets were still in first place with five games left to play. They lost four of their last five, fell out of first & didn't even make a wild card spot. It was a devastating ending to a once promising season.

Wright batted .352 in the month of September with 6 HRs & 20 RBIs. He closed out the 2007 season with a 17-game hit streak, batting .397 with 29 hits driving in 11 runs over the last two weeks. 

In the 2007 season, Wright led the team in hitting with a career best .325 average (7th in the NL). 

He was tops on the club in with 42 doubles. Second most in Mets history to Bernard Gilkey's 44 in 1996. Wright was also tops on the Mets with a .416 on base % (5th best in the NL) 94 walks (7th in the NL) & 196 hits (4th in the NL). 

He was second on the club to Carlos Beltran with 30 HRs & 107 RBIs (9th in the NL). He was just the second Mets player along with Darryl Strawberry to have three straight 100 plus RBI seasons.

Wright was on base 296 times, the most times of any one in the league. 
 He also stole 34 bases (7th in the NL). 

He & Jose Reyes were just the second third baseman / shorts stop teammates to both collect 30 stolen bases in a season in the past 90 years.

Gold Glove: Defensively Wright won his first of three straight gold gloves as well as being named the third baseman of the NL Silver Slugger teamHe came in fourth in the years MVP voting

TV: In January 2008, he appeared on celebrity apprentice buying hot dogs for charity.



2008: The Mets tried to put aside their disappointing season collapse of 2007 & looked forward to a new season. Big things were once again expected in the final season of Shea Stadium as the new Citi Field loomed in the background getting its finishing touches nearing completion.

Multi RBI Games: On Opening Day in Florida, Wright drove in three runs, gathering up a pair of doubles in a 7-2 win against the Marlins. 

Two days later he had another multi-RBI game, with a three-hit game.  He also hit his first HR of the year driving in three runs in a 13-0 shut out of the Marlins. 

HRs In Three Straight Games: Starting on April 12th, he homered in three straight games for the third time in his career.

100th Career HR: On April 13th Wright homered off Milwaukee's Jeff Suppan in a loss at Shea, it was the 100th of his career. Only Darryl Strawberry reached the feat sooner in Met history.

Five RBI Day: On April 15th, in the bottom of the 1st, Wright hit a two run HR off the Nat's Odalis Perez. In the 7th he hit an RBI double off Luis Ayala & then in the 8th a two run double off Joel Hanrahan. He totaled a season high five RBIs in the game. Mike Pelfrey (7 innings) Aaron Heilman & Duaner Sanchez combined for a 6-0 shut out of the Nationals at Shea Stadium. 

From April 17th to April 19th, he reached base safely in eight straight plate appearances, batting .727 (8-11) with four doubles, a triple & three walks.

Walk Off Hit: On April 29th, in the bottom of the 11th in a 4-4 tie with the Pirates, Wright hit a walk off game winning single off John Van Benschoten in a 5-4 win over Pittsburgh. 

He closed out April with 23 RBIs batting .281. 

In May he started out the month with a three-hit game, including a two run HR off the Diamondbacks Micah Owings in a 7-2 win at Arizona. Two days later he homered off Dan Haren in the 5-2 Mets win, as they took two of three at the BOB.

In May 7th to May 13th, he began a stretch where he drove in runs in five straight games. In May he had hitting streaks of eight, nine & ten games leading into June.

In a May 19th subway series game, he tied Todd Hundley's franchise record of getting three intentional passes in a game.

Multi-HR Games: On May 29th David had his first multi-HR game of the season. He hit two HRs off the Dodgers Brad Penny in an 8-4 win over L.A. at Shea Stadium. 

In June he would drive in 24 runs his highest monthly output of the season.

Managerial Change: With the Mets struggling at .500 in mid-June, the team fired manager
Willie Randolph & gave coach Jerry Manuel the position. The whole thing took place while on a road trip to Anaheim, Wright drove in two runs in Randolph's last game a 9-6 Mets win. After losing the first game under Manuel, the Mets won the second game 5-4 with Wright gathering two hits with two RBIs.


Multi-HR Game:
On June 25th he had his second multi-HR game of the season with a pair off the Mariners Miguel Batista. In the 1st inning, Wright hit a solo shot then in 2nd inning hit a two-run shot in an 8-3 win over Seattle. 

In that month's subway series, Wright drove in runs in three of the four games. 

Subway Series- Four Hit Game: On June 27th in the first game of a day-night subway series cross town twin bill, Wright had his second four hit game of the year. He collected three RBI singles in the Mets 15-6 win.

Four Hit Game: On July 7th, Wright hit his 17th HR of the season, coming off the Phillies RJ Swindle. He also hit a two run double & drove in a run on a ground out, having his third four RBI game of the year in a 10-9 win at Philadelphia. 


2008 All Star: In 2008 Wright was selected to his third straight All-Star Game. The game was played in New York in the new Bronx ballpark. The hometown Wright got a nice ovation upon his introduction. 

Wright played as the games designated hitter going 1-3 with a walk. In the top of the 13th inning, he singled off George Sherrill in the 4-3 AL win.

Muti-Four RBI Game: On July 17th, he had a multi- four RBI game in a 10-8 win over the Reds. In the 5th inning he delivered a two-run single off Johnny Cueto.


In the top of the 9th with the Mets down 8-6, Wright hit a game tying two run HR off Francisco Cordero. The Mets scored two more run on RBI hits from Carlos Delgado & Fernando Tatis as they went on to a 10-8 win. From there he started a streak where he drove in runs in 8 of 10 games.

On July 27th, Wright hit his 20th HR of the season, coming off the Cardinals Kyle Loshe in a 7-1 win at Shea Stadium. It was his fourth straight 20 or more HR season.

Walk Off HR: On August 7th, Wright hit his first career walk off HR. In the top of the 9th, reliever Scott Schoeneweis blew a save allowing a HR to the Padres Jody Gerut. 

In the bottom of the 9th, Wright came to bat with a runner on & two outs facing Heath Bell. Wright, hit a dramatic walk off HR to left field to beat San Diego 5-3.

The next day as the Marlins came to town, Wright hit a two run HR off Ricky Nolasco as Oliver Perez & Aaron Heilman shut out Florida 3-0 on a combined two hitter. 

Overall, for August he hit seven HRs with 20 RBIs batting .310.

On September 10th, the Mets had an important win at Shea, over the Washington Nationals. In the 13-10-win, Wright led the charge with his 23rd HR, three RBIs & matched a career high with four runs scored. The win kept New York 3.5 games up on the Phillies. 

Back-to-back HR Games: On September 13th, he hit a two run HR off the Braves JoJo Reyes in
Jonathon Niese's 5-0 shut out. 

The next day he had his third multi-HR game of the year, the tenth of his career, hitting a pair of HRs off the Braves Jorge Campillo. The first HR was his 30th of the season & the second was his 800th career hit.

In September Wright had batted .340, driving in 21 runs in his last 23 games contributing to the Mets pennant run, as they were in first place as late as September 19th. 

From September 19th to September 28th Wright hit safely in nine straight games with seven multi-hit games. 

He drove in ten runs in that period with four multi-hit games. From September 21st to September 25th, he drove in runs in five straight games hitting HRs in back-to-back games on the 24th & 25th.

Mets Single Season RBI Record: On September 25th, in a 7-6 win over the Cubs at Shea Stadium, Wright hit an RBI sac-fly for his 124th RBI of the season, passing Mike Piazza's old mark of 123 set in 1999.

But even under a new manager, they once again blew the chance for the playoffs. 

On September 20th, the Mets fell out of first place, but still had the wild card lead. They lost six of their last nine games, getting eliminated on the final day of the season for the second straight year.


Final Game at Shea: In the final game the Mets lost 4-2 to the Marlins, it was also the last game ever played in Shea Stadium. Wright went 0-4. 

For 2008 Wright led all Mets regular players batting .302 (tenth in the NL). He also led the team in most offensive categories: his 124 RBIs & 189 hits were second most in the NL. 

He posted a team best .390 on base % (7th in the NL) & 42 doubles (7th in the NL) matching his career high for the second straight year. 

Wright scored 115 runs (3rd in the NL) walked 94 times (5th in the NL) had a league leading 11 sac flies & was on base 287 times (2nd in the NL). 

He was second to Carlos Delgado in HRs (33) which was 9th in the NL. 

Wright came in 7th in the MVP voting & may have done better if the Mets had won the NL Eastern title. 

Gold Glove: At third base he won his second straight Gold Glove Award. Wright led the league in assists (286) & games played (160) posting a .962 fielding %.

At third base he played 160 games, most in the league, led in assists (286) & was second in put outs (114) with a .962 fielding %.


2009:
 In 2009 the Mets opened up their new Citi Field, Wright collected the first Mets hit the & in the 5th inning, hit the first Mets HR at the new park, a three-run shot off the Padres Walter Silva to tie the game. But in the top of the 6th, Ryan Church's three base error & a Pedro Feliciano's balk allowed what was the Padres winning run to score in the 5-3 loss, spoiling it for the fans. centerfieldmaz was in attendance that night.

Wright started out the year with a ten-game hit streak making him the first Mets player to start out two seasons with a ten or more-game hit streak. He started out 2007 with a 14-game hit streak as well.

His next HR didn't come until May 4th, a two-run shot off the Braves Javier Vazquez in a 6-4 Mets win. 

Mets Single Game Stolen Base Record: On May 14th, in a 7-4 win in San Francisco, Wright collected three hits & tied a Mets record stealing four bases in the game. Roger Cedeno (1999) & Vince Coleman (twice) had both done it before. Wright also drove in two runs in the win as well.

In the first three games of the four-game series in San Francisco, Wright had three straight multi hit games where he collected three hits. Overall, he had nine hits with nine RBIs & stole five bases. No other player since 1920 had done that in a three-game series. From May 14th to May 22nd, he reached base at least three times in seven straight games, which is the longest streak in Mets history.

In May month he batted .378 with 22 RBIs & had a dozen multi-hit games, while raising his batting average to .333.

Mets Losing Season: During this west coast road trip, the Mets fell out of first place. They would get back on top for two more days but then quickly fell of dropping to fourth place & finishing their first season at the new Citi Field 70-92, twenty-three games out. It was the first of five straight losing seasons.

Four Hit Game & Game Winning Hit: On June 5th, he had his first four hit game of the year. After collecting a double & two singles, he came to bat in the top of the 10th inning in a 1-1 tie at Washington. Wright doubled in the games winning runs off Joel Hanrahan leading to the 3-1 victory.

From June 7th to June 15th, in the midst of an 11-game hit streak, he had a career best six multi-hit game streak, with four two hit games & three- three hit games.

On June 8th David went 1-2 in 5-4 win in Los Angeles & reached the 100-hit mark for the season. On June 9th he snapped a 100 at bat HR drought, the second longest of his career. On June 24th he had his second four hit game of the season, matching his career high for the 14th time.

At the All Star break the Mets were in fourth place, 6.5 games back. David was one of the few bright spots on the bad team
. Wright was still batting .324, but only had five HRs, as his power numbers were down now playing in the new large dimensions of 
Citi Field

As the team fell further back, he began to get criticism although he was clearly the team's best hitter, as Carlos Beltran missed half the season with injuries. 

2009 All Star: That year he made his fourth straight All-Star team, starting at third base in the Mid-Summer Classic in St. Louis. Wright went 1-2 with a 2nd inning base hit off the Jays Roy Halladay, in the NL's 4-3 loss.

Mets Intentional Walk Record: On July 18th, Wright tied his franchise record, shared with Todd Hundley, getting three intentional passes in a game. 

From July 21st to August 1st, he went on an 11-game hit streak, the fourth time that season he had hitting streaks of ten or more games.

Hit By Pitch: On August 15th, in the 4th inning of a game against the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field, Wright was hit in the head with a pitch from Matt Cain. He had to leave the game & was taken to the Hospital for Special Surgery, where a CT scan was negative. He spent the night there for observation.

The next day he was diagnosed with post-concussion symptoms & placed on the DL for the first time in his career. Wright would miss two weeks of action.

He returned on September 1, wearing a new style Rawlings batting helmet, to help the impact of getting hit. He went 1-3 on the night with a walk in a loss at Colorado. The next he went back to his old helmet & also collected his 215th career double to move passed Howard Johnson for second on the Mets all time list.

Multi-Six RBI Game: On September 12th, in a 10-9 win at Citizens Bank Park, Wright matched
his career high with a six RBI game, hitting two-two run HRs coming off the Phillies Brett Myers & Ryan Madson. In the 1st inning he connected for a two run double as well. 

It was Wright's first multi- HR of the season & the 13th of his career. In that game Carlos Beltran also homered, it was his third game back after missing 2.5 months of action.

In September he had four multi-three hit games, on the season he had 17 games where he collected three or more hits. As the first decade of the new millennium ended, Wright had played in the most Mets games (846) & led the team in hits (983) & batting average (.309) in those years.

In 2009, Wright hit .307 (12th best in the NL) becoming the first Mets player to hit over .300 in three straight seasons.

He hit 10 HRs leading the injury ridden club in hits (164) RBIs (72) & doubles (39). He collected 74 walks, 8 intentional, while posting a .390 on base % & a .837 OPS. He struck out a career high up to that point 140 times. Wright also stole 27 bases (sixth most in the NL).

At third base he led the league in put outs (119) & was third with 18 errors posting a .950 fielding %.

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