The Captain Gets His Due

For fourteen years, David Wright was the New York Mets. He was the face of the franchise and the team's best overall player for almost as long. Nobody showed more pried in a Mets uniform during that time then the Captain. This summer, Wright is getting his just due. On July 19th, when the Mets play host to the Cincinnati Reds, Wright is getting a double celebration. That afternoon, not only will the Mets retire Wright's #5 but he will also be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.

A double honor well deserved for one of the best players the franchise has ever had.

His career numbers speak for themselves, like seven All-Star appearances, two Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger awards. He is in the top ten in every single offensive category in the history of the franchise. It was a given after his final game was played in 2018 that he was going to get both his number retired and induction into the Mets Hall. It was a matter of when, not if.

There isn't anything more that can be said that hasn't already said about David Wright during the course of his career. He's done everything that you can do for this team. The only thing Wright wasn't able to do was win a World Series, even though they came close with a series appearance in 2015.

Now this leads to another debate or two. Who gets the next number to be retired? Who else gets into the Mets Hall of Fame?

For number retirement, there's only two I can think of off the top of my head that MIGHT deserve to get such an honor. Maybe #7 for Jose Reyes and maybe #15 for Carlos Beltran. That's a stretch for both. Both guys put up outstanding numbers with the team, but neither were lifers with the club. Reyes left and came back. Beltran had a good career both before and after he left the Mets. But never the less both guys did put up fantastic career in blue and orange. There's been a few out there that have floated around retiring #8 for Gary Carter. For me, Carter never played long enough in Queens to really deserve the honor, and that's no knock on what Carter did by any means.

As for the team hall of fame, two guys mentioned earlier, Reyes and Beltran, both deserve to be inducted for what they did for this team during their time in Queens.