Captain Material

A Captain is defined as the title given to the member of the team primarily responsible for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. This role has been particularly important during situations in which coaches have been prevented by the rules from interacting with players on the field, or coaching from the sidelines while the game is in progress. Team captains may be given the responsibility of interacting with game officials regarding application and interpretation of the rules as well.

Willie Randolph has said on many occasions that the Mets don’t need a captain to be a great team. That every player has to carry their own weight and everyone will contribute equally to the success of the team. This is an idea that Willie has obviously incorporated to promote equality in his club house. Willie knows a little about what it takes to be a Captain as he was C-Captains with Ron Guidry for 1986-1989, so maybe he knows what he’s talking about.

Personally I feel that the Mets are in need of a voice that will speak for them as a whole on the field and if that’s the case there’s only one player that comes to mind, David Wright.

Ever since his promotion to the Majors on July 21, 2004, Wright has shown that he is in possession of great wisdom beyond his years. Growing up in a state trooper’s house hold of strict rules and great responsibility has bred Wright into the perfect candidate to take on the burden of being the Mets next great Captain.

Now although, following in the foot steps of Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter and John Franco is a hard cross to bear, Wright has shown countless times that he is willing to take the team on his shoulders and take the team by its reigns. He has said that he feels like a real leader on the team and why not? He has become one of the most tenured Mets on the team only behind Tom Glavine (2004) and Jose Reyes (2003).

His continued to improve of each season with his bat (BA: 2004 - .293, 2005 - .306, 2006 - .311; 2007 - .320) and his glove (FPCT: 2004 - .942, 2005 - .948, 2006 - .954; 2007 - .951) have shown that he has the ability to make the adjustments and put the extra work into the finer details that his game is in need of. So far this season, Wright has been one of the most consistent players on the Mets roster and has shown that he can push past adversity.

In the beginning of the season, to close out April, Wright put up his worst numbers by far when he went 22 for 90 (.244 average), homerless and only drove in six runs. But as the season pressed on, Wright, stayed on course and improved drastically with each passing month. To top it all of, in August, he hit an incredible .394 and had 6 home runs and 21 runs batted in.

If the best kind of leadership is by example, then David Wright is the poster boy for leadership. On a team filled with veterans and young emerging stars, what better person to have at the helm than the guy who commands respect with his humbling words and extraordinary feats on and off the field.