Move Over Derek!

He was born to Elisa and Rhon on the 20th day of December in 1982. He grew up in a strict household, with rules and responsibilities. He was encouraged to have competition in and out of the house, he was taught discipline, and determination. He was a great SS while attending Hickory High School. He was drafted 38th overall in 2001. He was moved to third base in the farm system. He worked his way up the ladder and has earned his spot on the New York Mets. That’s right his name is David Allen Wright, third baseman for your New York Mets. Today we will take a look at David before his 2004 debut at Shea Stadium. David played many sports growing up as a kid, but he excelled as a baseball player. That was his main focus. The Wright family home is located in Norfolk, Virginia. He grew up watching the Mets AAA team (Norfolk Tides). His idol growing up was the great Kal Ripkin. Growing up David played T-Ball with B.J. Upton (SS for the Devil Rays). David and B.J. had developed a tight friendship, and were very competitive with each other. David knew that he wanted to attend college and play college ball, but he also had his heart set on becoming an engineer. The Big Leagues were not in his plans. Wright played organized baseball in High School. He attended Hickory High School, and was coached by Steve Gerdo. Gerdo will attest to how good Wright was. He made the varsity team in his freshman year. He was a third baseman, but he was moved to shortstop in his sophomore year. In that year Wright batted .471, with nine doubles, four HRs, and 18 RBIs. In his junior year, B.J. enrolled in Hickory. With B.J. by his side Wright had a great season. He batted .538, with 6 HRs, and 19 RBIs. In his senior year Wright had the best year of his High School career. Not only did he play phenomenal baseball, there was also a chance that Wright would be drafted in an early round. David sat down with his family and rewrote his college plans. They decided that if David were drafted early he would skip college and head straight towards professional baseball. It just so happened that in 2001, the Mets lost RHP Mike Hampton to free agency, but they got a supplemental pick at the end of the first round in return. They used this pick to draft David as the 38th overall pick. David left home and was headed to the Kingsport Mets. He was moved back to third base. In 36 games, Wright batted .300. During the off-season Wright worked hard in preparation for his first full season. He trained hard and when the season started he was playing 3rd base for the Capital City Bombers. In the 2002 season with the Bombers Wright drove in 93 runs, stole 21 bases, and tied for the team lead in HRs. He continued on up the ladder as he played a successful 2003 season in St. Lucie. In 2004 Wright was invited to Spring Training with the major league team. He did well but management felt that he was not quite ready. They were sure that he would annihilate AA pitching when he got to Binghamton, and he would be ready for a call up by the end of the season. Wright did kill AA pitching but when third baseman Ty Wiggington got injured he was not called up to the major leagues. Instead he was promoted to AAA. Wright put on a Norfolk Tides uniform and was ready to play for his hometown. The Mets believed a short stint at Norfolk would give them an idea how ready David was for the pressure of big-league life. David was unfazed at Norfolk. He hit with timeliness, intelligence and power, and made all the plays in the field. He took hot smashes off his chest unflinchingly and picked up slow rollers barehanded and threw on the run to record outs. It was obvious to anyone who knew baseball that his stop at Triple-A would be a temporary one. After batting .298 with eight homers in 31 games with Norfolk, David was called up on July 21 and replaced Wiggington. There he was a young kid from Virginia, who grew up watching the Mets, was standing on third base, playing for the New York Mets and yet Wright remained unfazed. In 69 games he batted .293 with 14 HRs, 40 RBIs, and 6 stolen bases. He batted every ware in the lineup, including 3rd. Then 2005 rolled around. Everyone watched closely as Wright played to see if he could improve, and not only did he do that but he also emerged as a leader on the team. He is the face of this team and will be for years to come. So step aside Jeter the new face of New York has arrived and he is here to stay.