David Wright Hits Milestone Not Sponsored By The Letter "K"

David Wright came up to bat in the fourth inning of yesterday's twinbill opener with the Mets trailing 6-5. Angel Pagan was in scoring position after he singled and stole second base. A base hit would tie the game; a game in which the Mets had trailed 6-0 just one inning earlier. But Wright did more than just tie the game.

With one powerful swing, Wright launched his 28th HR of the season that just cleared the wall to the left of the home run apple. The blast gave the Mets a temporary 7-6 lead in a game they eventually lost by the score of 8-7.

The home run was significant because it gave Wright his 100th RBI of the season, marking the fifth time in the past six years he's reached the century mark. No other Met has recorded as many as four 100 RBI seasons. (Darryl Strawberry and Carlos Beltran each have three 100 RBI seasons in a Mets uniform.)


For all the people who say David Wright is not a clutch hitter, that he strikes out too much, consider the following.

Darryl Strawberry is considered the greatest home run hitter in Mets history. His 252 HR and 733 RBI in a Mets uniform have been the franchise record for two decades. However, he struck out 960 times in 3,903 at-bats as a Met. This was before players were registering astronomical strikeout totals with regularity. In almost the same number of at-bats (3,760), David Wright has struck out only 798 times.

David Wright has collected 168 HR and 661 RBI in his Mets career. He should become the Mets' all-time leader in RBI next season and should surpass Strawberry's career HR record within the next three years. By the time that happens, David Wright will be all of 30 years old, right in the middle of his baseball prime.

In addition to the home runs and RBI, Wright also ranks in the club's top five in career batting average (2nd), on-base percentage (4th), slugging percentage (3rd), runs scored (2nd), hits (3rd), doubles (1st) and walks (4th). With 14 more stolen bases, he will enter the top five in that category as well. No other player in franchise history ranks in the top five in all of those categories. Not Darryl Strawberry, not Mike Piazza, not anyone. David Wright stands alone in the top five for all of the categories listed above.


There is one category in which Wright has not yet cracked the top five. David Wright ranks ninth all-time in games played as a New York Met. That means he's achieved all of this success in fewer games than the other "greatest Mets of all-time".

His detractors will never admit it, but David Wright is on his way to become the greatest hitter, and perhaps the greatest player, in the history of the franchise. He should hold the majority of the franchise's offensive records by the time he's 30 years old. Should he remain a Met for the majority of his career, the top ten leaderboards should just be renamed "David Wright and Nine Other Guys." Not bad for a guy who supposedly strikes out way too much.