Being called up to play in the big leagues for the first time is undoubtedly an unforgettable experience. For Brandon Nimmo, his first homestand in New York was even more surreal than he could have ever imagined, thanks to some thoughtful planning by David Wright and Curtis Granderson.
During his first homestand in 2016, the then-rookie outfielder from Wyoming was instructed by Wright to take his family to dinner in the city. The Nimmos soon found out that Wright had called ahead to pay for the meal, and even requested special menu items. Granderson arranged a post-dinner outing for Nimmo and his family at the Top of the Rock.
“They just gave me such a quintessential night in New York with the family,” Nimmo told the Daily News on Friday. “It was over the top on making you feel like you’re welcome on this team and you’re a part of it.”
Even now, Nimmo beams as he recounts the story. It might have been a quintessential New York night, but it was also quintessential Wright — a gifted third baseman and a natural leader who made everyone he came across feel as though they were important.
Saturday afternoon, the Mets will retire Wright’s No. 5 and enshrine him into the team hall of fame. While several former teammates will be in attendance, Nimmo is the only current member of the Mets who had the chance to play on the same team as Wright.
An illustrious career that ended in 2018 after years of battling back, neck and shoulder injuries, Nimmo saw the less prolific parts of Wright’s career during the time they overlapped in 2016. The once-prolific third baseman was only able to get into 37 games during Nimmo’s rookie season and he wasn’t able to play at all in 2017 or 2018, save for his two-game send off at the end of the season.
Still, it was enough time for Nimmo to understand what made him so great during his 14-year Mets career.
“I really admired the way that he worked and the way that he led by example,” Nimmo said. “So for me, that’s where I try to be the most like him. It’s the enjoyment of the game, life, and being a genuinely pleasant person to be around most of the time. Also, trying to also not take for granted any moment here.”
Wright took great pains to make sure Nimmo and other young players felt welcomed and had guidance. He called Nimmo the night he was drafted, and once had the outfielder and his now-wife, Chelsea, over for dinner with his wife, Molly, during spring training.
And Wright showed his teammates what it took to succeed in the big leagues. It’s exactly what the Mets envisioned when they named Wright captain before the 2013 season.
“When I asked him to be the captain, I said, ‘I don’t need you to make speeches; what I need you to do is lead by example,” said former manager Terry Collins.
Players always gravitated toward Wright in the clubhouse and respected his voice. He wasn’t afraid to make it known when he saw a behavior that he felt was detrimental to the team, and he wasn’t afraid to make his voice known even when the spinal stenosis kept him off the field and in the training room.
The Mets floundered without him at times. The clubhouse wasn’t big enough for all of the competing egos. But even as he was met with his own health challenges, Wright still prioritized the team.
In 2015, after missing most of the season, Wright returned for a magical summer run that extended into the fall. Wright hit a home run in the Mets’ only win in the 2015 World Series, giving fans a lasting image of their captain.
“It was great to have him there, but it was great for everybody for him to be there,” Collins said. “Winning is hard at this level and you just never know when you’re ever going to get back there… Just talking to him, I look back and ask him, ‘What were your biggest moments?’ He said the World Series home run.”
The injuries broke the hearts of baseball fans everywhere, but especially those in New York. The Virginia Beach native was their homegrown hero and the reason they had to keep believing during some of the worst years in the franchise’s recent history.
Nimmo, who along with Francisco Lindor is now one of the key veteran leaders for the Mets, had no way of knowing that Wright was passing a torch of sorts when he played in his final game September 29, 2018. Now that it’s been passed, Nimmo is drawing on the lessons he learned from Wright.
“Unfortunately, I did get to watch his career kind of start to slip from him sooner than what he would have hoped,” Nimmo said. “So for me, I watched that and I said, ‘Man, you can’t take any of these days for granted.’ He still thought he had another five years left, yet life had a different plan for him…
“Watching him even when the game was not being kind to him at the end, watching him work and watching him go about his business and still be a genuinely pleasant person, and awesome to be around and still smiling. I watched that and it gave me a standard to try and hold myself to as well.”
