There are countless stories of David Wright’s generosity with fans, teammates and Mets staffers. The third baseman, who was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame and had his No. 5 retired Saturday afternoon at Citi Field, has long been known as a caring, genuine teammate who would drive rookies around New York City, set up dinners for their friends and family members, and still makes an effort to meet with members of the current team.
But he was also extremely competitive, and based on his reaction to the retelling of a spring training anecdote by Terry Collins, he still is.
The story goes like this: Wright and Jose Reyes, the former Mets shortstop who spent most of his career playing next to Wright, would race one another on the field at the end of practices.
“Here’s my two stars, going full-bore on the second day of spring training,” Collins said.
Wright, apparently, never won. That’s not entirely surprising since Reyes was known for his speed and base-stealing, leading the league in stolen bases in three consecutive seasons. Wright could get out on the base paths and make things happen, but not like Reyes, who stole 78 bases in 2007. Wright’s career-high mark topped out at 34.
However, Collins knew that Wright would never admit defeat. When asked Saturday to set the record straight about whether or not he ever beat Reyes, Wright deflected.
“Did we ever race?” Wright asked a very dapper-looking Reyes during his pregame press conference. “There are two guys standing next to you, I could probably beat one of them.”
That “one” was Daniel Murphy, a former Mets second baseman and a teammate of Wright’s on the 2015 World Series team. Murphy was taken aback by the answer, asking the crowd, “Why am I back here catching strays?”
Wright still thinks he could beat Cliff Floyd, who didn’t take the bait. It was a humorous, yet nostalgic moment that showed how close the former captain still is to some of the former Mets greats he used to play with. It also showed how the admitted prankster led in the clubhouse, commanding authority when he needed and fired up the team with competition.
“Going into a clubhouse is like elementary school humor,” he said. “Jose and I probably were talking trash to each other one day, and I bit off more than I could chew, tried to race him, and it probably didn’t go well for me.”
Reyes, Floyd and Murphy were joined by a number of former Mets on the field Saturday for his dual-ceremony celebration, including Josh Satin, Joe McEwing and Howard Johnson, one of Wright’s first coaches in the minor leagues.
Wright was joined by his family as well, who spurred his Mets fandom as a kid growing up in Norfolk, Va. Back then, the Mets had a Double-A team in nearby Tidewater, where his father, Rhon, would work security as an off-duty police officer. Rhon would get Wright, his three older brothers and their friends on the field to take photos.
“Just a crazy, crazy coincidence,” Wright said. “But I’m very thankful it happened like it did.”
Saturday’s ceremony was a full-circle moment in many ways. When he played his final game in 2018, his daughter Olivia threw out the first pitch. This time, the whole family was throwing, with his other two kids, Madison and Brooks, throwing pitches to his wife, Molly, and his parents, Rhon and Elisa.
There were no races between Reyes and Wright this time around, only respect and admiration for those who showed up for him on a day the Mets cemented his legacy.
“Jose’s getting emotional in his old age, so he’s going to start crying here,” Wright said. “And he’s going to make me cry.”
