New York Mets: David Wright beginning to come to the reality of where he is

New York Mets third baseman David Wright is starting to see the reality of whether he can come back and play again.

.296 career average, 1,777 hits, 242 home runs and 970 RBI. Those are the numbers posted during David Wright’s 13 year career with the New York Mets. We have all been lucky to watch this young man play in Queens for all of this time. He has been the picture of class both on and off the field. Wright has been about as good of a face of the franchise as anyone could ever expect.

However, spinal stenosis is a cruel mistress. It takes away some of the basic abilities you need to be a successful baseball player. If a player has no torque in the hips when they swing, they can never be the same quality hitter again. As a first baseman, Don Mattingly was able to hang on for years after his diagnosis. Unfortunately for David Wright, the one condition has led to several other surgeries. As valiantly as he has tried to return, it has amounted to only 75 games over the last three seasons.

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Recently, the captain opened up to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He hasn’t talked much through the process, so this was a rare look at the inside thoughts of the man who wants to get back so badly. He is beginning to realize that his body may not share the urge:

"“It really hurts to say this, but I obviously can’t be relied on to go out there and do what I’ve done throughout my career,” Wright said Friday, before hosting his annual Vegas Night to benefit the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Virginia. “That is a tough thing to say.” “The surgeries are obviously serious stuff, but it just kind of plays with your mind mentally, where you don’t know how your body’s going to hold up,” Wright said. “You don’t know how you’re going to feel a month from now. You don’t know how you’re going to feel a couple weeks from now. You’re hoping that it continues to get better, but you just don’t know."

It is tough for any athlete to admit when it is over. It is especially hard when the athlete believes that they still have more to give. For someone as classy as David Wright, all we all want is for him to get a World Series ring. As the days go by it looks more and more impossible.

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Good for David here. As much as he wants to keep competing it is better if he begins to realize it. He doesn’t want to complicate the rest of his life. If he goes too far he could do just that. He could also damage his legacy if he stays around too long. We don’t want to remember David as the guy that stayed too long and turned into a .240 hitter with 10 home runs.

If he can come back, that’s great. But it’s better that he understands that it might not happen.

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