My Friend David

When you are lucky enough to be an accredited Major League Baseball Official Scorer, you get to know the people who are involved with the sport, and they get to know you. Whether it’s players, managers, coaches, PR people or even the broadcasters, the relationships can be special. Fortunately, I have had the honor and privilege of calling David Wright a friend.

On Saturday, the Mets will retire my friend David’s #5 as he takes his rightful place among the franchise’s all-time greats. My friend David will become the first player to have his number retired, having played his entire career for the Mets.

It’s going to be a very special day for my friend David and his family, as well as Met fans and for me, personally, because I was fortunate to have formed a relationship with the greatest third baseman in franchise history.

I will have the honor of being the Official Scorer for the regularly scheduled game that day against the Cincinnati Reds.

I did not score David’s first Major League game, but I was there at Shea Stadium when he debuted against the Montreal Expos on July 21, 2004. David, who batted seventh in a lineup that featured Jose Reyes at second base and Kaz Matsui at shortstop, went 0 for 4. In his first three Major League at bats, David did not get a ball out of the infield but on his fourth at bat, he flied out to deep right field and, despite taking the collar, a new era in Mets history had begun.

I was there the next day when the 21-year old had his first Major League hit, a double down the left field line against Expos pitcher Zach Day. He added a single in the ninth inning of a 4-1 loss but his career was off and running.

I don’t know how many games of David’s career that I’ve scored, but there have been many and thanks to baseball-reference.com and retrosheet.org, I’ve been able to look back and reflect on some of the memories.

The first time that I was the Official Scorer for a game that David played in was July 25, 2004, at Shea against the Atlanta Braves. Wright went 0 for 4 and I had to call the second error of his career. Once I got to know David a little more intimately, it was tough to have to call an error on him. David never disputed a call because he knew that was my job.

On June 18, 2006, I was the OS when David hit his first grand slam at Shea. It was the third grand slam of David’s career but his first at home. The Mets were hosting the Baltimore Orioles and in the bottom of the fifth, David cleared the bases with a long home run to deep left field that gave the Mets a 4-1 lead, en route to a 9-4 win.

I was the OS when David clubbed his first, career walk off home run at Shea on August 7, 2008, against the San Diego Padres.

The Padres tied the game at three in the top of the ninth and brought in former Met Heath Bell, who had not yet established himself as a top closer.

With over 49,000 fans on hand, David drove a 1-0 pitch from Bell to deep left field for a two run, game winning home run to give the Mets a 5-3 win.

When David set the Mets all-time hit record on September 26, 2012, I was the scorer who ruled an infield hit for the franchise record setter. It was not because of the moment and not because he was my friend, it was my job to make the correct call at the time.

I was fortunate to score David’s first post season game. It was game one of the 2006 NLDS vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers at Shea. David’s first post season hit was a huge two run double that gave the Mets a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning in game they went on to win 6-5. That was also the game where the Mets completed an unusual double play that saw catcher Paul Lo Duca tag out two runners at the plate on the same play.

A big moment for me professionally was scoring game three of the 2015 World Series when David hit his only World Series home run. After Curtis Granderson led off the bottom of the first with a single, David came up and clubbed a 0-1 pitch from Kansas City Royals starter Yordano Ventura over the wall in right center field for a 2-1 lead. I was pleased to give him a copy of my scorecard.

The sellout crowd at Cififield went wild and the place was as loud as it’s ever been. What a moment! I have to admit that I was feeling goosebumps watching him run around the bases.

Those were some of the professional interactions I had with David but the personal interactions were even more special.

I don’t exactly remember when this first occurred, it may have been 2005, but that was when David approached me to inquire about Official Scoring. That was when we started a friendship that lasts to this day. Even though he hasn’t played since 2018, we’ve stayed in touch.

Whenever I was at the ballpark, I would usually make it a point to go down to the clubhouse after the game to either say hi, or chat a little bit.

David was so accommodating with everyone and anyone and he is so humble. His leadership skills are off the charts, and I think that’s a small part of the reason I admire him so much.

I am always so appreciative of getting to know and interact with professional athletes, particularly baseball players because of my passion for the sport, but I never took advantage of that access. There are some out there who do try to take advantage of having access to the players, I never did.

There was only one time that I used my friendship with David to get something done for me personally.

A number of years ago, I wrote a book about the Mets called, “162-0, Imagine a Mets Perfect Season.” The book was about an imaginary season where the Mets did not lose. The book contained a compilation of games throughout Mets history from different seasons that made up an imaginary 162-game regular season from April-October. For example, for April 22nd, I had Tom Seaver’s 19 strikeout game. On July 4th, I had the famous 19-inning game in Atlanta.

Players like Seaver, Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden would be mentioned numerous times because they contributed to so many wins throughout Mets history. Of course, David also appeared on that list numerous times, so I thought to approach him about writing the Foreword for the book.

David graciously accepted and he wrote a terrific Foreword for the book. David named all the great Mets over the years and added a little sentence that says it all about the person he is when he wrote, “Maybe I get a mention as well.”

I was so proud to have his name right under mine on the cover.

I recently dropped a line to congratulate David on his big day and to tell him how much I appreciated his friendship. Of course he wrote back.

"I really appreciate the kind words. It was always a pleasure catching up and chatting at the ballpark."

The pleasure was all mine my friend.