Interview: David Wright Talks Late-Game Heroics, Why the Baseball Hat Endures, and Measuring Success

The Mets slugger stepped up to the plate to answer a few questions.

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David Wright is just two months into a freshly inked deal that will see him don the orange and blue of Queens for the next eight seasons, and for a price tag of $138 million, few could question his motives or allegiance. Having only made the playoffs once (2006) since he joined the club in 2004, Wright has remained optimistic that the New York Mets will capture their first title since 1986. The Mets are currently second to last in the National League East, just over 10 games back of the first-place Braves, but hope remains. Wright maintains that the game of baseball is all about momentum, short-term memory, and all the pieces falling into play at just the right moment. One of those pieces, Matt Harvey, is already showing what he can do at the major league level, but will it be enough? David was on hand at the MLB Fan Cave in Manhattan to talk about the Subway Series, all things baseball, and show off the new Diamond Era hat designed by New Era.

Interview by Adam Silvers (@silversurfer103

You guys are starting to make a habit of late-game heroics. You were at the center of it again last night, what does it take to beat the best closer of all time in Mariano Rivera?

A lot of luck, and some good bounces. I don’t think we necessarily hit the ball hard last night, but we got lucky with the placement. I think guys went up there with the right mentality, which is try and get a hit, but in the grand scheme of things it’s about making sure the runner, Murph, gets to third with one out.  I got lucky and found a hole, same thing for Duda, he was trying to make sure that I got to third and he ended up getting a hit out of it. Anytime you have a chance to steal one against the greatest closer of all time you better take advantage of it, because that’s a once in a career opportunity to get one against Mo.

Why do you think the baseball cap still has such a huge global following, what makes it such an enduring item? 

I think that beyond sports a baseball cap is pop culture. No matter if you’re an athlete, an artist, whatever your job description is, everybody likes a nice baseball cap. it’s stylish and a nice look, the baseball cap is something I think will never go out of style.

What would it mean to win a ring in New York? With the Mets going through a transitional phase right now, and you signing a new contract, how would you define success for yourself on and off the field? 

On the field, especially in New York, I think success is defined by wins and losses. We’re going through a rough stretch the first couple of months of the season, but there’s a lot of baseball to be played, and it’s funny how quickly things can turn around in this game. Although we dug ourselves a bit of a hole, in baseball you’re never out of it, which is the brilliant thing. One day you can have the worst game and be the goat, and the next day you can get the game-winning hit and be the hero, and that’s all within a 12-15 hour span. I think that’s what makes this game so great, you’re the loser one night, and you’re the hero the next. In a nutshell, I define success as the ability to rebound from one night to another. I heard someone say one time, ‘you’re never as good as you think you are, and you’re never as bad as you think you are.’

What would it mean to win a ring in New York? 

It would mean a lot, I hope I get to experience that. I can ask some of the Yankee guys tonight.

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