It takes a market as maniacal and schizophrenic as New York’s to obsess over whether a player is “a superstar” or merely “very good.” It’s like these people are engaging in one of my Imperative Baseball Debates, only they’re doing so with a completely straight face. It’s creepy.
David Wright Is A Superstar, According To His Parents And Basically Nobody Else
So David Wright, who brought a career 135 OPS+ into 2011, has put up an OPS+ of only 109 through the first quarter or so of the season. He is off to a (relatively) slow start, yes, an experience he shares with almost every player who has ever played baseball at some point or another. Mets owner Fred Wilpon is one of millions who have seen fit to crap on him.
It’s unadulterated madness, and when one encounters such madness, one may as well stoke the flames:
Speaking for 16 minutes, Wright sprinkled humor - “My parents texted me and told me I was their superstar” - with the interesting tidbit that he has not yet actually spoken to Wilpon about it.
This comment will probably fuel several cottage industries in the “guys selling T-shirts outside Citizens Bank Park” sector of our economy, and I’m all for economic growth.
But while some Mets fans begin to turn on Wright and find common ground with, say, Phillies fans, I think of Derek Jeter. I realize that the Mets’ fan base and the Yankees’ fan base are two different things, but why does New York embrace one and turn on the other? What dramatic difference is there between the two? Is the difference simply that one was arbitrarily fortunate enough to be on a team that has won several World Series? I don’t know. I’m seriously asking you.
See More:
