David Wright: He's a Swell One, You Betcha

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

He wants the fans to choose this year's at-bat song.

Like, I would never trust fans to do that a million years

http://blogs.nydailynews.com/mets/archives/2007/02/play_dj_for_david_wright.php

[Willets Point]

Well, he's not saying he'll use it.

[Guest Edgy DC]

You got to cool it now
(Ooooooh watch out!)
Youre gonna loose control
Cool it now
You got to slow it down
(Slow it down...)
Youre gonna fall in love

[Theoldmole]

Is anyone using "The Boy From New York City"?

Probably not "Cathy's Clown"...

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'd ask myself, "What would Paul Shaffer do?" and go with a play on his name.

How about, (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right, or maybe something by the Righteous Brothers, like Unchained Melody.

[Farmer Ted]

He's become TOO interactive. Catch the ball, throw the ball, hit the ball. Sign some autographs in between, please.

[Benjamin Grimm]

He's a Cal Ripken for the 21st Century.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Fine, but if you say it again, it's clobbering time.

[Benjamin Grimm]

At least the part about the 21st Century is a new twist.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

It's not just that he's too interactive, or even Cal Ripken-like, but I fear he's scarily soul-less.

He'll do ANYTHING for money or attention, say whatever nice thing someone wants to hear, etc.

It's spooky.

[HahnSolo]

He should honor his good buddy Cliff by playing the Sanford and Son theme every time he comes to the plate.

Now that is one thing I'll sorely miss with Cornelius gone.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: He'll do ANYTHING for money or attention, say whatever nice thing someone wants to hear, etc.

This reminds me of the whole Jaerock Seo thing. Wright must be teflon-coated if endorsing a feces-drinker doesn't stick any taint to him.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Does it seem to have had any effect?

(I am WAY out in front on the whole hatin' on David Wright movement!)

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yes, you are. But I can see where you're coming from.

[seawolf17]

Sometimes I think Steve J is right when he compares Wright to a certain other player we all know, and it bothers me.

[Guest KC]

Who's that?

[Guest Edgy DC]

He was raised well and wants to avail himself to people. Nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is (1) when that allows him to be taken advantage of (and hopefully he'll get the message after a couple of Jaerock Lees) and (2) when he becomes so sycophantic that he's destroyed himself --- become a blank. Blanks can lose their competitive edge, also, performing to maintain their rep, rather than to advance their marker. Or their team's.

Clark Kent struggles with this sort of thing every day.

[Guest KC]

I don't care what he does during the off-season, but I'd like to see him cool
it during the season. I loved when straight shootin' Keith said in the booth that
enough is enough and he should stick to baseball during the summer and learn
how to say no.

[Willets Point]

I don't think he's a blank. Doing something like having the fans vote on his song seems kind of fun for some fans, albeit not my thing. I think the more celebrity-conscious athletes would actually shy away from doing something like this or anything that has a sense of real interaction with fans.

Oh, and I hope only one Jaerock was enough for young David to get the message.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't think he's a blank, either.

I think he's in danger of becoming one. Ripken became blankish, don't you think?

[metirish]

KC wrote: Who's that?

Jeter.....I assume.

[Frayed Knot]

Yup ©

From today's Newsday:

Wright admits one of his role models in that respect is Derek Jeter, another homegrown prospect who became a New York icon at a very young age. ...
"Mets fans aren't going to like to hear this, but Jeter's the guy," Wright said. "Jeter is the prime example. He always takes care of business. He always prepares for the year, but also he has fun. He does some of the things off the field that are privileges you get to do in New York."

[Benjamin Grimm]

I was thinking he meant Alex Rodriguez.

And maybe that's the fate of anyone who tries to be a wholesome and handsome icon in New York City these days. Can David Wright continue his gee-whiz personna without being exposed as a phony like Rodriguez has?

Gary Carter pretty much got away with it, but not without a lot of people rolling their eyes at him. Maybe it's because Carter acted like a phony but he had enough goofiness to him that it was possible that he was sincere in his phoniness. (Meaning he acted like a phony, but he really was the person that phonies pretend to be, so he was therefore sincere.)

Could Cal Ripken have become Cal Ripken, and continued to be Cal Ripken, if he played his entire career in New York?

Will Wright get a pass for his phoniness because he's a home grown player? I'm not aware that Alex Rodriguez had these problems in Seattle. It wasn't until he became a highly paid mercenary (I don't think) that his reputation started to suffer. Cal Ripken is probably benefiting from the fact that he never bolted the Orioles to go to a different team. If he signed with the Mets in 1992, would his legacy be different today?

I'm asking a lot of questions here, and I don't really have the answers.

[metirish]

And the myth that is Jeter continues...

[Guest Edgy DC]

]He does some of the things off the field that are privileges you get to do in New York.

What the hell does that mean? I've got to disengage my imagination at this moment.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Date actresses and supermodels, I assume.

That's a lot harder to do if you spend half your season in Milwaukee or Kansas City.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Yes yes and yes.

Someone come up with a clever acronym for my new society advocating David Wright stop making commercials and start hitting in the playoffs.

[Guest KC]

I assumed it was Jeter but wanted to ask. I don't see it at all. Jeter to me is
that smirky show-off in gym class who hot-dogged it everytime he thought the
girls were watching. I think David's just a nice guy. Can anyone picture Jeter
carrying around Bernie's guitar case all season like Wright carried Floyd's
stuff. I don't think so.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I'd ask myself, "What would Paul Shaffer do?" and go with a play on his name.

Actually, the question shouldn't be what would Paul Shaffer do, but what did Paul Shaffer do?

Does anyone remember what song David Wright entered to during his appearance on Late Show with David Letterman?

[seawolf17]

Yeah, good point. I just wonder if Wright will eventually engender the anti-NY animosity that Cap'n Intangibles gets? Hopefully not until he wins four rings as a Met, in which case I don't give a rat's ass how much non-NY animosity he gets.