Player Profile: David Wright

David Wright is wearing a custom A2K DW5 for 2012.

Did we sleep on David Wright?  I know I did.  After moving into the cavernous Citi Field from Shea Stadium (also a pitcher’s park), Wrights numbers plummeted in ’09 (10 HR, 72 RBI).  He rebounded for a great year in ’10 (29, 103), only to slip again big time in ’11 (14, 61).  With an absurdly deep and towering wall in left and a senselessly jagged right field that was 415 feet in right-center, the Mets finally came to their senses and brought the fences in for 2012.  Wright’s confidence seems to have returned and then some, hitting a staggering .500, with an OBP of .550, both leading the league as of 4.19.12.

Wright is also a great defender.  A two-time Gold Glover (’07, ’08), Wright has always worn a Wilson A2K DW5—except this season he has a custom model, with tan leather and blue welding and lacing.  Much to our disappointment, they do not have the DW5 on Wilson’s Custom Glove Builder, so this version is not an option.  However, there are a few color choices online for this 12″ which looks like it plays much bigger.

Wrights sunglasses stumped me for a bit, but eventually I realized he’s wearing the same Gargoyle Rover flip-ups as Tulo, which are available online.

Seamlessly working the following video into this post would be impossible because its completely ridiculous, but I couldn’t resist.

VITAMIN WATER “David Wright his Wrongs” from Giraldi Media on Vimeo.

Despite the much-deserved ribbing he most definitely got in the clubhouse for that trainwreck, the commercial (and his 0.5% stake in VitaminWater) netted him $20 million dollars when the company was sold to Coca-Cola for $4.1 billion dollars in 2007.

Here are the links:

Wilson A2k DW5

Gargoyle Rover

David Wright wears Nike Shox Gamer cleats and Nike Fuse N1 batting gloves.

David Wright is now the Mets All-Time RBI leader with 733 (tied with D. Strawberry, but not for long), driving in 100+ RBI in 5 of his 6 full seasons (more than 144 games).  Wright, who has a team option ($16 million) for 2013, would obliterate all records for the Mets if they signed him long-term—as many of their greatest players have only donned the Mets blue and orange for a portion of their careers or didn’t sustain the excellence long enough (i.e. Mike Piazza, Gary Carter, Darryl Strawberry, Howard Johnson, Carlos Beltran).  Should Wright stay with the Mets, he will most likely finish his career as the greatest to ever wear the uniform.

Aside from the uni, Wright grips his W310 Louisville Slugger with an exclusive Nike Fuse N1 pair of batting gloves (see below for a pic I took).

David Wright’s Nike Fuse N1 batting gloves.

The Nike Fuse N1 is a slick-looking glove and there are several styles available online.

As for the bat, we found a forum called Baseball Fever where “BMH” explains Wright’s bat model:

“The W310 is a model made for David Wright. It has a Mc69 handle (Brian McCann model) and a S318 barrel. The Mc69’s knob is a cross between a C271 and a M110. The closest model we offer in store line is probably the S318, it won’t have the flair in the knob though.”

So there you have it, its a hybrid bat which is not available online, but like BMH says, the S318 is your best bet if you want to swing Wright’s bat (below).  His is a 34/31.5.

We’ve used a bunch of these great images from JT Sports (gameusedbats.com).

Though he’s no longer a 30/30 threat, Wright still runs very well in his Nike Shox Gamer cleats.  The aways have blue accents and although you can’t get them online, you can get pretty close with the NIKEiD (the back panels on Wright’s are silver, which we couldn’t do with NIKEiD).  I’ll tweet the version WPW made once I get to my home computer a little bit later on today.  Wright’s home version in the feature photo IS available online.

David Wright is one of many players we’ve seen recently wearing Evoshield, a new form of protective gear that actually molds to your body unlike the traditional foams and plastics.  Very cool, and I would imagine it’s a game-changer in that market based on how immediate the adoption by big leaguers has happened.  This stuff is very much available online.

Here are the links:

Nike Fuse N1 Batting Gloves (Not Wright’s colors)

Nike Shox Gamer Cleats

NIKEiD (in case you want to make your own, or replicate Wright’s)

Lousville Slugger S318 (Wright’s barrel without flair in the knob according to “Baseball Fever” forum, Wright’s has no paint, just finished wood)

Evoshield Leg Guard