David Wright

In this past month, the New York Mets have turned into the New York Bets; people all around the world are betting on when the next Mets player will find himself with all the others on the bloated DL. Some even go a little bit farther and pick a player. 

Some of the biggest names on the Mets' disabled list are Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, JJ Putz, Oliver Perez, John Maine, and the newest player to join the club, Carlos Beltran. 

Baseball writers and Met fans in particular are quick to blame Jerry Manuel when things go wrong. Many are down on Manuel for the way the Mets have played this season, despite the depleted roster he works with every day.

Some of that criticism is warranted. A consistent lineup would be nice, Ryan Church playing every day would likely improve his numbers, and perhaps a rookie righty shouldn't be facing Chase Utley. 

With everything else going on with the Mets and their injuries, one positive is coming as we near the end of this first half.

David Wright leads NL third basemen in votes, and Beltran is ranked high enough in the outfield category to have a good chance at making the team as well. 

Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez may be joining Wright and Beltran in St Louis next month.

During the Mets' brutal loss to the Yankees on Sunday, something very rare happened: David Wright got in an umpire's face about a called third strike for only the second time in his career.

Manager Jerry Manuel has often said he will defend his players 110 percent if they are right. If not, so be it, which is fine. But why did he wait for Wright to return to the dugout before coming out to argue with the umpire?

The pitch to Wright in the sixth inning was definitely over the plate, but well below his knees, and the ball was dropped by the catcher.

At this juncture, there are not many of us that would trade places with Mets manager Jerry Manuel.

His team has been decimated by freak injuries and lingering illnesses to the point where they are out of major league-level players. The lineup these days looks like one out of an early March split-squad game.

My original title for this article was "Luis Castillo: Accept My Apology." That would have been the title had he got a hit in his last at-bat today, giving him an 8-for-15 on this home-stand. But instead, he made out and my memory is long and forgiveness has to be earned.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/126490-a-new-york-mets-contest-you-wa...

Click your heels three times and say there’s no place like home. It was the longest road trip the Mets had so far this season, but it felt much longer then the ten day span it took. 

David Wright has been the only Met regular to take the field every game these past two weeks, mainly due to injuries to the other regular position players.

Last season, Wright was not rested a full game until June 24, although he did have one game as DH in Anaheim, CA on the first day under Jerry Manuel's management.

Even though it was obvious to everyone that Wright was exhausted and more than a little banged up, he desperately needed a day off, but Willie Randolph continued putting him in the lineup.

What is the importance of a number on a baseball jersey? How long have they been wearing numbers?

All teams began wearing numbers on their jerseys in 1937 though some wore them inconsistently prior to that.

In 1929 the Yankees started wearing numbers on their jerseys. Their numbers corresponded to their place in the batting order. In other words Babe Ruth batted third, therefore he was #3. Lou Gehrig batted fourth so he wore #4.

Today, it is quite fashionable for young guys to emulate their favorite player by wearing his number on their little league uniforms.