One Wright Makes a Wrong

As you know, I'm a huge Mets fan, and one of my Mets faves is David Wright, who I've rooted for since he was in the minors; I grabbed him for my fantasy team as soon as he was MLB eligible. I'll never forget during that first half season of his when the evil Atlanta Brave then-closer John Smoltz struck him out to end a game and I knew he was going to be special--Smoltz kept throwing that nasty, dropping out of the strike-zone slider of his, and Wright kept fouling them off. Smoltz finally got him on a questionable inside corner called strike, but you could see Smoltz shaking his head before that. And as for Wright, he didn't fight the call, didn't give the ump guff, he just walked away from the plate. That kind of skill, judgment, and respect is rare in any player, let alone a then-21-year-old.

So I have to admit huge disappointment in this news:

David Wright knows he is living the dream, but nothing off the field can compare with this past Monday night when Wright was quietly invited to the White House to have dinner with President Bush.

In his still kid-like way, the single Wright brought his father Rhon (rheally, it's Rhon) as his date.

"The president had something in common with David," Rhon said. "They talked about working out, strength and conditioning, that sort of thing."

[...]

Noted David, "I was genuinely touched by how warm and inviting President Bush and his wife were. Knowing how busy the president is, for him to spend that much time with us was really something special."

Bush isn't busy, David, he spent his three hours being the decider on Iraq weeks ago, and now has lots of time to devote to working out.

I'm just sad that Carlos Delgado didn't get invited to the White House--now that would have been a much more interesting conversation.