A Star Is Born

Today, I planned on giving out my midseason report card. That’s going to wait. Something big happened last night; we all know what it was. And it deserves my time.

For almost two full seasons we have watched this kid mature from top prospect, to sensational rookie, to young star.

This season he has emerged as a team leader, New York City headline snatcher, and All Star.

But it took until Monday night for David Wright to emerge as a national star.


Wright’s performance in the 1st round of Monday night’s Homerun Derby put him smack on a map with the game’s biggest stars. Against the likes of David Ortiz and Lance Berkman, Wright emerged from the beginning, as the star of the night.

All it took was his first round: 16 dongs. 16 mother f’ing dongs.

The nation knew that this kid had talent. He had been hyped on FOX promos and has put up extremely gaudy numbers over the first half of the year.

But there was something else that came out on Tuesday night. We all have seen it but the nation has only heard about it.

We not only saw the extreme talent that puts few players in baseball among the elite, but we saw the charisma and likability that will put this kid on video game boxes and Gatorade commercials for the next ten years.

In my opinion, baseball has two huge stars. Neither of them is Albert Pujols. See, Pujols lacks something to be a face of the game. While he may be the game’s best player, how many times have you really heard this guy talk?

There is David Ortiz, the masher/hugger/smiler out of Boston who combines astonishing power with his Latin flavor and charm to just make one extremely lovable dude.


Until really this year, Ortiz was not the best hitter on his team -- that was Manny -- but still, for the last three years, Big Papi has been the face of the Sox, who have outpaced the Yankees for the title of America’s team.

The second star of the game is Derek Jeter. Even though his numbers have really never jumped out at you, this guy has been baseball’s star for almost a decade now.

Baseball fans have seen something in Jeter that is almost impossible to see in a baseball player: leadership. On a team filled with marquee names, Derek Jeter has so unquestionably emerged as the leader that since the age of 24.

Even when his numbers were only the 3rd or 4th best on his team’s it was big play ability and his stoic but charming fist pump that received credit for the Yankees' success of the late 90’s.

And of course, there is Jeter's ability to catch a ball, then run 90 feet and jump in the stands drawing blood all over pretty little face. Man, this guy is GUTSY!





Ortiz and Jeter. Not once in either of their respective careers have they been the best players in baseball. But for the last 3 years for Papi and really 9 for Jeter, they have been the stars of baseball.

On Monday night, they found themselves in new company.

D Wright always had the skills. He was always beloved my his teammates, opponents, the media, heck, even my mother.

But it really took Monday for the nation to see this.

To see Big Papi himself come out and fan Wright with a towel to “cool Wright Down” was both shocking and beautiful.

Ortiz has played Wright all of three games, that was about a week ago and I’m not sure Wright had a hit the whole series. But Papi knew what was up. He had read about this kid and seen him on Baseball Tonight and then he saw him mash 16. This was a true sign of respect.

To see the way that Bonnie Bernstein, known among my inner circles as an intense cleat chaser (spotted canoodling with Tom Glavine and Mark Grace), interviewed D Wright almost gawking at the young star brought out the celebrity in this kid.

Then there was D Wright’s interview after his poor third round where he spent the whole time praising his colleagues/competitors in the derby in a way that I would if somehow they just threw Young Sip into the derby for kicks. Wright was gracious in defeat but not corny, something that always irked Derek Jeter haters.

My good pal Maxy Baseball Stuff would go on to tell me over a post-derby feast that he understood why Mets fans can’t shut up about this kid. Baseball Stuff is a Nats fan and he hates the Mets. But with Wright, he understood.

Monday was special. It would have been nice for D Wright to win, but I submit to you now that he will still be the most remembered player from this derby, even if he lost in the end.

VCD,

SM