Were David Wright not the Mets’ captain who would be?

In the early days of the internet a popular worldwide discussion system was called Usenet.  It consisted of newsgroups.  It started up in the early 1980s and still exists today.  The plethora of social media sites has made Usenet close to irrelevant but – call it tradition – I still pop in and look at groups like alt.sports.baseball.ny-mets a number of times each week.

Recently someone suggested that Daniel Murphy, not David Wright, should be the captain of the Mets.  The replies including mine all shot that idea down for a good number of reasons.  This post and the replies predate the heroics Murph performed in the field and with the bat on Thursday.  Maybe those would garner some votes in favor –  probably not.  But it did get me thinking about this amorphous baseball thing, the captaincy.

In professional hockey each team has a captain (wearing a large “C” on his jersey) and two assistant captains (wearing an “A”).  These players have defined functions in that they are permitted to discuss with the referees rule interpretation disputes.

In football we see the captains come out for the opening coin toss.  Some teams seem to have so many captains out there that the handshakes between teams delay the opening kickoff.  If these players have defined functions besides calling heads-or-tails I am not aware of them.

But in major league baseball some teams have captains, others don’t.

Here is how Wikipedia describes the captaincy in major league baseball.

“In baseball, a captain is an honorary title sometimes given to a member of the team to acknowledge his leadership.”

And here is a list of the four players that the Mets have had as their team captains.

• Keith Hernandez” href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Hernandez”>Keith Hernandez 1987-1989
• Gary Carter” href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Carter”>Gary Carter 1988-1989
• John Franco” href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Franco”>John Franco 2001–2004
• David Wright 2013–present

There have been a number of articles lately in the media about the superb team chemistry the Mets have developed.  My feeling is that with the exception of the Reggie Jackson/Jose Canseco A’s team chemistry exists when a team is winning a lot and doesn’t when the losses mount up.

It is true that a number of the players the Mets have brought in this year are well known for being “good in the clubhouse.”

Were David Wright not the team’s captain my guess is that the team would not  name one.  But if for some reason they had to name one then here is a list of reasonable candidates and reasons for their inclusion or exclusion.

Curtis Granderson – Grandy is in the second year of his four year deal and is a highly respected veteran.  He scuffled badly during 2014 but now is a leading hitter on the team.   Of all the players on the 25 man roster he would be the most logical player to get the gig.

Travis d’Arnaud – Catchers are a special breed and often become coaches and managers after their playing careers are over.  They play the only position immersed both in the pitching and hitting part of the game.  They take physical punishment with foul balls and collisions which test their fortitude.  A good veteran catcher, think Yadier Molina, would make a perfect captain for the team.  The only reason for not naming d’Arnaud over Granderson would be that Travis is a young player and has yet to show the ability to stay healthy enough to be on the field consistently.   In a few years he realistically could be the successor to David Wright if the spinal stenosis cuts short David’s career.

Juan Uribe – Veteran infielder who made his clubhouse presence known in a positive manner almost instantly.  The only problem in his candidacy is that his tenure as a Met could be just a matter of months.  This is the type of player, especially if he stays in one place for a while, who has the perfect makeup for a team captain.

Michael Cuddyer– Perhaps one of the reasons Cuddyer is close friends with David Wright is that they seem to have a similar temperament and team-first attitude.  It is likely that 2016, the last year on his contract, will be his last year as a Metropolitan so while he has captain potential he realistically has no chance at the job.

My guess is that no pitcher on the team shows the potential to be team captain.  Matt Harvey might be closest to that in that he has that bulldog’s drive to win.  But Harvey sometimes seems like he is more about Matt Harvey than he is about the New York Mets.  It’s hard to see him being tabbed over Granderson or d’Arnaud.

Did we miss anyone?  If the Mets had to name a captain tomorrow whom would it be?