ShareThisDavid Wright didn't need anyone to tell him when to come to camp.
The New York Mets third baseman didn't need a reporting date.
Or a nudge from his manager.
He showed up early -- because the sooner the new baseball season begins, the sooner he can erase the miserable memories of the way the last two seasons ended for the underachieving Mets.
"I've been champing at the bit to get ready," Wright said Tuesday here at the Mets' spring training complex. "I don't want to be known as one of the core guys on a team that collapsed the last two Septembers, a team that can't finish. It's embarrassing. I take it as a personal challenge. I want to put an end to that this year."
So he's here, days before the Mets' pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report, more than a week before his fellow position players must be in camp.
And the young slugger is doing exactly what this team needs him to do.
He's taking the lead.
He's putting himself out front, becoming the face of the franchise and the voice of the clubhouse.
He's making these Mets his team -- the way the rival Philadelphia Phillies are Jimmy Rollins team, the way the cross-town Yankees have been Derek Jeter's team for more than decade.
At age 26, after three consecutive All-Star seasons and back-to-back Gold Glove awards, Wright's time has come. He now has the experience, credentials and stature to assume that crucial, leadership role and fill a noticeable void that contributed mightily to the Mets' demise the past two years.
"I've always believed in leading by example, playing the game the right way, so that's what I've tried to do," said Wright. "And, this year, I hope to step up my game, be more a leader in that way.
"But it's like I've always said: Those leadership roles have to be earned. You can't sit here and talk about it. I can't say, "I'm going to be a leader," and it just happens. People have to follow."
They better.
Truth is, if all of the Mets played with Wright's passion and purpose, this team probably wouldn't have spent the past two Octobers as spectators.
Let's face it: Talent hasn't been the problem the past three years.
The Mets have had plenty of it.
Since general manager Omar Minaya arrived on the National League side of New York four years ago, the Mets have spent nearly $500 million to assemble some of the most gifted and most expensive players in baseball.
Pedro Martinez.
Carlos Beltran.
Carlos Delgado.
Billy Wagner.
Last year, they bought Johan Santana, one of the best starting pitchers in the game.
And those established stars joined two of the franchise's most promising, homegrown phenoms -- All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes and Wright -- to make the Mets a contender and bring the buzz back to Shea Stadium.
In 2006 and 2007, in fact, the Mets had one of the most potent lineups in baseball and the best team in the National League.
On paper, anyway.
On the field? Minaya's Mets have played their way to October only once, running away with the NL East, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series and getting all the way to Game 7 of the 2006 League Championship Series.
There, though, the heavily favored Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals.
And that's been it.
One division title.
One playoff appearance.
No World Series.
That's what all that talent - all those sick-money, marquee salaries -- have produced from 2005 to the present.
That, and consecutive Septembers during which Minaya's team choked away comfortable leads in the NL East with 17 games remaining, including an historic collapse in 2007, when the Mets led the division by seven games and missed the playoffs.
So, obviously, talent isn't enough to win championships.
You need the intangibles, too.
Heart.
And grit.
And character.
And, yes, leadership.
These past four years, the Mets have been sorely lacking in all of those qualities.
Especially leadership.
And despite the past attempts of Fred Wilpon, Minaya and the deposed Willie Randolph, the leadership the Mets need can't come from the owner's box, or the front office, or the manager's desk.
It must come from the clubhouse -- from a player who has the respect of his peers, the backing of management, the clout that comes with being a fan favorite.
Now, for these Mets, as they embark on another season of great expectations with a collection of talent capable of taking them back to the World Series, that leadership must come from Wright.
On the field.
In the clubhouse.
Wherever it's needed.
"I'm 100-percent comfortable enough now," Wright said. "I prefer to lead by example, by the way I play the game and approach the game. But leaders are made in the clubhouse, too, behind closed doors. I'm comfortable enough now to speak up, whether it's to a veteran who's been in the game 15 years or a guy just coming up ...''
The Mets haven't had a captain since John Franco held that title from 2001 through 2004, and manager Jerry Manuel has no plans to bestow that honor on anyone on this year's team.
But he ought to reconsider.
This is Wright's time.
And for the Mets to get where they want to go, they need to become Wright's team.
(Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers.. Contact him at ray.mcnulty@scripps.com.)
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