Tuesday, February 17, 2009

There's not a letter you can put on your chest that makes you a leader

David Wright has spent five seasons with the NY Mets, earning All-Star honors the last three. Now 26, Wright says that even though he's a relatively young guy, he's happy to step into a leadership role this year.

"I think that I can be more of a leader by what I bring to the field, not necessarily yelling and screaming. I think that if you lead by example and play the game hard and play the game the right way, guys will follow you. Those are the guys that I follow. I've said all along that leadership is earned. There's not a title or letter you can put on your chest that makes you a leader.

Obviously, there are guys that have been around for quite some time and they've got more experience than I do. But by no means do I feel intimidated or not feel comfortable going up and talking to those guys if I see something. I understand how the game is where you have to put your time in, but I want to win. And if it takes me taking a bigger leadership role, then I'll do that.

You're going to find 30 teams with great players on them, but very few do you have everybody that buys in and will give themselves up for the good of the team."