In a great column for The Star Ledger, Dan Graziano profiles David Wright’s comments about last week’s “60 Minutes” piece featuring legendary baseball statistician, Bill James.

James, when asked which player he would pick if he could pick any player in baseball to play on his team, chose Wright. 

Fittingly, Wright was humble in his response:

Obviously it’s nice to be thought of in that manner by somebody who’s been around the game that long and is that respected,” Wright said. “But I feel somewhat undeserving. There’s a lot of guys out there that you could pick, and I don’t feel like I’m the answer to that question.”

Well this is just David being David, so to speak.  No sense in preaching his good qualities in this space, but just another example of what a class-act he is.  You can complain about injuries and poor trades all day, but then take time to appreciate the fact that we have a player of his caliber who has a great attitude, work ethic, and can keep his ego in check. 

The Mets clobbered the Marlins tonight and took the rubber game of the opening three game set in Miami. Oliver Perez (1-0) got the win for the Mets. Andrew Miller (0-1) took the loss for the Fish. For a full recap, head to MLB.com.

What more can you say about Perez? Having just gotten the news Pedro would be down for 4-6 weeks, He silenced all doubters for now with his six inning shutout performance. He allowed five hits and struck out eight along the way.

Everyone was hitting tonight, from Reyes to Schneider. The biggest boppers of all were Wright and Beltran. Beltran went 3-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, but was robbed of a home run after the umpires huddled together to decide whether Beltran’s ball hit above the yellow line in the right field bleachers. It was overturned after originally being called a homer. Wright went 3-5 with three rbis and deposited his first home run deep into the left field bleachers.

Billy Wagner, Nelson Figueroa, and Pedro Feliciano all made their season debuts and pitched scoreless innings.

The Mets are off tomorrow, but continue their season on Friday. The projected pitchers are John Maine for the Mets and Tim Hudson for the Braves. It will be Maine’s first start of the season. Hudson will be making his second start after allowing one run on six innings in his season debut last Sunday.

Well, I had wanted a 12-1 victory before the game, but 13-0 suits me fine….

This Opening Day left us little to complain about. Production from the bottom of the order? Against a left-handed starter no less? Check. Johan Santana looking dominant? Check. David Wright and Jose Reyes looking like their old selves? Check. Keith Hernandez discussing food during the broadcast? Check. (At least I think I heard him discussing food—I was watching from a sports bar at Foxwoods and may not have got it right.)

It might be a different story when the Mets face a real lefty on Wednesday in young phenom Andrew Miller (and we all know how the Mets usually do against rookie pitchers), and we’ll see what happens when the Mets face a bit tougher lineup with something less than their ace on the hill, but for now all is grand.

Well, not all is grand. Carlos Delgado didn’t exactly leave me brimming with confidence after watching his at-bats today, and it was kind of sad that we needed three pitchers to get through the eighth inning, but most everything is grand. In fact, I would go so far as to say that merely seeing Santana take the mound has put all our collective fears to rest. We have a legitimate team again. The guys who were out there today looked far more professional than the guys who were out there at the end of last September. Of course, we looked pretty damn professional during the opening series against the Cardinals last year, too.

The beauty of the game is that we don’t what’s going to happen tomorrow, let alone the rest of the season. It almost doesn’t matter that the Mets looked great in the opener. It matters far more that the Mets are finally playing games that count. Welcome back baseball! Too bad there are only 161 of these left.

David Wright talks with the Post’s Kevin Kernan, on how he has scaled back his promotional appearances and endorsements, in an effort to put more focus on baseball. This follows Reyes proclamation a few weeks ago that he’d minimize some of his flashy celebratory dance/handshake routines that often followed homeruns. According to Wright:

“All that stuff is a tremendous honor, but I just felt this year I wanted to focus on getting in the best physical state that I possibly could and make sure I could get the baseball stuff that I wanted to get accomplished done.”

Wright also talks about how he feels the teams mindset has changed and making up for last year.

For all the talk you see out there about this being a business with the players here for the money, its always nice to see something like this as well. Wright showing the drive and glimpses of leadership, giving up easy extra pay to focus on winning. Though granted, after his Vitamin Water deal he’s probably set for life. But its the thought that counts.

Single: According to multiple sources, the Mets and Citi Field are the likely host for the 2013 All-Star Game.

Awesome. Really. Just with the 42,500 seat stadium they’re building, you better go and get your tickets now if you plan on going.

Double: In a post for Shea Nation, Dan Kuchuba argues that David Wright should bat 4th for optimal performance in the Mets lineup.

There isn’t much I like about that idea. The 3 hitter is supposed to be the best overall, most rounded hitter in the lineup, and there is no question in my mind that Wright is that man. Especially with Wright and his incredible .416 OBP last year, he’ll be on base more often than Beltran so it is more logical to have Beltran there to drive Wright home as Wright gets on more often. Especially later into last year, Wright was hot and slapping off tough to hit pitches the opposite way for singles. Many people have credited this to HoJo, so Wright should benefit from another year under his tutelage.

Triple: With Carlos Delgado struggling in Spring Training, and always battling an injury, do we have an issue at first base?

There is nothing that could be done here, but I think our best option is Delgado. And I do think it is very possible he hits very similarly to how he did last year. He just has the potential to rake as we’ve seen, so hopefully he has another year left in the can for us. Meanwhile, we should be trying everything possible to rest Delgado once a week. Try out Gotay, Valentein, Easely, Marlon Anderson, etc. out at first. Especially Gotay, because he seems to have such a great bat but he seems to be a fairly incompetent fielder.

Home Run: Do we have an issue in left field?

As Matt Cerrone said in a post to metsblog, “I accept Angel Pagan for what he is.” I think we’ve gotten so caught up in this win now mentality that all of a sudden when Ole Man Alou is going to miss the first part of the season with a groin injury, we are all rumbling for Xavier Nady this, and Dan Johnson that. The fact of the matter is Pagan will do just fine out there, splitting the reps with Endy Chavez, Marlon Anderson and Damion Easely. There is a reason none of these four guys have caught on as starters elsewhere, but together they’ll form Unit Super Scrub for us, which will do just fine. Plus, Pagan is playing his ass off and has a hell of a name. Let’s give him a shot.

Head over to MattTracy.com where Matt asks David Wright a few questions about last year’s collapse, putting it behind him, and how he intends to approach this season.

Matt also asks him about his day playing in Norfolk and advice he has for young kids who want to play baseball for a living.

Nicely done Matt, keep up the great work.

According to David Lennon at Newsday.com, the Mets have finally had it with Lastings Milledge. As you may remember (especially because he keeps reminding the media) Milledge had a rocky road during his time with the Mets. Milledge felt singled out by the team’s veteran players, but David Wright, who is only 3 years out of his rookie season, disagreed, saying:

“The veterans were never mean to him or singled him out,” Wright said. “They always tried to teach him. Some of that comes through tough love. I went through it, Jose [Reyes] went through it. All the young guys in the game go through that tough-love period. Some handle it better than others.

As usual, Billy Wagner spoke up regarding Milledge yesterday, claiming that “everyone in the organization babied the heck out of him”. Wagner explained that they were told to go easier on him and that the now infamous “Know Your Role, Rook!” sign hung by Wagner in Milledge’s locker was nothing more than typical rookie hazing everyone goes through. However, perhaps the most surprising response came from Wright, stating:

“Personally, I like Lastings. There were times when he messed up and he knew it and he learned from it. I don’t see where this is coming from. I don’t know if it’s just trying to play that ‘bitter traded guy’ role. I don’t know what he’s trying to accomplish by the things that he’s saying.”

Some people were sad to see him go, I wasn’t. Do I think the kid had talent? Of course! But if the Mets didn’t like him and weren’t going to use him, then why bother keeping him around? I think he needs to get over it. For someone who hated being on the team so much, he is still certainly very focused on them. He should be glad to have been traded but instead, as Wright says, he seems like he is trying to play the “bitter traded guy” role. I think it’s time for Millz to put on his big girl panties and deal with it.

Head over to Newsday to watch video from today’s game against the Michigan Wolverines. Jose Reyes led off with a double and David Wright brings him home with a two-run home run in the 1st.

Jon Heyman on SI.com writes that the Mets quietly explored trading Orlando Hernandez over the offseason and if they had done so they would have made more of an effort to sign Kyle Lohse.

Heyman has a number of interesting Mets related items in the same article, including his case against ‘Fire Joe Morgan‘ who thought David Wright deserved the MVP over Jimmy Rollins because of his VORP.

Heyman also writes that the Mets are losing the war of words against the Phillies.

Its tough to compete with Rollins, who is a master of trash talk. I have a feeling Paul Lo Duca would have been a fine mouthpiece, but I can’t think of any current Met who fills that role nicely just yet.