DENVER — David Wright doesn’t believe in omens.
The Mets’ All-Star baseman was in the lineup for the first time since his Aug. 15 concussion, and it was in the same place — the thin air of Coors Field — that former teammate Ryan Church made his infamous post-concussion appearance last season.
The Mets were roundly criticized last season for letting Church take a cross-country flight from Atlanta hours after his second concussion of the season and allowing him to pinch-hit the next day.
Church, now with the Braves, hasn’t been the same player since that incident. But Wright, whose concussion isn’t considered anywhere as severe as Church’s, said he doesn’t see the correlation.
“Two different situations,” said Wright, who came off the disabled list on schedule after an Aug. 15 beaning from Giants pitcher Matt Cain. “It just happens to be Denver is where I’m coming back.”
The Mets obviously remembered the Church fiasco, because they had Wright fly to Chicago to workout during last weekend’s series with the Cubs then travel to Denver instead of putting him on one long flight.
“It’s good that I got a chance to come here as a midpoint to get used to the different time changes and more shorter flying periods,” he said.
Jerry Manuel also plans to be cautious with Wright, at least initially.
“I just want to be sure,” Manuel said.
But Wright, who donned a new helmet with more padding from Rawlings — dubbed the s100 – starting with his return, said any worries about his health are overblown.
“I don’t think it ever got to the point where I didn’t feel good about where I was going or with knowing I was going to be healthy again,” he said. “It never crossed my mind that I wasn’t going to be fine.”
Wright, who said immediately after his Citi Field beaning that he was “embarrassed” to go on the DL, said again that the Mets’ quick decision to sideline him was the proper thing to do in hindsight.
But Wright said he thinks he still would have reacted the same way.
“I don’t ever want to go on the DL,” he said. “I want to be out there no matter if we’re winning the division, if we’re losing the division or 10-15 games out. I want to be in there fighting with my teammates and finishing out the season.”
Wright, hitting .324 with eight homers and 55 RBIs, will be a fixture in the Mets’ lineup the final month of the season after getting tomorrow off, according to Manuel.
Fernando Tatis played well in Wright’s absence, batting .321 with a homer and six RBIs in 15 starts at third base, but Manuel said there is no substitute for Wright’s presence even with nothing to play for.
“I think you will see a more energized player,” Manuel said. “I do know that he will be fresh physically and probably mentally as well.”
Wright agreed, saying the time off was a struggle.
“It’s been a tough two weeks to just kind of sit back and be a spectator,” he said. “I’m not used to that. I got bored and felt pretty helpless. It’s nice to get back with my teammates and really get back in the rhythm of playing.”
The unwanted vacation wasn’t all bad, though.
“Sitting back the last couple of weeks and just watching games kind of allowed me to learn a lot about what [happens] on the bench and seeing things from a different perspective,” he said. “It’s kind of allowed me to go in the cage and really work on some things that I felt like I was struggling at when I got hurt.”
