After Mickey Callaway was hired as Mets manager last October, one of his first phone calls was to the team captain.

David Wright hadn’t played for the Mets in 1 ½ years at that point and his future in baseball was hazy, but Callaway viewed a strong relationship with the All-Star third baseman as paramount in establishing credibility in his new job.

“[Wright] acted like a rookie on the phone,” Callaway said Saturday at Citi Field. “He understands that for us to be the best possible team we can be, that every player has to do what it takes, and that is what he said he would do.”

The 35-year-old Wright, who is managing spinal stenosis, was in the Mets’ starting lineup Saturday night in a return and goodbye. It was Wright’s first major league start since May 27, 2016, but also the last of his career — Wright is concluding his playing days because he is unable to continue physically.

Callaway was thankful for the limited time he got to spend around Wright this season, from spring training to stints on homestands as Wright rehabbed and finally over this last month as the player worked out with the team to prepare for his last hurrah.

Wright’s official comeback was Friday night, when he entered as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning and grounded out to third base on the first pitch he saw from Marlins right-hander Jose Urena.

Wright’s strength in returning from three surgeries and the debilitating stenosis, along with his character, are the traits Callaway most admires in the player.

“It’s needed on a championship team to have a guy like David Wright,” Callaway said. “He exemplifies everything you want out of a player, he holds his teammates accountable, but first and foremost he holds himself accountable.

“His grind just to get back to this spot has been unbelievable and most people wouldn’t do it, so everything about him is exactly what you want and what a championship team needs. Kudos to him for everything he’s done in his career.”

Wright’s surprise guests for his finale included former teammates Michael Cuddyer and Cliff Floyd. Cuddyer, a childhood friend of Wright’s who played on the 2015 Mets, flew in from Norfolk, Va., just for the occasion. Floyd was a veteran player with the Mets when Wright arrived to the major leagues in 2004.

“I don’t know how much of [Saturday] that David is going to remember until he sits back and reflects on it,” Cuddyer said. “It’s almost like your wedding day — you don’t remember it until you look at the pictures.”

Jacob deGrom paid Wright the ultimate compliment.

“He’s honestly the best teammate I’ve ever had,” deGrom said. “I was talking to my wife on the way home [Friday], and said, ‘I am going to miss this guy.’ ”

Wright was so nervous in his pinch-hitting appearance Friday that he thought he might vomit as he was getting loose on deck. His at-bat consisted of only one pitch.

“You make the out and you are like, ‘Man, if the pitch was just a little higher, I could have done something with it,’ ” Wright said. “But that’s probably the only time in my career that making an out put a smile on my face at least.”