The Mets celebrated the best third baseman in their history, just as they are revisiting the bad old days at the position. 

David Wright’s No. 5 was officially retired on Saturday, yet the challenge remains for the Mets to find long-term stability at third base since his prime days. 

The team famously used an incredible 121 different players at third base between Don Zimmer in 1962 and 1997. Only a few, like Wayne Garrett and Howard Johnson, provided brief moments of consistency. Most of the time, it was a constant shuffle involving players such as Butch Huskey, Lenny Randle, and Roy Staiger. 

This is why the current 2025 Mets seem to echo those unstable years, rather than the era of Wright, who was celebrated with multiple standing ovations. Since Mark Vientos returned from a hamstring injury on June 27, the Mets have played 17 games through Saturday. During this period, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, and Vientos have evenly shared the third base starts, each beginning the game at that position around five or six times.