While baseball fans concentrate on the excitement of the playoffs, I must tip my hat in tribute to my captain.

Thank you, David Wright.

My New York Mets set up one heck of a special nights for their third baseman on the next-to-last game of the regular season.

For those of you keeping score at home, as the announcers used to famously say …

Wright’s career has been cut way short by injury. He broke his back years ago, and then spinal stenosis set in. He sat out whole chunks of seasons. Fortunately, for him, Mets fans, and yes, I’d even say baseball as a whole, one of the periods in which the gods – baseball and bigger deity – allowed him to come back was 2015, so he helped that great Mets team beat the Chicago Cubs and reach the World Series, and he hit a home run against the Kansas City Royals.

Alas.

More back pain.

But this season, he rehabbed again, thinking he’d return once more.

The back allowed only so much.

A few rehab games in the minor leagues and two abbreviated appearances with the Mets against the Miami Marlins, it turns out.

I jumped up with my iPad to catch the finale of his career on my flat screen.

The Mets had his little daughter throw out the first pitch. How darling a moment it was.

The sold-out crowd at Citi Field was full of emotion. Even the umpires applauded.

Wright popped out in his final at bat. No matter. He goes into the record books holding most of the team’s batting records.

He went into the broadcasting booth during the game and proved with his talk with Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez what a stand-up guy he is.

Thank you, David Wright, for being our captain.