You can tell Tony Tijerina is a baseball lifer when he explains that his winter escape is to Cooperstown.



Every year, between seasons managing minor-league baseball or scouting all levels of the sport, Tijerina and his brother-in-law make the pilgrimage — a short one, since they live in upstate New York anyway — to the Hall of Fame.



It was after a 2002 season spent managing the Class-A Capital City Bombers in the Mets organization that, on the drive back from Cooperstown, Tijerina found himself talking over and over about the same topic.



“Man,” Tijerina kept telling his brother-in-law, “you would not believe this guy, David Wright.”



Tijerina bragged about Wright’s maturity, about his leadership, about learning more from this 19-year-old kid in his first year of pro ball than he could impart as his manager.



“I pull into my driveway and grab the mail, and speak of the devil: Here I have a card in...