But Wright, 32, ground through his recovery, and a conversation in Los Angeles with Don Mattingly, the Dodgers’ manager, who played with back pain for years, helped him. Injuries shortened Mattingly’s prime, but he remained a star fielder and a dependable hitter for the Yankees until retiring for family reasons at 34.

“It was very calming and influential to have a guy like that, who had the success that he had with the same condition, discussing his routine and having some advice for me,” Wright said. “It was beneficial in the recovery, probably more mentally than physically.”

Wright was only 23 when the Mets last made the playoffs, in 2006. With the Phillies’ trade of Chase Utley to the Dodgers last week, Wright became the longest-tenured major leaguer to play all of his career games with one team — 1,517 through Monday.

He is the forever Met, the franchise leader in almost every hitting category: hits, runs, total bases, runs batted in, walks, strikeouts, offensive wins above replacement. He is by far the best Met to have never appeared in the World Series. Now the Mets have their most realistic chance in almost a decade, and the possibility of Wright’s being inactive for it was cruel.

The question now is how much he can offer. The opening setting could hardly have been better: Wright has 20 homers at Citizens Bank Park, the most of any visitor, and Mets fans invaded the stands, cheering his every move before the game.

“I almost pulled a Wilmer Flores out there,” Wright said, a cheeky allusion to the Mets shortstop, who cried on the field last month when he thought he had been traded. “You’ve got to keep your emotions in check. You’re proud you got back to this point; you’re happy; you’re satisfied. But at the same time, you realize we’re in the middle of a pennant race.”