Talking Points: No shame in short time in majors

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Ten years ago Monday, Ron Wright got his only three major-league at-bats, as a fill-in when Seattle DH Edgar Martinez was injured. In his three trips to the plate, Wright struck out, hit into a triple play, and hit into a double play. Wright never batted again in the majors.

Ben Davis was the M’s catcher that day and now is an analyst for CSN Philadelphia.

“Think about all the hours, all the batting practice, all the bus rides he took in the minor leagues, he finally gets to the big leagues with a chance to do something, and this happens,’’ Davis said. “But I would say probably 99 percent of the people in the world would say they’d still love the opportunity to go and make six outs.”

Wright happily counts himself among that 99 percent. He is a pharmacist now, and when Sporting News reached him via phone and asked if he was “that” Ron Wright, he laughed. He looks back fondly at his time in the big leagues — however short it was.

“Yeah, I could be bitter about it for the rest of my life. Or I can be grateful for those three at-bats,” he says.

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The Winterhawks’ success at the gate — they sold out the lower bowl of the Rose Garden (10,947) for their three home games in the championship series — has renewed chatter about Portland as an NHL market

But what Portland doesn’t have is someone who wants to own an NHL team here. As long as Paul Allen controls the Blazers and the Garden, that isn’t likely to change.