Mets Retired Numbers

The Red Sox will retire Johnny Pesky's number Friday before the Sox start their final series of the season against the Yankees. They are breaking their rules for retiring numbers for Pesky. The rules for a Red Sox number to be retired are this :that he is in the Hall of Fame, that he ended his career with the club, and that he played at least 10 seasons for the Red Sox. Johnny Pesky is not in the Hall of Fame. This got me thinking about the number of numbers the Mets have retired. There is 42 which is universally retired for Jackie Robinson, 41 for Tom "The Franchise" Seaver, 14 for Gil Hodges, and 37 for Casey Stengel. That means only 3 Mets have had their numbers retired. Only 3 Mets have had their numbers retired. Also, there is no system in place that has requirements for one's number to be retired. So why haven't more Mets numbers been retired?

First we'll look at the 3 who have had their numbers retired. Tom Seaver without a doubt deserves it. He afterall was nicknamed "the Franchise." He is the only player who is in the Hall of Fame as a Met and is one of the best pitchers of all time. Gil Hodges was one of the original 1962 Mets. He also came back in 1968 to manage the Mets and a year later managed the 1969 Miracle Mets to a World Series Championship. The '69 Mets are without a doubt one of the best Cinderella stories in baseball. Casey Stengel was the first manager in Mets history and does not merit much of a reason to have his number retired other than that.

Now lets look at players who should possibly have their number retired. Number 17 Keith "Mex" Hernandez, although his best years may have been with the Cardinals, has been one of the most important Mets of all time. He was the first captain in Mets history and he helped lead the Mets in 1986 to their second World Series Championship. He is agruably the best defensive first baseman of all time and he has won an MVP and finished in the top 5 several other times. Not only was he a fan favorite and a key to the dominant Mets teams of the late 80's. Keith has also been important to the Mets even after he ended his career as a player. He has been the Mets color announcer for years and is one of the best broadcasters in the game today. He is also in the Mets Hall of Fame.

The other Met from the 80's whose number many Met fans call to have retired is number 8, Gary "Kid" Carter. Gary Carter, as well as Hernandez, was a main part of the '86 World Championship team. Carter is in the Mets Hall of Fame as well as the MLB Hall of Fame. He requested being inducted to the Hall of Fame as half Met and half an Expo. When his request was denied he asked to be inducted as a Met because that was where he won his only World Sereies Championship. Carter's request was denied because he only played 5 years as a Met as opposed to 12 as an Expo and his years as an Expo were the ones that earned his induction. After his retirement as a player, he worked with the Mets organization and was managing a minor league team in the Mets system. Carter was the second Mets captain and was co-captain with Keith Hernandez in '88 and Hernandez and Mookie Wilson in '89. Carter is one of the best catchers of all time and arguably the best overall catcher the Mets ever had.

The final player whose number should be retired is future Hall of Famer, number 31 Mike Piazza. Mike Piazza was traded from the Dodgers to the Marlins and from the Marlins to the Mets within a week in May of 1998. Piazza was great with the Mets and the Mets only missed the playoffs by one game in '98. The Mets made the playoffs in '99 and the World Series in 2000. Piazza also hit one of the most memorable home runs in history in 2001 in the first game played in NY after 9/11. With the rival Braves up 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th, Piazza hit a go ahead, game winning 2 run HR. This HR mean so much for the whole city of NY because it came only 10 days after tragedy struck the city on 9/11. Piazza is the best offensive catcher of all time and although he didn't have a good arm, he was known for calling a good game. Piazza passed Carlton Fisk for most home runs as a catcher on May 5, 2004 with his 352nd as a catcher. Piazza meant so much to the Met organization and should be inducted to the Hall of Fame as a Met, not a Dodger. Piazza is arguably the most popular Met of all time and his number 31 should be retired.

The Mets should retire Piazza's 31, Hernandez's 17, and Carter's 8. I definitely belive that the Mets should retire Piazza and Hernandez's nubmers and am indifferent about Carter's. Citi Field should have at least 6 (and possibly 7) numbers retired within the next few years: 42, 41, 14, 37, 17, 31, and 7.