I'll point to this post on MetsPolice.com this morning as inspiration on a topic that I've seen come up from time to time this season.
Retired Numbers
The Mets have retired 3 of their uniform numbers (I say it like that because they also retired the name "Shea" for the old beloved Stadium, and every team retired the Dodgers 42 for Jackie Robinson) - Casey Stengel, the original manager; Gil Hodges, an original player and the manager of the Miracle Mets of 40 years ago; Tom Seaver, "The Franchise", Hall of Fame pitcher from the Miracle Mets and the Ya Gotta Believe Mets of 1973.
But the Mets have had many great players that are worthy of having their numbers retired, haven't they?
In no particular order, Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Jerry Koosman, Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Mike Piazza, Bud Harrelson, and others.
Should they have their numbers retired? Who should be first on that list? Who else belongs on that list? Who's on that list that doesn't belong? All good questions.
There seems to be a fine line that the Mets have always walked around retiring numbers for the highest elite, and retiring numbers for any "star" from the club's history. The Mets have always been on the left side of that line. That's actually not a knock on the Wilpon regime (though there wasn't much history before Wilpon & Doubleday came on board in 1980). I think in this time of alienation, it may be a really good idea if they had a few of those numbers retired. That big outfield wall can support them all.
Thoughts? Everyone seems to have their own unique opinion on this topic.
