Yes, I Want the Mets to Retire _____'s Number ...

[Frayed Knot]

Vote for as many or as few as you want, but if you want no one then vote 'None' so it will qualify as a vote registered and not just a choice ignored.

For right now I'm sticking to retired (or least no longer playing) guys. We can have deGrom/Alonso discussions at another time.

[Frayed Knot]

btw, if you vote in this poll please tack on a post indicating that you voted. You can, though certainly don't have to, reveal HOW you voted but, with the options varying between one and thirteen,

it would help to know the number of voters in addition to the total number of votes so as to determine where we collectively stand on the 'Big Hall/Little Hall' question.

[kcmets]

Went with Wright only. The problem (which to me it's not really a problem) is the

Mets have been so stingy with retiring numbers to go retro seems silly to me.



Love everyone on that list for the most part, but not enough to retire a number.



Let's all grow old together and fifteen years from now we'll do a whole bunch from

the current roster after a sick ten-year run of excellence.

[Edgy MD]

I'm like George Will praising Senator Warren, saying, "I agree with her about almost nothing, but at least she'd bring some gravity to the role."



I'm not particularly interested in which numbers the Mets retire, as long as they bring due gravity to the decision. As noted in the other thread, if it's a case of "Get me a guy," I can't get behind that.

[Guest 41Forever]

I think it was telling that Wright got a hero's send off last year and Reyes' departure was far more muted.



I realize Reyes had not formally retired, but I think it was obvious he was not coming back here.



That makes me think there is no retired number in his future.



I suspect Wright will get in the team Hall of Fame soon, as will Beltran. Might be a precursor to getting a number retired.



Reyes, I suspect, gets in the team Hall eventually.

[stevejrogers]

=41Forever post_id=22756 time=1569367690 user_id=69]
I realize Reyes had not formally retired, but I think it was obvious he was not coming back here.

[G-Fafif]

Or Wright's career was singular and as such deserved a sendoff unmatched and unprecedented.

[Edgy MD]

Rush Limbaugh is posting from Steve's account.

[kcmets]

=41Forever post_id=22756 time=1569367690 user_id=69]...as will Beltran. Might be a precursor to getting a number retired.

[Frayed Knot]

I voted, and I voted 'None'

I could, and likely will, ultimately support Wright, just not ready to commit to it now.

[Chad ochoseis]

I'm alone on the "none" train. One of the things I like about the Mets is that they don't feel the need to laud every pretty good ballplayer who comes their way as if he were Willie Mays.



The first manager, the beloved manager who won the team's first World Series and then died a Met three years later, one of the best pitchers ever to play the game, and the best offensive catcher in history sound about right to me. A whole lot of really good ballplayers, not so much.



Speaking of Willie Mays, I'd include him in the poll. I wouldn't vote for him, but the http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2007/05/19/retire-24/Willie Freaking Mays argument has merit.



Retiring numbers can be as much about sentimentality as skill, so I could also see taking Keef's 17 out of circulation when he retires as a broadcaster in recognition of near-HOF play and long term off-field service. Tough to make the same case for Ron.



OE - while I was out here being long-winded, it looks like Frayed Knot joined me on the train. Hey, FK.

Edited September 24, 2019 by Guest

[kcmets]

I've often been kinda fascinated that Kranepool never gets a mention.

[Fman99]

I didn't check off anyone from the post 80's glory. Ask me in 10-15 more years and I'd add more checks to the boxes. For now I went with Kooz, Doc, Straw and Mex. The 16-17-18 would look real nice up there.

[Guest 41Forever]

=kcmets post_id=22778 time=1569374923 user_id=53]
=41Forever post_id=22756 time=1569367690 user_id=69]...as will Beltran. Might be a precursor to getting a number retired.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, I should have included both Kranepool & Mays in the poll but neither occurred to me as I was in the process of creating.

I wouldn't vote for either, but some fans would.

[whippoorwill]

Keith, Darryl, koosman

[stevejrogers]

Edgy MD wrote: Rush Limbaugh is posting from Steve's account.

You don't think there'd be a stir, justified or not, of some size on Met social media platform arenas, podcasts, WFAN and what's left of the newspapers if they did give Reyes any sort of sendoff?

[Edgy MD]

Not one worth giving too much of a shit about.



If they honestly want to do such a thing, let them do it. If they don't, don't. If the Mets otherwise want to honor him, but choose not to because he was arrested for domestic assault, that's fine. But do it because that's their authentic position, not because they're afraid of hashtags.

[Frayed Knot]

Koosman: #taxevasion

Darryl: #drugabuse

Dwight: #drugabuse

Keith: #cocaine

Piazza: #steroids

[Edgy MD]

Yes, I Want the Mets to Retire Paul Sewald's Number.

[stevejrogers]

Frayed Knot wrote: Keith: #cocaine

You forgot #NotWoke and #ProblematicOldWhiteMaleBroadcaster

[nymr83]

I voted Wright, Beltran, Alfonzo, Hernandez



I'm sure some of the other 80s guys deserve it, but I dont know them and I don't care.



Reyes beat a woman, Wright didn't. If the Mets felt that was a good reason not to honor Reyes, I respect that. If on the other hand they were just wary of the #hashtag attacks, that is a bad reason.

[ashie62]

Wright Alfonzo Franco Koosman

[Benjamin Grimm]

I voted. A bullet ballot for David Wright. I'd be okay with Keith, but would vote No on all of the others. I'm surprised that Todd Hundley is on the list, and even more surprised that he's received a vote.

[seawolf17]

Wright and Straw for me. As I said in the other thread, I'm a huge Keith fan so I'd be down with that.



No to Mays.

[Centerfield]

Wright and Beltran.

[G-Fafif]

I voted as if yesterday's announcement hadn't happened, for Hernandez and Wright. I'm fine with Koosman getting there first now that it's happening, but he wasn't on my dance card. Tom, Keith, Mike and David would each represent all the bountiful eras of Mets baseball to date as the transcendent Met presences of their respective generations (with little to no overlap).



I wouldn't complain a whit if anybody on that ballot was selected. And I do believe had 24 been retired 40 years ago in honor of Willie Mays's significance to New York (ground covered in the magazine cover derby), it would have been and remained appropriate. Doing it now...well, I'd do it, but it would mystify the people who can't quite comprehend anything that happened before they came along.

[Vic Sage]

Kooz, Beltran and Wright, in chronological order, and i would be prepared to eventually include deGrom.



Straw and Doc are worthy too, but they embarrassed themselves and the organization. Their numbers deserve no honor.



After them, there is a significant drop-off (in longevity and/or relative productivity). I would not include borderline cases, like Keith, Fonzie, and Reyes (his longevity/production might be worthy of including, but i wouldn't include in any event, under Straw/Doc criteria). Franco, Orosco, Darling, Hundley, and McGraw aren't even borderline cases.



I'd also consider Kranepool as a special case (as a lifetime met who played for 2 decades from the team's inception), like Casey and Gil. Retiring Mays would be like retiring 42; it has nothing to do with the franchise, just its pre-history. But he's a player of such magnitude that i wouldn't mind claiming him, too, as a special situation based on finishing his career here.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I'm okay with Kooz on merit, even if his merit is nearly as meritorious as Seaver's and was not what we'd believed to have met the standards for such an honor until now, but it bothers me that they waited 40 years after they booted him to acknowledge it, and fear that if they're doing this "for the fans" there will be no end to it. We'll have gone from having the highest standards, relatively, to the lowest, which will also make the Mets look bad in the realm of public opinion in a different way as the truth is there have been so few retire-worthy players in their employ.



I guess my other concern with Kooz is whether they also then wanna go naming Harrelson and Grote and Jones. And Staub.



Wright deserves it. Set a bunch of team records, was universally admired by the club, its fans, and baseball overall, never wore another uni.



From there you need to go to Hernandez, Strawberry and Gooden but they all have issues.



Keith I think overcomes his non-Met years and snowy past by also becoming as distinct in the booth as he was on the field, winning over generations of new Met fans.



Just on baseball, his accomplishments as a Met would open to any number of his teammates. Strawberry and Gooden I could be convinced of sooner than Carter for sure but fine if not.



I'm one of those assholes who never really warmed to Beltran. I liked him, I acknowledge how good he was, but his Mets career had considerable bad times for him and the team and is just kinda wobbly. I couldn't tell you whether Beltran would want the honor in fact.

[Guest 41Forever]

I don't have a problem with Carter, or Hernandez.



I think there are players or managers who transcend their stats. Casey Stengel isn't on the wall for his Mets managerial record.



I don't always agree with Tom Verducci, but I saw this quote:

"I cannot conjure a single image of Gary Carter with anything but a smile on his face. I have no recollection of a gloomy Carter, not even as his knees began to announce a slow surrender ... Carter played every day with the joy as if it were the opening day of Little League. Gary actually took a lot of grief from his teammates for being a straight arrow. It wasn't the cool thing to do but on the same token, I think he actually served as a role model for a lot of these guys as they aged. He was the ballast of that team. They did have a lot of fun, there's no question about that, but they were also one of the fiercest, most competitive teams I've ever seen and obviously their comebacks from the '86 postseason defines that team. Carter was a huge part of that."

I don't think he was a phony. Seemed to put his money where his mouth was. His foundation supports schools where students live in poverty. My Dad worked with him on several charity events and was impressed by their interactions. He's buried in the same small cemetery with my nephew and grandparents. I always walk over to pay my respects to him when I am there for them.