Ever since Mets legend, Gary Carter passed away last week there has been a fervered groundswell to have his number 8 jersey retired by the team.
I am a torn Mets fan. I grew up watching Carter and I do admit he was an integral member of those Mets teams from the ’80′s. But when you look at his numbers over the 5 seasons he spent with the Mets he only had 2 dominant seasons, one good and two injury plagued years which saw his numbers decline steeply. I thought that a better option to celebrate the life of Carter was to commission a statue of him from that iconic image of him rushing the mound after Jesse Orosco secured the last out of the ’86 World Series, but then it was mentioned to me if you did that you would have to bestow that honor upon many former Mets players that are just as deserving – whether it is Tug McGraw or Keith Hernandez.
So this morning I was reading “The Kranepool Society” which is written by my friend, Steve Keane and he had a great concept of how to honor “The Kid”.
The Mets have not yet announced what they will do to honor Kid, so if I may, let me make a suggestion. How about on opening day, every member of the Mets uniform personnel wear CARTER 8 on their brand new 50th Anniversary uniform jerseys. Then after the game, each Met autographs the jersey he wore and auction it off for charity with the money going Carter’s Foundation.
I think this is what Gary would have considered a true honor and the best way to remember his legacy.
And with that said…HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!
Mets alumni celebrating a birthday today includes:
Today would have marked the 69th birthday of one time Mets third baseman, Joe Foy (1943). Foy will always be known as the player the Mets received in return for future perennial All-Star , Amos Otis. Foy lasted just one season with the Mets (1970) and he was exposed to the ’71 expansion draft where he was selected by the Washington Senators.
Sadly on this date the Mets lost two members of their alumni. First was Vinegar Bend Mizell – the Mets middle reliever from the ’62 season in 1999, and Middle reliever from the ’62 season,
Sherman Jones in 2007.
The New York Mets signed free agent Joe Orsulak on February 21, 1998. This was Joe’s short-lived second stint with the Mets. He was released just before the start of the ’98 season.
The New York Mets traded minor league pitching prospect, Corey Brittan to the Colorado Rockies for middle reliever, Kane Davis on February 21, 2002. Davis spent one season in the Mets pen. In 16 appearances he went 1-1 with an E.R.A of 7.07.
Mo Vaughn quickly announced his retirement after failing to complete a single push up during the Mets inaugural spring training workout !
3 comments
darknova306
2/21/2012-6:40am at 6:40 am (UTC -4)
If Carter deserved to have his number retired anywhere, it was with Montreal. He had a few great years with the Mets before his decline set in, and that really isn’t a career worthy of having your number retired, in my opinion.
The suggestion by Keane that you mention for honoring Carter is fantastic. That’s the kind of thing Carter would likely have wanted anyway.
Stickguy
2/21/2012-7:35am at 7:35 am (UTC -4)
sounds good to me. Though I am sure that the haters would just rag on the Team and the owners for copying the Canadians.
I am also not that sentimental. So, I look at the # situation pretending that he loved to a ripe old age and passed away from natural causes. If in that case you would not be retiring his number, don’t do it now.
And overall it does not seem that his career as a Met warrants it, especially if they are going to stick with their extremely high standards to get that honor.
So something else to honor him does sound like the way to go.
as to the statue, there really should already be one someplace of Carter holding Jesse. that seems like a natural.
MetsFan4Decades
2/21/2012-7:52am at 7:52 am (UTC -4)
Gary Carter is in the Mets HOF as well he should be.
Given the very few numbers the Mets have retired over the years, it’s obvious they reserve that honor for only a very few, using some criteria we’re not privy to. However, I’m willing to bet if they haven’t retired his number by now, they’re not likely to. It’s been just over 25 years since that WS team of ’86. It’s been about 20 years since he’s retired and about 8 years since he was inducted into Cooperstown HOF.
I would think if they had plans to retire his number, it would have been done by now.
I think Steve Keane’s suggestion is a great one. It honors the man he was both on and off the field and doesn’t revolve around putting fans in the seats as some of their promotion plans this year are geared to. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but honoring Carter should not be about how much money they can make off of it.
I think the Mets will do the right way and honor both the ball player and the man he was.