Piazza will be an interesting test.

First off…..Jackie Robinson’s number is retired by all major league teams. A few players like Mariano Rivera were allowed to keep that number until they retire but the number 42 has not been given out for many years now!

Second…..You claim that Gil Hodges didn’t play for the Mets. Hodges was one of the original expansion Mets in 1962 and hit the first homer for them. Gil was loved mas a Met long before he came back to be the manager!

In so far as Seaver’s # 41 being on the walls of Shea and now Citi Field, he was and still is the greatest Met to ever put on the uniform.

Retiring # 8 for Gary Carter is a great idea and would make a nice day for real Met fans this year. what would make it eve better would be having Yogi there and a second # 8 put on the wall at the same time. Being that Gary is so ill, Yogi could accept a uniform and present it to a member of Carter’s family if he could not attend. Knowing Gary…he’d crawl to be there.

Finally, yes I agree that Keith’s # 17 should be retired. If the Mets announced such a day at the same time as a Carter announcement, I don’t think Keith would feel slighted if his day came second to a Cartrer/ Berra day. Keith deserves this honor being the heart and soul of the mid to late 80′s team. Best fielding first baseman in the game and a clutch hitter always…..

As for Gary… I don’t think he makes the cut on the retiring of his number. While I wish him a miraculous recovery and he spends many more years on this earth, I still don’t think he is worthy of having his number retired.

Not surprisingly, Carter’s illness raised the question of whether his No. 8 should be retired.

There is little question Carter was an integral part of the Mets’ 1986 World Series winning team, but in truth he played only four full seasons with the team, and 50 games into a fifth. Retiring a player’s uniform number should be based on long term contributions to the team and not as a sympathy gesture because of his illness.

If the Mets were to do it, they should have done it years ago. Doing it now would be cheesy and an almost empty gesture. If the Mets do it now, entering the 50th anniversary of their existence, it wouldn’t mean anything unless he went in with company, meaning Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, the only others from that team worthy of that honor. In looking at Mets history, also worthy – and overlooked – is Jerry Koosman.

I was glad to see Carter inducted into the Hall of Fame, an honor he truly deserved. At the time Carter said he was torn between going in as a Met or Montreal Expo. The Hall of Fame rules state a player would go in wearing the cap of the team where he carved his niche, and with Carter, that was Montreal, regardless of the ring he earned with the Mets.

And, that ring, as good as it was, isn’t enough to putting No. 8 on the outfield wall.

I think when you talk about retiring numbers you have to throw away what every other team does and look solely at the Mets. You don’t always have to have certain stats to get your # retired. It’s about what you meant to the franchise. And Keith & Gary meant everything to the franchise and it’s fans.

Some guys with their # retired by a team that aren’t HOF or weren’t THAT with the team for too long of a period.. Nolan Ryan with Houston, Randy Jones SD, Reggie with NYY, Rollie Fingers MIL, Mike Scott HOU

However, the 1 thing that irks me about the Hall of Fame is that they elect people after they pass away like they did to Ron Santo. Whether you believe Santo is a HOF or not (I do), he deserved a chance to have his moment in Cooperstown and they waited and waited and then he passes away and suddenly the voters open their eyes and put him in.

As sad of a reality as this is, Gary is not going to be here much longer. And IF the thought in the front office was ever that he deserved his # retired then it has to happen at 1 of the 1st few Citi Field games in 2012.

Don’t insult him or his family by waiting until he passes away to then suddenly realize you should have honored him already.

I’d hope that Keith would realize he’s 2nd not because of talent but because of father time.

On a side note, i found out something interesting. The Orioles have taken #7 out of circulation (Cal Ripken Sr.) since he passed away. Yet it’s not retired.

It was interesting that Keith played for a couple of seasons with two of the other really smart baseball guys that were ever on the Mets – Seaver and Darling. Nights when I’m watching the games I have to blink to make myself stop thinking that Keith and Ronnie should be on the field – yet the Boys of Summer do grow up and in this case become the wise Men of Baseball.

I just don’t feel they fit the criteria or status for number retirement.
They are not in the same breath of Met player that Seaver is (or maybe one day Reyes could be if we decide to keep him for another 5 or 6 years).

If Jimmy Rollins came here for 5 years and we won a WS with him should he be a consideration too?

Right now Seaver should be the litmus test, Started with us, Played the majority of time with us, Won a WS for us, and made his name WITH us! He got the name the Franchise so he may be the ULTIMATE example of what jersey to retire, but it’s a damn good one!

Hernandez and Carter already had a name before they ever got here.

There are many other more appropriate ways to honor them.

We have a Met Hall of Fame that should be changed to feature prominently a different player each homestand so there is always a reason to go into it and see what is new!

Yankees have plaques that LINE the stadium walls. There is no art in Yankee Stadium it’s all Memorials to people related to Yankee Baseball. There are even memorials for Writers and Press people that line the hallways the crews who work the games use to get where they need to go to set up and cover the game.

This is a much more appropriate way to honor the hernandez and Carters who blew their way in and out quickly but gave us all memories to cherish.

So my problem isn’t with who you picked but all about the fact that there should be one honor that we are extremely stingy with because the number of honors you can give are limited.

The Yankees in a bit over a Century have only retired 17 Numbers. And thats with all those great players from the 50′s they had to account for.

Carter was a great catcher Keith maybe the best 1B I have ever seen but neither are baseball legends the way Seaver was.