With the news that the New York Yankees plan to retire the numbers of Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada later this season, Kevin Kernan of the NY Post says the Mets should retire the number of Mike Piazza to steal their thunder.
“The Yankees have legacy players and they are not afraid to promote that legacy, even if there is a PED past as in Pettitte’s case. The Mets, meanwhile, sit it out.”
“They ignore their past, even when it’s staring them right in the face. Sure, the Mets don’t have 27 titles, but Mets’ fans have heroes.”
“Mike Piazza should have his number 31 retired by the Mets in 2015. It should have been retired two years ago when Piazza was inducted into the Mets’ Hall of Fame.”
The Mets have only retired one player’s number in their 53 year history, and that is No. 41, Tom Seaver. Managers Casey Stengel (37) and Gil Hodges (14) have been retired as well and then you have Jackie Robinson’s 42 which is retired throughout baseball.
Kernan adds that retiring Piazza’s number this year would send a positive message to Hall of Fame voters for the greatest home run-hitting catcher of all time and that the Mets would be getting ahead of the curve.
Look, I’m all for retiring Mike Piazza’s number and wish the Mets would have done this years ago. I don’t care about some lame attempt to steal the Yankees’ thunder, do it because it is the right thing to do.
To this day, the Wilpons have had a huge problem when it comes to honoring the rich history of the Mets. Even some of the things they eventually did, like opening a Mets museum at Citi Field and giving the ballpark more of a Mets feel, came after a huge wave of outrage and backlash from the fans.
The Mets will eventually retire Piazza’s number I’m sure, but the problem is that like always it will come off looking like it’s too little too late and that they had to be dragged kicking and screaming before doing it.
By the way, I find it interesting that Pettitte will get his number retired and that Jerry Koosman is hardly even mentioned.
Pettitte – 256 W, 3.85 ERA, 521 GS, 26 CG, 3 SO, 2,448 K, 1.351 WHIP
Koosman – 222 W, 3.36 ERA, 527 GS, 140 CG, 33 SO, 2,556 K, 1.259 WHIP
