The Mets currently have three of their own numbers retired: 37 (Casey Stengel), 14 (Gil Hodges), and 41 (Tom Seaver), plus 42 for Jackie Robinson. This to me is ridiculous - only one player in 46 years has been good enough to have his number retired? Really? I hope the team decides to retire a few more once Citi Field opens in 2009. I think Keith Hernandez (17), Mike Piazza (31), and John Franco (45) all would be appropriate.
Hernandez was the core of the great Mets teams in the mid-late 1980s, especially the 1986 championship team, was team captain for a while, and is one of the greatest defensive first basemen ever. Piazza is probably the greatest Met ever offensively, was the star of the 2000 pennant-winning team, and is a lock for the Hall of Fame (he will probably be the second HOFer [after Seaver] to be wearing a Mets cap on his plaque). Franco was also team captain for many years (I think he and Hernandez are the only two in team history, but I may be wrong on that), and is the best Mets reliever ever, and one of the best southpaw closers ever as well.
Gary Carter (8) wouldn't be a bad choice either - he loved being a Met, played a crucial role in the 1986 season (e.g., his two-out single started the improbable game-winning rally in game 6 of the World Series), and wanted to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Met (the HOF insisted on inducting him as an Expo). However, the fact that he only played five seasons for the Mets (1985-89) hurts his cause.
The overall point is that, despite many terrible seasons, the Mets have a lot about their history to be proud of, not least their two World Series championships, which are more than many teams have (Nationals, Astros, Brewers, Rockies, D-Backs, Rays, Royals, Rangers, Angels, Mariners, to name a few) including the evil Phillies, who have only won one in over 100 years. Part of showing this pride should be retiring some more players' numbers.
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