Mets Shouldn't Retire Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden's Numbers

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Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden were both incredible players for the Mets. Both won Rookie of the Year. Gooden won the 1985 Cy Young Award unanimously. Of course, both played major roles for the last time the Mets won the World Series in 1986. These two guys were among the most important part of my childhood. Despite all of that, I don't think ether should have their numbers retired.

Before Steve Cohen took over, the Mets had a team policy to only retire players numbers that were in the Hall of Fame as Mets. Casey Stengel and Gil Hodges were the exceptions but they were being recognized as managers. Jackie Robinson is obviously there as well. Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza were up there and that was it. When Steve Cohen took over as owner, he had other ideas.

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Steve Cohen had a different plan in mind. He grew up a Mets fan and wanted more numbers up there. He started with Jerry Koosman in 2021 and then Keith Hernandez and Willie Mays last year. Next year, it'll be Gooden and Strawberry. That's 10 numbers already and we haven't even gotten to Carlos Beltran and David Wright who will be 

This is the only time I'll ever write anything positive about the Wilpons but I like their philosophy better. Numbers being retired should be special. It's the one thing Mets fans could hold over Yankee trash. They'll retire any number in the Bronx. There are no single digit numbers left…and they retired the number 8 twice!

The Mets already have a Team Hall of Fame. Players like Gooden and Strawberry are the perfect examples of why every team should have their own hall of fame. These players absolutely should be recognized. I love baseball history so I want to see these older players get their due. I grew up watching Strawberry and Gooden. I even got to see Gooden last year at an event and I was pretty starstruck.

There is another Mets fan who works here who is also in his 40's that disagrees with me. 

I do understand Frank's excitement. I do love both of these guys and will not be looking that these numbers with anger the rest of my life. But, I'll leave you with the wise words of Glenny Balls: No team that never had an MVP should have 8 retired numbers.