Retiring Mets' Numbers

Ken Davidoff at Ken Davidoff's Baseball Insider writes about the Mets and their lack of retiring worthy Met numbers:

The Mets have been conservative on this matter, limiting immortality to Gil Hodges' 14 (that's him on the left, for you youngsters), Casey Stengel's 37 and Tom Seaver's 41, as well as Jackie Robinson's 42. Willie Mays' 24 has largely been out of circulation, except for a bizarre cameo by Kelvin Torve in 1990 and Rickey Henderson's stints as a player and coach.

Hodges, Seaver and Stengel are all worthy of the honor, in my humble opinion. To those, I would add Keith Hernandez's 17 and Mays' 24 and, down the line, Mike Piazza's 31.

Hernandez was the heart and soul of the 1986 World Series champs. Throw in his contributions as a great broadcaster, and this is a no-brainer.

Piazza's 31 hasn't been distributed since he left Flushing after the 2005 season, and you've got to figure his time will come when he makes the Hall of Fame. An easy call for perhaps the Mets' all-time best position player.