Mike Piazza has officially retired from baseball. Number 31 should now do the same at Shea Stadium and Citi Field. No time like the very near future. (Shoot, we’ll even print up new shirts to reflect a righteous reality.)
 
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9 comments to Charlie Don’t Use That Number |
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Cheapo that I am, I decided to wait for that revision for getting mine.
I hope they are on the phone with Mike today, asking when he wants to fly into NY for Mike Piazza Night. I think they should break precedent and retire his number before he's voted into the HOF, as just one more bullet point on why he deserves to go in as a Met. Or, I should say, the Mets deserve to have him.
I agree 100%. I heard rumors that part of the reason Carter went into Cooperstown as en Expo was because they retired his number, we didn't (we sort of have since, but too late). I know that pretty much everything points to Big Mike going in as a Met, but I cant get away from the fact that his numbers on his 5+ year tenure in L.A. are way better than his tenure with us–and that the people making decisions in baseball are fucking stupid. Even after the players' right to choose his cap was taken away, there have been moments where we've all said, “he went in as a WHAT?”
Fans in L.A. boo the man. They couldn't give away his #31 fast enough. Fuck them. He's ours.
I would just like to point out that my 31 shirt looks about as beat up as the pictured one, and I too am waiting for a new FAFIF shirt, featuring #31, before I throw down money. Sorry guys.
The Mets, of course, always act with haste to the right thing as regards their history.
Cheapo that I am, I decided to wait for that revision for getting mine.
Same here. I think he will go in as a Met. I know his 5+ years with LA were more productive, but I'm hoping the HOF will look at his longest tenure, the 7+ with us.
Anyone been reading ESPN.com and mlb.com since Piazza's announcement? It's like the media is trying to get the wheels in motion to get a Dodgers' cap on his head. There were two articles on MLB.com recounting how and why Piazza was traded to the Marlins, and how his career in New York never should have happened – that it was some historical accident. How about an article recalling the titanic force he brought to the Mets? A little fairness?
Even worse, there's this despicable piece from Page 2 at ESPN:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/080521
At least we know that Mike's a Met in his heart. As a fan who spent my childhood idolizing him, his words were truly moving. Here's to you, Mike Piazza.
>I heard rumors that part of the reason Carter went into Cooperstown as en Expo was >because they retired his number, we didn't (we sort of have since, but too late).
Completely false. By the time Carter went in, the player no longer had the final say about which cap they'd have on their plaque. While true # 8 was retired by the Expos on July 31, 1993, Carter really did prefer to be remebered as a Met.
That was probably done because, believe it or not, but Gary Carter spent more time as an Expo that Tom Seaver did as a Met, and Seaver spent more time as a Red (and he is also in the Reds' HOF) than Carter did as a Met! Not to mention many more productive seasons as an Expo, despite the Mets being where he won his only ring.
OK, I won't…
It took me a while, but I just got that.
They should absolutely do it this year. Piazza deserves to have his number retired in Shea.