by Michael J Link

Created on: October 09, 2009

I have never understood why this is not more clear to my fellow Mets fans or even to baseball fans in general. I do not know why there is even debate, not only about the greatest Met of all time but also about the second greatest. Ironically, my Mets, who have gotten very little right in the last few years, hit this one right on the screws. During the closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium and the opening ceremonies of the unfortunately named Citifield, they trotted out the men who are easily, without question, and undeniably the two greatest Mets of all time.

There is a gap twenty miles wide between Tom Seaver, the greatest Met ever, and Mike Piazza, the second greatest. The gap between Michael and whoever is third is about thirty-seven miles .

Willie Mays might be the greatest all-around player of all time. Nolan Ryan is certainly the all-time strikeout king and, frankly a freak of nature... but in a good way - to be able to throw that hard for all twenty-five of his big league seasons. Rickey Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter in history. But they all earned their legend before or after wearing the blue and orange.

Gary Carter rubs people the wrong way (an aside: that has usually struck me as more their problem than his), but his all-around play at the most demanding position on the field earned him a rightful place in the Hall of Fame. However, not enough of his greatness happened in Queens to merit his inclusion in the neighborhood of the top two.

Keith Hernandez was the Mets first captain and he should still hold the distinction of being their only captain (Carter and John Franco were poor choices for this office) until Mr. Wright is ready. Keith was the veteran who taught Ron Darling, Doc Gooden, Lenny Dykstra and the rest of the young World Champion '86 Mets how to be major league baseball players. He is also the greatest defensive First Baseman of all time, according to a bunch of guys who have seen a few first basemen in their time, men like Ralph Kiner and Whitey Herzog. He also was a National League MVP and one of the great clutch hitters of his era. Oh, and when he was done with all of that, he made a memorable appearance on the most popular television show in history, kissed Julia Louis Dreyfuss, and is now teamed with Darling and Gary Cohen as the most entertaining announcing team in Major League Baseball. Why he is not enshrined in Cooperstown is beyond me, but even with all of that, Tom and Mike are out of reach.

Darryl Strawberry and Doc

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