It’s not the Hall of Fame. Don Mattingly will tell you it is not Cooperstown. Because that is everything. The very top of the sport. Immortality.
Mattingly and Keith Hernandez, in theory, could get that call this December. An eight-player Hall ballot will be revealed in November for those who made their greatest impact since 1980 and have fallen off the writers’ ballots. Hernandez and Mattingly certainly are in that pool to be strongly considered for the ballot, as are players such as Dwight Evans, Fred McGriff, Lou Whitaker and a slew of the notorious, such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa.
But until then — and maybe for a lot longer — Mattingly and now Hernandez share the best half-step down from Cooperstown. What Hernandez called the “biggest honor that can be bestowed by an organization.” As the Yankees did with Mattingly, Hernandez had his number retired by the Mets on Saturday. That honor ties a player to an organization and a fan base forever, acknowledging a bond of admiration, passion and shared history.
“What an honor it is,” said Mattingly, who watched the ceremony Saturday from the visiting dugout as the Marlins’ manager. “I think of the historical part, of the people that now come into the stadium forever and you are never retired.”
A player whose number is retired, instead, is part of the ongoing lore of an organization. Linked and loved. A number now high up above left field at Citi Field, No. 17 there with 14 (Gil Hodges), 31 (Mike Piazza), 36 (Jerry Koosman), 37 (Casey Stengel), 41 (Tom Seaver) and the 42 of Jackie Robinson, which is retired by every team. Who will be next? Time will probably heal the wounds enough at some point for the 16 of Doc Gooden and the 18 of Darryl Strawberry to bracket the 17 of Hernandez.
To be at the Tom Seaver statue unveiling to start this season and the Hernandez ceremony Saturday was reinforcement of just how much Mets fans love the franchise’s history, as flawed as it might be. Citi Field was filled and electric from the outset of the Hernandez ceremony. The No. 17 jerseys were as voluminous in the crowd as the end-to-end standing ovations.
After the run of love for the 1986 champs, David Wright likely will have his No. 5 retired and then … maybe Gary Carter will be revisited. If not the answer to who will be next could have been watching from the home dugout, along with that scintillated crowd.
What will the promise of this Mets period bring under Steve Cohen, especially if there are championship(s) involved? Francisco Lindor probably didn’t do quite enough to get his number retired in Cleveland, while Max Scherzer definitely did enough with Washington to have his No. 31 immortalized. Hernandez and Piazza showed that imports could gain entry into the Mets’ portion of forever. That, however, takes a level of brilliance — Hernandez was the greatest leader in the organization’s history and Piazza was the best hitter.
Therefore, the best chances among the current Mets are homegrown — Pete Alonso and Jacob deGrom, who actually was in Florida still rehabbing from a stress fracture in his right scapula.
Alonso was talked into wearing a mustache to honor the greatest first baseman in organization history and decided, “If I’m going to do the mustache, I might as well do the [old-style] stirrups as well.” He also paid homage by hitting his 129th career homer, a two-run shot in what became a 5-4, 10-inning Mets victory. Alonso is 123 homers shy of Strawberry’s team record. It will be a race to get there before free agency following the 2024 season. But Alonso has comfortably played the part of someone who loves the organization, who you sense would enjoy historic ties to the place.
“I kind of think of the big-picture stuff after the season,” Alonso said before the ceremony. “But, obviously, getting your number retired is a huge, special thing.”
DeGrom has mouthed the words of wanting to stay a Met, but around the club the tethers are not seen as powerful. He already has said he will opt out of his contract after the season — though let’s see how healthy and successful he is before pushing him away from a guaranteed $30.5 million next year.
Also, deGrom already has accomplished way more than Alonso as a Met, including two Cy Youngs. It is not a layup question to ask: Has deGrom had a better Mets career to this point than Koosman had, making up for the lack of bulk performance with genius in a more condensed period?
What neither Alonso nor deGrom can be is Hernandez. The breed mainly has vanished. The player asked not just to perform, but to change a culture. Mark Messier did it with the Rangers. CC Sabathia honored Brian Cashman’s request to not only be ace of a champion, but unifier of a splintered clubhouse. Hernandez was celebrated Saturday for the might of his bat and the force of his personality — and he heard that kind of bonded roar again that every player should crave.
It may not be Cooperstown, but the next step down is pretty special too — a forever piece of an organization.
