Mets Mount Rushmore: Are Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden still there?

For the longest time, Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry have been atop the New York Mets all-time greatest lists. Both men have even been considered Mount Rushmore players in Mets franchise history.

To this day they are still considered two of the greatest Mets to ever wear the uniform but are they still on the Mount Rushmore of greatest to ever play? Let’s take a look.

For a long time, Doc Gooden was the second-best pitcher in Mets history and similarly Darryl Strawberry was the best or second-best hitter in team history. In re-evaluating the best Mets ever, it may be time to have some new faces don their face on the franchise Mount Rushmore.

Doc and Darryl were great in their time with the Mets but their time was short which works against them when others have nearly as much if not more success over a longer period of time.

For most of my life, my Mount Rushmore was Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, Doc, and Darryl but now with Jacob deGrom, at least for the time being, having surpassed Seaver in ERA with the franchise and just being an overall dominant force when on the mound I think Jake deserves to have his face etched in stone.

With deGrom being added the natural removal would be Gooden. This is nothing against Doc, who is still one of the best Mets ever, I just think deGrom has reached a point where he is better.

The question remains, is this the right four Mets to be on the Mount Rushmore? The answer I think is not as simple as a yes or no. I think the fourth face really depends on preference. Some fans who grew up with Strawberry may say that he should still be on there. Me, I did not have the privilege to grow up with Straw. I grew up with Piazza and David Wright.

My Mount Rushmore may be different than others and that is fine, but I think there is a strong case to be made, regardless of who you grew up with, that David Wright deserves consideration for the Mount Rushmore.

If it was not for the spinal stenosis injury, he would have significantly passed Strawberry for most home runs in franchise history to go along with almost every other offensive record in franchise history.

Additionally, Wright was the captain of the team and played much longer for the Metropolitans than Strawberry did. Just like Gooden, this is nothing against Strawberry, who is still an All-Time great Met, I just think Wright is more of an All-Time great Met.

There is a case to be made for a couple of other Mets to be up there on Mount Rushmore; Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter to name two of them but at the end of the day I think that the fourth slot really goes to Wright.

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Mount Rushmore lists will always be heavily debated because it is subjective in the eye of the beholder, but as it stands right now, I think that the Mets Mount Rushmore is Seaver, deGrom, Piazza, Wright.