Ranking the Mets career of each player and coach with a retired number

The New York Mets have retired eight numbers in their illustrious history. Each number represents a player who brought something unique to the team, was usually from a different era, and probably played a different position – or no position at all. These men represent the all-time greats. There are no good or bad selections. Ranking them is almost impossible. However, we here at Rising Apple don’t know the meaning of the word impossible, or most any other word with four syllables or more, but rank we must. This list is opinion and basically only considers their contributions as a member of the New York Mets.

8) New York Mets retired numbers: Jackie Robinson #42.

So naturally we start off with a player who never played for the Mets. In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. His number was retired throughout all of baseball in 1997. Robinson was honored in this way out of respect for his contributions to civil rights as well as to baseball. Every year on April 15, the anniversary of his big league debut, all baseball players wear #42 in his honor.

7) New York Mets retired numbers: Casey Stengel #37.

The Old Professor as he was known, was the Mets manager from 1962 to 1965. His wit and wisdom were important to a young team and helped to distract observers from the less than quality product on the field. He is the only person to have his number retired by both the Mets and the Yankees. Stengel urged the fans to come out and see his Amazin’ Mets, a name that is still widely used today. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.