My latest for Bleacher Report: 10 Numbers That Should Be Retired by MLB Teams Right Now

Some teams have numbers that should be retired.

The Red Sox should hang up #26 for Wade Boggs.

The Yankees should take #54 out of circulation for Rich Gossage.

The Mets blew a chance to honor Gary Carter before he died.

The Astros should honor J. R. Richard before it is too late.

In my latest article for Bleacher Report, I list the 10 numbers that I think should be retired right now. And there are two specific examples that I give that might be controversial, but I think I found a way around the drama.

Read the article here.




 

Mets... you BLEW it. You should have retired Carter's number

Mets, you have screwed up a lot since Beltran took a called third strike in the 2006 NLCS.

On the field the you have had epic collapses and last day eliminations.
You've had bloated payrolls that yielded losing records.
You've signed free agents that don't fit.
You turned the incredible advantage of playing in New York into a handicap.
You have empty seats in a new stadium that was designed to honor teams that left town instead your own franchise.
You have dragged the team through the Bernie Madoff scandal.

But for some reason, the most recent blunder by the Mets just seems like the worst of them all.

You did not retire Gary Carter's number while he was alive.
Why not?

Seriously.
What POSSIBLE explanation can there be for this? What justification can you vomit up to make me say "Oh, that makes sense"?

Not enough time?
He was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.
That's 11 seasons where you could have found the time to have a day for the lone Hall of Famer on the Mets' second World Series title... one that was saved by Gary Carter's single that started one of the greatest World Series rallies in history.

Were you upset that he had an Expos cap on his Hall of Fame plaque?

You do know that he WANTED to have a Mets cap but the Hall of Fame decides such matters after the whole Dave Winfield situation.

Did you think "Hey, he had his number retired with the Expos and we don't retire numbers that other teams have honored"?

Then explain why Casey Stengel's number is retired.

I am going to go out on a limb and say the 1986 Mets were a better team than the 1962 Mets.

Were you mad that Carter publicly lobbied for the job of Mets manager?

Well maybe he thought, as a Hall of Fame catcher with a great knowledge of the game and connection to the organization, that he was qualified.

It's not like Art Howe was the second coming of John McGraw while in New York!

What, was your schedule too busy last year to plan a day for him?

We found out that Carter was dying LAST SPRING!

The minute you found out, you should have said "Let's have a day." Some time in August. Get all the Mets together, rent a stage and get someone to make a big ass #8.

Have Ron Darling, Darryl Strawberry, Mookie Wilson and everyone else there.

And you should have given Carter the chance to wave to the fans and CitiField to give him a standing ovation.

What was last year too jam packed with events? The team was sub .500 and the attendance was in the lower half of the National League.

You barely outdrew the Padres last year! Just for cynical dollars and cents and paying back the Madoff debt, you have Gary Carter Day so Met fans could see an ACTUAL MET PLAYOFF TEAM ON THE FIELD!

But no.
You didn't.

And now he's dead.
You screwed up.

Say what you want about the Yankees, they know how to honor their stars.

Lou Gehrig is dying? They gave him the greatest ceremony of all time.

Babe Ruth slipping away? They have a day for him.

When Mickey Mantle was dying in the 1990s and Bobby Murcer was dying in the 2000s, they had ceremonies where the fans could give them a standing ovation.

It doesn't take a lot of imagination.

It doesn't take a lot of planning.

It doesn't take a lot of brains.

It doesn't take a lot of heart.

And you, the New York Mets, evidently have none of the four.

This is not second guessing. People have been saying this since last year!

Not just bloggers... the New York Post did as well.

And now you can't. Even if you do now, it will posthumous.

It will be a sad day instead of a joyous one.

I ranted last year about how stupid it was that the Reds waited for Sparky Anderson's death to retire his number.

This is even worse.

You screwed up Mets.

Is there ANYTHING you can do right?

Sully Baseball Salutes... Gary Carter

Hall of Famer Gary Carter is gone.
He passed away at the awfully young age of 57.

And it makes me sad.
Which is odd when you consider the fact that the player on the 1986 Mets that I hated the most as a Red Sox fan was Gary Carter.

But there was a reason I fumed when I thought of Carter and not Doug Sisk.
Carter was always in the middle of the Mets wins.

In Game 4, with the Mets still down 2-1 in the series, it was Carter who clubbed a 2 run homer off of Al Nipper to break a scoreless tie. He would add a second homer to put the game away.

In Game 6, Carter applied the tag on Jim Rice that prevented the Red Sox from scoring a critical insurance run. Later in the game with the Mets 5 outs from elimination in the 8th inning, it was Carter who hit the game tying sacrifice fly.

And of course, with the Red Sox 1 out from winning the World Series, it was Carter who began THE RALLY with a single to left.

He would score on Ray Knight's bloop single.

And for good measure in Game 7, he drove in the tying run in the 6th inning and jumped in the air when Marty Barrett struck out.

I hated him.
One reason I hated him was he looked so damn happy! He was loving it. He loved being in the spotlight and being on a champion after years of playing in Montreal (for some good teams but never in the World Series.)

And when I was so sad, I hated seeing his big toothy smile.

Gary Carter made my blood boil.

I hated that people called him "The Kid."
That was Ted Williams' nickname.

But a funny thing happens with time (and 2 later World Series titles.)
I gained a lot of respect and reverence for Carter.

He was one of the great players of the 1980s, the era that I remember most in baseball.
He was a legit Hall of Famer.

And all of that smiling and leaping in the air, arms up in the air, that drove me bonkers, suddenly became endearing.

He loved the game.

He loved playing it and winning.

And if he was a member of the Boston Red Sox, I would have LOVED him!

He was a winner, right to his dying day.

If you told me on that night in 1986 that I would be sad over Gary Carter, I would have thought you were bonkers.

But I am.

Rest in peace, Kid.

I'm glad you got a ring. I just wish it was with the Expos.

Think Big! with the 1987 Mets - the 1980s were a different time

Earlier I posted "Baseball Boogie" where the 1986 Dodgers danced in pastel colors and tight white pants on their way to an 89 loss season.

The 1980s, the era of baseball that I grew up in, was a strange era indeed.

And thanks to my dear friend and frequent collaborator, Patrick Gallo, I have discovered the latest in the disturbing trend of sports videos featuring 1980s sports stars.

This is Think Big! and it makes The Super Bowl Shuffle look like The Godfather by comparison.

Let's take a closer look at this monstrosity and maybe it will explain how an outrageously talented team like the 1987 Mets couldn't make it back to the World Series.




Thoughts about Part 1:

- Why is the opening sequence so silent and titles over black? Were they trying to emulate the opening titles of Citizen Kane?

- Shelton Leigh Palmer... you've done better.

- I love how ominous the stats for Gary Carter, Mookie Wilson and Roger McDowell scroll across the screen. I think this is how 2010 opened.

- The actor playing the scientist I guess was told to over compensate for Mookie Wilson, Gary Carter and Roger McDowell's lack of acting ability. Eddie Deezen would tell this guy to "Bring it back."

- Why is there a computer on the on deck circle?

- That whole opening scene was a build up for an air guitar sequence? And why air guitaring with baseball bats?

- I bet they shot about 30 minutes of improvisation with dancing and air guitaring with baseball bats. That poor poor editor.

- The lyric "Working Together Is That Name Of The Game" is wonderful for the 1987 team whose off the field strife kept them from winning the division and allowing an inferior and injured Cardinals team to sneak into the playoffs and World Series.

- Who the hell are these kids playing Monopoly? Am I watching a different horribly produced 1980s video?

- Holy Crap! Does that kid have a Watchmen pin on? Check out 2:45. He has the blood stained smiley face pin. I guess this kid enjoys taunting his sister at Monopoly, following the Mets and reading the works of Alan Moore.

- "What are you? Jesse James?" Really Shelton Leigh Palmer? That's the best line you could come with?

- The cocky black kid and the fat potentially Jewish kid call up to taunt our heroes. I guess they are our heroes. All I know about them is they are obnoxious kids who taunt each other playing Monopoly. A Clockwork Orange had more likable characters.

- 3:36! What the? You can't just cut to a cartoon robot baseball player and cut away! Seriously, I thought I had a stroke for a moment.

- I think the two computer baseball obsessed kids now work in the Oakland A's front office.

- What kids had modems in their room in 1987? By the way, the phone on the modem is still the internet hook up of choice at Kinkos.

- What the hell is happening? Why don't the two obnoxious Monopoly playing kids just make players who are 100% like the obnoxious computer geeks?

- Is the "We're Perfect" song available on iTunes?

- Isn't the whole "Megabats" team, all artificially pumped up, a wonderful metaphor for what baseball was about to turn into during the 1990s with 'roids? Maybe those two kids DO work in the A's front office!!!

- It's strange that they have Mookie Wilson, Gary Carter and Roger McDowell's picture by their computer as if they are family members.

- So let me get this straight... they can pick any player from any era EVER and they pick the Mets platoon centerfielder, the Mets set up man and Gary Carter?

- I am sure the original script had Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry and Keith Hernandez. Doc and Darryl were probably out looking for cocaine and if Hernandez wasn't joining them, he was hitting on Elaine Benes.

- OK, we are back to Shea Stadium. Mookie's delivery of the line "I'm not going to the minors, the food is terrible" is by far the best moment of this video. I have a feeling there won't be a second best moment.

- Who exactly is this video made for? No adult would enjoy this and it is paced slower than a Jim Jarmusch film.

- Why the fish eye lens and the Flash Gordon sound effects when Mookie, Gary and McDowell show up?

- OK, are they the scientists kids? Was he 12 when he had them? We are 7:04 into this video and I still don't understand the premise.

- How could they be losing with great players? Well, maybe they should watch the 1987 Mets to find out!

- "Who is pitching Pee Wee Herman?" Gary Carter's Pee Wee Herman laugh should make every single Mets fan die a little inside.

- Oh Christ do we NEED to see the "We're perfect" montage again? I guess it is better with the insanely awkward reaction shots.

- The obnoxious Watchmen fan called the overacting scientist "Dad." OK, at 8:00 we've established the relationship. That nerd got laid at a VERY early age.

- Shouldn't the Mets be encouraging them to go outside instead of playing computer games all day? We'll never know because we have to sit through our second air guitar montage.

- Oh God, the Scientist dad is singing into a rubber crocodile. David Lynch would call this video "f---ed up."




Thoughts about Part 2:

- Gary Carter's line "Think about what you are not doing what you could be doing" is profound. For Gary I would say "You are not doing something dignified." I love that he is basically reading off of a cue card. At least I hope he is.

- Uh oh... they are talking about "No matter how bleak things are, there is always hope." And Gary Carter, the guy who started the Game 6 10th inning rally is standing next to Mookie Wilson who hit the you know what through the legs of you know who. I have a feeling the next clip will be tough for this Red Sox fan to watch.

- *phew* It's just an indulgent story about Gary Carter in highschool.

- Um... kids, why not take swings at the... you know... plate? And are we supposed to think that Gary Carter is singing?

- Mookie, thanks for the motivational speech, but they DO know that we are talking about a computer game, right? By the way, Mookie's clean living lesson could have been learned in that clubhouse.

- Wait a second! Are we in the woods with Mookie Wilson? Is that the house from Cabin Fever? WHAT THE F---?

- Who are these bullies sitting in the empty Shea Stadium with the Watchmen fan and his obnoxious sister?

- Who are the cute ethnically ambiguous girls with Mookie Wilson during a rain delay?

- The kids say no to the dealers who usually have such loyal customers in Mets uniforms.

- That flash cut to the bat near Mookie's crotch was a little intense for a video aimed at kids. (I'm guessing this is aimed at kids... or maybe stoned Met fans.)

- Now the Mets players have taken the scientists glasses away while he stumbles around. How is that different from the bullies behavior?

- Now we are playing football? Salvador Dali only wishes he got to this level of surrealism.

- I am guessing the kids computer team is still getting its butt kicked by the Megabats. (Remember them? Remember the plot?)

- The score is only 4-0? They were making it out like it was a blow out.

- Keep in mind that "You've got to work as a team" speech by McDowell was the best take the editor had to work with. He couldn't stumble through those lines any worse if he was saying it Dutch and reading the lines in Braille.

- What is that modern art hanging on the wall? Also I am guessing their mothers ashes are in one of those urns.

- Roger McDowell basically reenacts Bugs Bunny against the Gashouse Gorillas.

- Hey Roger... if you are really that tired, do you know what would help? GREENIES!

- OK, now we are in the kitchen making a stack of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Roger McDowell. That is a sentence I thought I was going to go my whole life without typing.

- After wandering around the breakfast nook in fast motion and learning "Putting on the Ritz" with baseball bats, Roger McDowell teaches the kids how to throw a spit ball. Well, that's ONE way to beat the Megabats!

- We see "teamwork" illustrated by passing a hot dog down your row. What part of "Not the same amount of change arriving to the vendor" is part of teamwork?

- There is a lot of crowding around and sitting on laps in that dugout. At least their way too young father is there to supervise.





Thoughts about Part 3:


- "How are we going to get the guys in the computer to understand it?" Kid, I've been wondering that 4 music video sequences ago!

- Mookie has an idea. If he says the sentence "Did any of you kids see TRON?" I will crap my pants.

- The kid's speech of "The computer doesn't know that stuff" basically sounds like everything Joe Morgan would say if the letters O, P and S are brought up.

- Basically we've had to sit through two whole parts to find out there was an intangible menu? I wonder if that was actually a Speak and Spell that they used to say the computers lines. Shouldn't teamwork be programmed for the other 23 players?

- Pete Rose discipline... 100%. Well he certainly was disciplined 100%.

- The other kids yell "What's going on here?" Kids, I have no clue.

- Ty Cobb... Racism... 100%.

- Wait they are having McDowell bat? Don't they have Joe DiMaggio on the bench to pinch hit? Terrible Managing Decision... 100%!

- So wait, Gary Carter is batting after McDowell? Is Carter the lead off hitter? OK, I am thinking about this too much.

- Why do I have the feeling they wanted to have the whole game be a cartoon and they realized how much time that would take... meaning we are stuck with a bunch of awkward cutaways of Gary Carter high fiving Mookie Wilson.

- Cut to a Home Invasion!

- "I'd like you to meet some of the members of our team... here are the remains of Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig..."

- Of all the clips to show during the end credits, they show the motivational speeches? There had better be some Smokey and the Bandit-esque bloopers during the credit crawl! (My cinema studies professors at NYU would be so proud I used the term Smokey and the Bandit-esque.)

- This end credit montage sounds like "Mets therapy." I almost expect to hear an off screen doctor ask "And how did that make you feel, Mookie?"


Lord help you if you watched all three...

If there any other spirit crushingly horrible videos starring 1980s baseball players, please send them to info@sullybaseball.com

And remember...

THINK BIG!

I miss the Montreal Expos

I really do.

Yes I know they had to move. I saw a game in Stade Olympique and I can say honestly it was the worst place I've ever watched a baseball game. And keep in mind I HAVE seen games in Candlestick, McAfee Coliseum, Shea Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, Cleveland Stadium and Veterans Stadium. So I KNOW bad stadiums!

And yes I know the last few years of the teams existence was a complete joke. They were owned by the other clubs, they weren't allowed to have September call ups and had to play part of the season in San Juan.

So logically I know the move to Washington made sense.

But I still miss them.
Let's list why.

1. Montreal is a REALLY beautiful city.

Seriously, go there and you won't believe you are still in North America. You'd swear you were in Switzerland.









2. Yeah Stade Olympique was a terrible place to play and watch a baseball game. But that’s where Bruce Jenner won the decathalon… and it’s always cool to be reminded of Bruce Jenner.









3. The cool beach ball hats. I always loved the uniforms and they were one of the few teams that could pull off the white front of a cap.

And the logo itself was cool. It took me a few years to realize it was an M for Montreal, an E for the Expos and a B for Baseball.




4. Baseball games in French! It gave Montreal Expos games such an exotic feel to them. Yeah the Blue Jays were in Canada too, but they were in English. I used to listen to the games on MLB.com and see I could follow the games with my high school level French comprehension. Also hearing the batters announced in French was awesome. “Le recevaeur, Gary Carter!”




5. Keeping the French theme going, having French nicknames for the players was cool too. Le Grande Orange for Rusty Staub. Le Chat for Andres Gallaraga.









6. Think that whole “swimming pool in right field” thing is original in Phoenix? Ha! Rusty Staub used to launch balls into the swimming pool at Parc Jarry in the 1970s!




7. The Expos had so many great players over the years that only die hard baseball fans followed. Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Jeff Reardon, Larry Walker, John Wetteland, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Geurrero and Moises Alou all became stars elsewhere. But they were already putting up star numbers in Montreal.





8. Some familiar faces made cool cameos in Montreal.

Tony Perez, Bill Lee, Mark Langston and Bartolo Colon among others had some success north of the border. And Pete Rose got his 4,000th hit in an Expos uniform. Bet you forgot that!




9. The heart break of the two strike years can’t help but make you feel for Expos fans.

They got to the 9th inning of the deciding game 5 of the 1981 NLCS before Rick Monday homered off of Steve Rogers, giving the Dodgers the pennant in a silent Stade Olympique.





It was worse in 1994 when the Expos had the best team in baseball when the strike hit. The team that could have been Montreal’s best shot at winning a World Series. Instead it was the beginning of the end of baseball in Quebec.






10. The post 1994 middle finger than the Expos gave baseball. They had no crowds, they had no revenue, and after the contraction threat for a while they had no owner. MLB owned them and wouldn’t allow them to recall minor leaguers and made them play part of the season in San Juan.

And yet They contended in 1996. And they putting winning teams on the field in 2002 and 2003. Often times despite no money nor fan support would put a better product on the field than the Mets or the Dodgers.






So yeah, the Expos had to move.
Baseball could flourish in Washington and it was the right thing to do.

But it doesn’t mean I can’t miss a scrappy bunch of anonymous superstars getting introduced by the public address announcer in French!