Sports: Gary Carter’s No. 8 worn by a young player (even though he shouldn’t)

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Sports: Gary Carter’s No. 8 worn by a young player (even though he shouldn’t)
Credit: MLB

Honoring a player whose number hasn't been retired but who has been important to an organization is sometimes a topic of debate.

With the New York Mets, for example, the handling of #8 is currently at the center of a situation. We can't use the word “controversy,” because that would be too strong. But…

Basically, Nick Morabito, who is a promising prospect for the club, has been called up. Tonight, he's playing his first game in the Majors.

And the young man, for reasons unknown, has chosen to wear #8 for his debut. But since Gary Carter's #8 is “retired” in Queens (they didn't want to retire his number, but…), it's caused a stir.

In 2001, the Mets chose to “retire” the Kid's number, who spent five years in New York after his time in Montreal. Since 2001, no one had touched the World Series champion's number.

Whether it was a rookie mistake or someone else's error, the Mets announced that tomorrow, Morabito will change his number. He will therefore no longer wear the #8 he had in the minors after tonight's game.

I'm sure opinions will be divided. On one hand, people will say that if the Mets wanted Carter's impact to be recognized, they should just retire his number… and that if they don't, it's probably because he's better known as a member of the Expos than the Mets.

On the other hand, the young player will be criticized for his lack of respect—if the idea really came from him.

I figure that if the Mets were a serious organization, they would have refused from the start to let Morabito wear the kid's number if it were truly important to them.

What do you think?

PMLB
  • Pete Crow-Armstrong Fined.
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  • Wow.
  • Eric Lauer in the Dodgers' rotation as early as next Tuesday?

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