My Mets Mount Rushmore

We are back at it again discussing my Mets. It is a fairly common exercise across all of sports to construct each sport’s and each team’s Mount Rushmore. Today we will be doing just that with the Mets. There is a very short list of players who were truly great with the Mets and would be reasonable to put in stone. I will outline each of my four selections with why I believe they should be on the Mets Mount Rushmore.

To kick things off…

Tom Seaver

This is one of two picks who is obvious. Tom Seaver finished a career 198-124 with the Mets while posting a 76.0 career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) with the team. He had 231 career complete games and a 171 with the Mets. Posting 2561 strikeouts with the ball club while having a 2.57 ERA will surely land you at the top of team rankings. In addition, he also racked up the Cy Young Awards by winning 3 of them in his Mets career. Seaver had his number 41 retired in 1988 and then was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. Until Ken Griffey Jr. was elected in 2016, Seaver had the highest percentage of votes in MLB history at 98.8%.

Mike Piazza

The other obvious choice here is Mike Piazza. After coming to New York in a trade from the Marlins, Piazza was loved every second he was here. He slugged a total of 427 home runs (the most ever by a catcher) with 220 of them coming as a Met. He posted a 24.6 career WAR with the Mets while playing in 972 games. Like Seaver, Piazza had his jersey retired (which I was fortunate enough to be at) in 2016. He was also elected into the Hall of Fame earlier that same year.

David Wright

This is where we start getting controversial. Unlike Seaver and Piazza, I do not believe there are two more obvious choices to put up there for the Mets. David Wright has meant more to me over the past 15 years of my sports fandom than anyone not named Henrik Lundqvist. David Wright had his career cut short due to spinal stenosis. I still cry whenever I watch him come off the field for the final time. Wright’s statistics are not the flashiest. He will never make it to the Hall of Fame but he will certainly be a member of the Mets HOF. So far, the Mets have set a precedent of being elected into the HOF as a Met to have your number retired. That should end with David Wright. His number 5 should hand at the top of Citi Field alongside Seaver and Piazza.

Jacob DeGrom

Even though his career is still going on, DeGrom is probably a top 5 pitcher in Mets history. When you talk great Mets pitchers, you need to mention Seaver, Doc Gooden, and Jacob DeGrom. The back to back Cy Young Winner has made hitters look stupid ever since he made his debut in 2014. He has accumulated 33.3 WAR in his career so far with his 2 Cy Youngs and a Rookie of the Year award. DeGrom has also pitched well in the postseason when the Mets have made it. He has gone 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA and a 3.65 strikeout to walk ratio. DeGrom still has some years of elite pitching left in him. Time will only tell how great he will truly be.

-Pete Chatterton (@Pchat12)