one important thing to note: i fear the hall of fame COULD turn into a money-maker. i.e. inducting players as a way to boost attendance for a night (sort of like when the heat “retired” dan marino’s number or michael jordan’s of number 6 for the fans). the mets have been extremely selective in who they honor and, by far, have the most stringent retired number policy in baseball, which is a VERY VERY GOOD thing. i want the hall of fame to live up to that standard. if no one deserves to be inducted for a year, then don’t. only induct our true greats. i don’t want to see felix millan in the hall of fame simply because he won a championship.

Thanks for letting us know about it.

And this is exactly the kind of stuff that should fill a Mets museum.

PS – Notice Yogi as First Base coach?

As far as being “more” interested in what happens with the roster than this museum, I would just say in no way should they be mutually exclusive. would I rather a title-contender and no museum to the opposite? Of course. But there is no reason we should have to choose. This organization has to be able to execute both.

My hesitation is over my concern that this is yet another thing the Mets will do wrong. It is clear they are doing it to appease fan outcry, and my concern there is that they still don’t “get” why this is important to Mets fans and therefore still won’t get what fans are looking for.

It’s hard to say what I’d want aside from a museum that honors every aspect of Mets history and every player who has mattered to this franchise, whether it be for one big moment or one big play of for a lifetime of acheivement. I shouldn’t be just Seaver and Piazza and Hernandez….if should be about the Pratts and Dunstons and Agbayanis and Dykstras and their moments…about the Lance Johnsons and one-year standouts like that…it should be about the John Stearns-types that shined when the franchise stunk. I don’t want to see a museum of 1969 and 1986 and of 5-10 greats…I want a living encyclopedia of Mets history.

Honestly, all they need to do is look again at the invite list from the Shea Goodbye Ceremony. They got it almost perfectly right that day in terms of who they brought back. Sprinkle in the big years and big moments and Mets All-Stars and you should be set. How they present it is up to someone’s imagination (btw – any word on who is being brought in to build this out?)

My fear though is they are just going to put up the busts and a few images of Casey Stengel and Gil Hodges and call it a museum.

The one initial thing I am happy about is that it will be built off the ritunda – I assume replacing the mega-store on the ground level? At least that makes your entrance more about the Mets than it has been.