Mets Honor To Honor Doc, Straw in Hall of Fame

The Mets haven't inducted anyone into their Hall of Fame since 2002 when Tommie Agee was honored. Eight years had passed since the franchise recognized a former player or manager to join the likes of Tom Seaver, Ralph Kiner, Rusty Staub, Ed Kranepool and Tug McGraw. While we've come to know the current incarnate of the Mets as chokers turned loveable (and injury-prone) losers, the franchise does have a pretty memorable – albeit short – history.

Worthy of note, however, is the fact that the likes of Mookie Wilson (1996), Keith Hernandez (1997) and Gary Carter (2001) were inducted long ago, but their teammates – Gooden and Strawberry – were never honored…until now.

'Duk over at Big League Stew points out that the induction of Gooden, Strawberry, Davey Johnson and Frank Cashen, the GM of the 1986 team, coincides with the new Hall of Fame that is being built at Citi Field.

It [also] signals the complete healing of the rifts that developed between both stars and the Mets and it should also give fans a chance to remember how good things used to be in Queens.

Good that old wounds are healing and Doc and Straw are getting their due. The bittersweet point in this announcement is the fact that both Strawberry and Gooden had the potential to be Baseball Hall of Famers, not just Mets Hall of Famers. In both cases, off-the-field issues likely crushed some of that potential. And what, pray-tell were those off-the-field issues? Well, the page above from the 1986 "It's O.K. to say NO to drugs" coloring book sponsored by the MLBPA (that, yes, I've had since it came out), may have been an ironic precursor for the future of the franchise.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.