As much as I love baseball I’m not very good at thinking about perspective.

I mean, I know greatness, clear-cut Hall of Famers.

I’m not as good at the borderline guys.

And I guess I’m not great with legacy.

Not once over the past 30 or so years did I think to myself, “The Mets should retire Dwight Gooden’s number.” (Or Darryl Strawberry. Or Keith Hernandez.) Nor did I think there needed to be a statue of Tom Seaver out front.

But then, once those things happen I think, “Yeah, that makes sense.”

And on Sunday the Mets put together a really nice event and I’m glad I was there.

I had never been to a number retirement before.

I was at the 1986 Mets reunion at Shea Stadium in 2006. That was cool.

I was at Gary Carter’s Mets Hall of Fame induction in 2001. That was notable to me because 1) of course I had to be there, and 2) that was before social media made things widespread and it was an in-real-life opportunity for me to see a stadium full of people to whom Gary Carter meant so much. It was kind of a revelation for someone who never saw that kind of love for his favorite player among other adults on a regular basis. (For a variety of reasons I did not go to Cooperstown for his Baseball Hall of Fame induction and I kind of regret it.)

I almost didn’t go to Sunday’s game because it was kind of a busy weekend but I ended up going and I am glad I did.

I figured there would be a nice 1986 Mets representation. There was. (Though not a huge showing. I wonder if there will be more for Strawberry’s number retirement in a little more than a month.) It was a little emotional when I saw Gary Carter’s wife was there.

I liked that Gooden acknowledged the fact that there was never really closure here and the fact that some of that was his own fault.

I don’t know how you measure whether someone should be honored by a ballclub in this way. David Wright seems like a slam dunk when the Mets decide to retire number 5. I am biased, but it seems to me number 8 should have been retired, but I also don’t think it matters much anymore because Gary Carter isn’t around to enjoy it.

But when it comes to number 16 (or 18 for that matter)….I don’t think of anyone but Gooden (or Strawberry) when I see it. That’s partly because of my 1986 Mets fandom - I was the exact right age for all of that to leave a permanent mark.

But the player has to be something special for it to leave that kind of impact.

And, for all of his later flaws, Dwight Gooden was that.

As for the rest of the weekend:

This could have been another sweep. Starling Marte’s troubles continued on Saturday when he dropped a fly ball and that led to the Royals scoring some extra runs in an 11-7 win. That game could have gone either way at that point. It was nice to see on Sunday that Hunter Renfroe struggled a couple of times in right field. I’ve never seen right field at Citi Field be this much of an issue…but that was the first time I saw an opponent have an issue the way Marte has.
So the Mets could have won three, but I won’t get greedy - two out of three against a tough Royals team is a good weekend. (It would have really put a damper on the Gooden celebration if the Mets hadn’t pulled out Sunday’s win.) And the way they won Sunday is the way they had been losing that first week - a little dribbler that the third baseman can’t make the play on gets the run home…a walk with the bases loaded. Sometimes you just need things to break your way, and that’s happening with the Mets right now.
Francisco Lindor is becoming worrisome. He had a couple of hits yesterday, and that’s not nothing, but he had opportunities late to win the game for the Mets and could not come through. I am confident he’ll come around. But last year when he struggled we found out his wife was just about to give birth and it turned out he was also a little hurt. I wonder if there’s something happening that we don’t know about and if there’s something wrong. Hopefully he saw this weekend most of the fans are behind him and rooting for him.
Again, it’s great the Mets have been doing so well even without Lindor contributing. Jose Butto was outstanding again. (I would 100% rather see Butto every fifth day than Tylor Megill.) Harrison Bader has started to hit. The Mets got to a very good lefty Sunday in Cole Ragans. That’s a good sign as well.
Side, non-baseball note: It’s a great day in Massachusetts. Today is the Boston Marathon, and Patriots’ Day here. It’s school vacation week, and today is a state holiday. I’ll head over to downtown Framingham late morning to watch the runners come through - it’s always very inspiring. Oh, we can end this on a baseball note: The Red Sox start at 11:10am today.

This Weekend against Kansas City: 2-1

Overall Record: 7-8 (don’t forget that’s 7-3 since 0-5. 7 out of 10!)

Standings: 3rd in NL East, 2.5 games behind Atlanta

Up Next: Another dangerous series against Pittsburgh. They’re coming off a series where they split four games in Philadelphia.

Let’s Go Mets!