Wow, MetsPolice got mentioned in New York Magazine (in this article). Anyways..their take:
It’s safe to assume that if the Mets didn’t retire his number when his playing career ended — and especially if they didn’t do it when he went into the Hall of Fame — that they don’t consider him worthy based solely on his playing time in New York. But like we said, there’s no universal rule for such things, particularly under circumstances like these.
via Should the Mets Retire Gary Carter’s Number? — The Sports Section.
I would think this has something to do with Yogi Berra.
I never thought about the team retiring Carter’s number. I could see where you might make an emotional argument for it. Fact is, while, I am open to being convinced to retire Carter’s number 8 (which probably means it shouldn’t be), there is no way that 8 should be retired just because of an unfortunate turn of Gary’s health. And from a baseball perspective, there is absolutely no way that 8 should be retired before 17 & 31.