The Mets stirred a controversy after promoting rookie outfielder Nick Morabito

Outfielder Nick Morabito wore number 3 when he donned a New York Mets uniform in the Arizona Fall League last year. He wore number 70 in spring training. On the occasion of his first official MLB promotion May 19, Morabito was assigned number 8. So it was that a 23-year-old prospect who had never played above Double-A before this season got swept up in a decades-old controversy around a simple but prestigious number in franchise history. The last Mets player to wear number 8 was Desi Relaford, in 2001. Before that, Carlos Baerga wore it for two seasons (1997-98). So did Dave Gallagher (1992-93). Before that, the number belonged to Gary Carter, the Hall of Fame catcher who backstopped the Mets to their last World Series title in 1986. Carter wore the number from 1985-89 — the entirety of his career in Queens. Added up, that might not be enough to confer an iota of prestige onto the number on Morabito's jersey. More news: Devastating Injury to Astros is Validation for Giants, Mets Yet Howie Rose, the Mets' longtime radio play-by-play broadcaster, begged to differ. "It appears that most fans are opposed to the Mets releasing #8 (to call up Nick Morabito) after having not issued it for 25 years," Rose wrote on X. "There’s been a debate over whether Gary Carter’s number should be retired, but to release it this 40th anniversary season of 1986 just seems wrong." More news: Mets Have MLB’s Worst Record; Pitcher’s ‘Suffocated’ Comment Reveals Why There's more to it even that that. Number 8 is also the uniform worn by former Mets manager, coach, and catcher Yogi Berra. Berra was a coach on the Mets' "miracle" championship team of 1969, and managed the team to a National League pennant four years later. The tradition of one Hall of Fame catcher passing the number to another is special in franchise history. It's a tradition clouded by the brief Relaford-Baerga-Gallagher years in Queens — but a tradition not forgotten by longtime fans of the team. More news: MLB’s Best, Worst Teams at ABS Challenge System a Tough Call The number is meaningful enough that Morabito won't get it wear it very long. According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Morabito will have a different number by the time of the Mets' next game. Even the baseball gods seemed to object to the number on Morabito's back. His first game began in a rain delay.