Laura Albanese: Mets' Nick Morabito wearing No. 8 wouldn't have upset Gary Carter and it shouldn't upset you

WASHINGTON — It’s possible no baseball player had a more eventful Tuesday afternoon than Nick Morabito.

New York teams already tend to get a lot of attention, but if you don’t know the backstory, that afternoon might’ve felt excessive. The Mets’ newest call-up, a 23-year-old outfielder who’d yet to swing a bat in the majors, was swarmed by reporters of every ilk before their game against the Nationals — answering over 20 rapid-fire questions in a little more than six minutes.

In the stands, he had a hefty crowd of friends and family waiting to watch him, and, a few hours later, was in the melee again — playing left in the Mets’ highly eventful 9-6 loss to the Nationals at Nationals Park. It's also a night that, for Morabito, included getting caught in the middle of James Wood’s second-inning, inside-the-park grand slam (he made a few acrobatic plays, too).

But some of the fuss makes some sense: Morabito was raised not far from here, and went to Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. He’s young enough to refer to Juan Soto, 27, as a player he grew up rooting for. “On the way here on the bus, it was the route I would take every morning to go to school,” he said.

It’s a feel-good story, but in the reactionary social media ecosphere, the waters were roiling — even if he maybe didn’t know it.

See, Morabito had been assigned No. 8 — the beloved, late Gary Carter’s old number, and one that, while not officially retired, had been pulled out of circulation since Desi Relaford last wore it in 2001.

The debates were heated, with some saying that Carter, an '86 Met who had spent five memorable years with organization, should keep ‘8’ forever. Others noted that stubbornly holding onto every vestige of that World Series championship further underlined the four decades of failure that followed.

In the end, the situation was defused: It was too late to get Morabito a new jersey Tuesday, but a team official confirmed the number would be replaced Wednesday. Crisis averted.

Except the underlying points remain.

For what it’s worth, it does seem pretty weird to award Carter's number on the 40th anniversary of that World Series win — particularly since Morabito isn’t, say, an established major leaguer who wore No. 8 with another team.

But it's hard to believe that the man known as ‘The Kid’ wouldn’t have gotten a kick out of The Kids. Because while it’s important to honor the past, it’s dangerous to live in it. And this crop of young players is ensuring the Mets avoid doing just that.

After a horrific April, this team is invigorated, and a huge part of that is their crew of young’uns — Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Christian Scott, and now Morabito and fellow call-up Zach Thornton.

Though that youthful exuberance wasn’t enough in a game, that Tuesday, was metaphorically set to Benny Hill theme music, it doesn’t erase the salient point: These players are a testament to the Mets’ impressive player development, and the scouting and training that goes into finding and honing the mental resilience it takes to convert your talent to a big-league stage.

“It’s just the way they play the game,” manager Carlos Mendoza has said of their impact. “Definitely everybody is feeling it…It’s exciting.”

Even a few weeks ago, it would have been hard to envision a world where this team was “exciting.” The at-bats were lifeless, some pitchers looked lost, and every deficit felt like a world ender, whether it was in the second inning or the eighth. But going into Tuesday, they had gone 11-6 in their last 17 games; they had come from behind in each of their last six wins.

In short, they look alive.

That doesn’t happen if they were too precious about promoting young players with limited experience. "Right now, we're looking for the best 26 guys that are going to help us win baseball games and [Morabito] is here for a reason," Mendoza said.

It’s not just about the numbers. The energy is also palpable, and it’s positively affected older players who have experienced enough losing to know how hard it is to break out of a rut once you dig yourself in deep.

Youth, though, is hopeful. It’s gleeful. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s everything the April Mets were not.

You know, there was another kid who addressed the media Tuesday afternoon, though with less fanfare. Thornton (No. 49, in case anyone feels really strongly about Jon Niese) is slated to pitch on Wednesday and has had a long, winding road to the majors. But he "wasn't afraid," Mendoza said.

“I’m not the biggest guy in the world,” Thornton said. “Everything you do is for the people who said, ‘he couldn’t do it,’ and the people who said, ‘he could.’”

It’s the exact mentality this team needs, and one it must embrace if it's going to fight back.

In his Hall of Fame induction speech, Carter reminisced about being where these young players are now, and meeting Johnny Bench.

“We had a picture taken together and later I asked him if he would sign it for me,” Carter said. “And he wrote on it, he said, 'Kid, in a few years it's all yours.’”

I had very few interactions with Carter when he was alive. I don’t know if he would have been upset if the Mets had really given away his No. 8, though given the stories, it’s a little hard to imagine.

But I know that when people are gone, it's important to focus on who they were and what they represented. In that context, you can envision Carter looking at this crop of young, enthusiastic, scrappy players and liking what he sees.

Kids, it’s all yours.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.