Cespedes Is Now A Met!

Man!Finally Met fans can exhale.We've had It all these last couple of days.From trade reversals,to emotional shortstops,to odd bottom of the 9th, 2 out and one strike on the batter  ,rain delays.It's been a little more than I can handle.Well,today with only minutes left before the official trade deadline,Sandy Alderson surprised everyone by picking up probably the best power bat available right now In Yoenis Cespedes! With Aldersons track record as a Met GM  and the recent deterioration of the Gomez trade,I had lost all hope.I thought for sure Sandy would go bargain bin hunting again and pick up a guy like Rajai Davis or Will Venable.Boy was I wrong.We now have a legitimate cleanup  hitter In Yoenis and a much better shot at making a run towards first place In NL East.Kudos to Sandy and co.I can breathe again.

My Wallet Card -Beat This Jr. Junkie!

It's not easy holding up a baseball card and taking a picture of It with  chop licking lions looming.

Luckily I was able to snap a couple off and make It out of the cage In time to make It to my next Wallet Card destination....  

...the Mediterranean!The Mermaid totally ruined my shot but on the bright side,I now have proof of their existence.Also,sea salt tastes better when processed.Quick question.Do you like Dinosaurs?Well I do.So much so that our next Wallet Card destination takes place 245 million years ago In an undisclosed prehistoric region.It took me all day to get there,though.Pff,time machines.

Sorry to break It to ya Junior,but yeah,I went to Mars,too.Which Is where I took this amazing shot of my Wallet Card with a beautiful martian backdrop In the distance.And yes,extraterrestrials exist,they're just shy ;)

Car-Go,A No-Go

I was a bit stunned to hear the news last night about Carlos Gomez coming back to the Mets.I wasn't happy or angry,just - stunned.On one hand I was sad to see Gomez leave the Mets back In '07,because he was what the Mets were all about at that time.He fit the mold of that particular Met team which featured lots of free swinging,speed + power guys.So In that sense,yeah I was sad to see him go to the Twins.He would go on to put up mediocre numbers with Minnesota and career numbers with Brewers.By then, for obvious monetary reasons,Sandy Alderson had taken over this once flashy,swagger-filled organization and  converted It into the complete opposite.A rag tag team of  back up players like Eric Young ,Jr. mixed with minor league pitching talents like Harvey and Wheeler,  all hungry to contribute. These weren't the "see the ball,hit the ball" players of yesteryear.On the contrary,The Mets morphed Into a more subdued bunch,concerned more with getting on base and producing quality starts.As much as I disliked this hum drum style of play,It has grown on me.And I think It has grown on the players as well .Which brings me back to Gomez.I like Gomez,as a Brewer.They are a team of free swingers and Gomez fits that bill.I don't think Gomez's style of play and sometimes  hotheadedness  would have translated well onto this Mets team.I'm kind of glad the deal fell through,not because I dislike Gomez.But because I think things wouldn't have went well for him here.Which In turn would have caused distractions  to a young Mets team that has done so well at overcoming the media hype and learned to play the game with ,for lack of a better term,horse blinders.

New Blood, In NY!

I must say that while I'm not blown away by the acquisitions of Uribe ,Johnson and Clippard,I am overall pleased.I like the versatility you get In Johnson and Uribe. Clippard,while not what he used to be, brings  some toughness to our bullpen.These guys are all gamers and already have made a mark with the Metsies. Hindsight Is 20/20 ,but I think all three will mesh well.Here's hoping Sandy can pick us up another bat to solidify this offense.I decided to search my collection for cards of  Clip,Uribe and Johnson.I had tons of Clippards but only a couple Kelly Johnson's (I'm pretty sure I have more somewhere) and one Uribe.

Tyler Clippard-

Kelly Johnson - 

Juan Uribe - 

Singles Only

I finally got my A.J. Pollock in the mail a couple of days ago.He's  a player I'll be targeting from here on out as this Is the first card of the young D- Back to make It into my collection.

The Can Stash!- Oakland,Texas,Boston Pt. 2

This 1988 Topps was the card that begot the whole Canseco obsession.I wanted to have long hair like Canseco.I wanted to hit like Canseco.I wanted to have a nervous twitch like Canseco.Hell ,I wanted to fart like Canseco.In the late 80's, everyone was trying to be like Mike.Not me.I was at our neighborhood sandlot baseball field  ,at the plate with an open stance,waiving the barrel of the bat around ,swinging hard and missing,just like Canseco.  

I've had this Japanese Free Agent Draft Kalifornia Kardz Canseco since childhood.What Is a Kalifornia Kard?  I dunno. But It sounds like It would be a great question..err. answer on Jeopardy.

I feel like this card Is better suited for Caitlyn Jenner.

Singles Only

Welcome to another edition of  Singles Only.The part of this blog that chronicles the unhurried process of  rebuilding my collection of rookie card,prospect and star players of the last decade,a couple cards at a time.There will be the occasional vintage card here and there but for the most part,just guys that I've missed out on since putting the brakes on card collecting back in '07.

The elephant In the room In regards to my current collection Is the fact that I have very few  Mike Trout's.I like to have RC's of major players,like Cabrera.Pujols,Cano,Jeter etc.They don't have to be their most valuable RC either.Just one RC of  a major star Is good for me.I stopped collecting In '07,and since the emergence of big names like Harper,Stanton,Trout and Bryant has been on the rise.That's what's so great about the world of sports,In this case MLB.There are always young bucks chomping at the bit ,ready to take the league by storm,who will ultimately supplant the current faces of the game.Mike Trout has done just that.The prospect of owning a Trout RC has me,well,wanting a Mike Trout RC.I think his All Star game performance pretty much cemented that urge.The guy Is a sparkplug.A Bosch sparkplug.And since I probably won't be affording his RC any time soon or ever,I figured I'd snag up his second year card.With a player of his caliber,I would have liked to have him swinging away or stealing a base In this card,but In hand I really like It.Next up,Michael Conforto!

Gavin would be so proud!Pull tab/painters tape awareness has caught on!One removed piece of painter's tape later and Voila!No sticky left over residue!Mr.Gavin,you truly are a catalyst ;)

Any day you are able to add a Mike Trout and Conforto In a residue-less top loader to your collection Is a lovely day!

Don't Call It A Comeback!

Cameron Maybin was supposed to be the next Dave Winfield.Well ,that was about 7 years ago.Injuries and flat out under-performance derailed those high expectations and Maybin has since become somewhat of a journeyman.This year , however, Cameron has turned It on.Something must have clicked inside of  the mind and mechanics of the one time Tiger top prospect , as he has thrived In Atlanta over the first half of this season.He's batting .285 with 15 Steals, 8 HR and 44 RBI. I've read that 26 Is the age that most major league hitters start to get It ,Maybin's 28 now.It's nice to see a guy you know has potential finally come around and redeem himself.Better late than never,I guess.
Congrats to Cameron Maybin for tearing It up,albeit,for the first half.Here's to an equally productive stretch run ;)