The 69 Mets

I'm a Mets fan.That said,I have to come clean and admit  to not knowing much about NY Mets baseball pre 1986.I know the basics.In 69 we pulled off a World Series win with pitching and defense.But as far as who the major contributors were that year...<crickets>   .I hear a lot of names being tossed around by Gary,Keith and Ron during live broadcasts along with the sporadic in game interviews ,but I never did the leg work to research any of these players.Save for guys like Seaver and Ryan, I'm pretty clueless when It comes to the Miracle Mets. My dad was the main reason for this post.  Every so often we'll be In the middle of a Syndergaard or McNeil conversation and he'll start digressing,bringing up a bunch of 60's Mets players.We used to be able to stay on topic but now more than ever it seems as though his heart is with the NY Mets of 2019 ,but his mind is stuck on  that famed,1969 team.He did It again the other day .We were talking about our catcher situation this year and somehow the name Grote came up.Other random names like Kranepool,Harrelson and some guy named Tommy Aigee also got brought up. It was then that I thought to myself "This 77 year old  man  has memories of one of the most historical time periods in baseball.Intangible ,priceless and personal mementos that Beckett could only hope to slab and grade.I should be paying attention!"I quickly took to the internet to look up the 69 Mets!

Quick side-notes. In 1969, The Beatles performed live for the last time up on the rooftop  of their multimedia corporation Apple Corps at 4 Savile Row.

Did you know that 1969 marked the first time man set foot on the moon?It took place on July 20th.Little did Met fans know ,this would pale In comparison to the feat their beloved team would accomplish just a few months later.  

 And..Was Bryan Adams a Mets fan?

              I did some research , looked up some of the main guys on that roster In 1969 .Again,I knew who the players were ,just not their stat lines and numbers.It turns out most of those guys on that team had good numbers but not great. They weren't really big time all stars ,just a solid ,cohesive bunch that delivered when It mattered.Hence the miraculous comeback during the season of 1969 to overtake the Cubs In the N.L. East ,ultimately heading to the World Series and winning with a solid show of  pitching ,fielding and clutch hitting.After soaking In some highlight videos on YouTube ,I think Swoboda would have been my favorite player back then. He was In the middle of a lot of pivotal plays and made a ton of great catches.

                Of course ,now I needed some baseball cards!After doing a little perusing on eBay ,I was able to find some really cheap Met  cards from that era.Not In the best condition but what the heck.To say that I'm In love with these vintage beauties would be an understatement.I'm still waiting on a Clendenon and Grote but for now this Is what I've snagged up for the old Mets binder!

Starting Lineup Figure Of The Day

George Brett

Breaking The Seal On A 2005 Ryan Howard Etopps Card!

I'm not quite sure what happened with etopps. The site allowed you to collect cards and store them  In a virtual portfolio or  have a physical copy of the card delivered to you for a small shipping fee.I loved the service and actually still have a card In my portfolio waiting to be shipped.I currently have about 15 In-hand etopps cards In my collection ,stashed  In a small section of  our linen closet  designated for  cards and other baseball related ephemera. The other day,while grabbing a new set of clean sheets ,I accidentally dropped a couple of them on the floor.One of them was this 2005 Ryan Howard .I've broken the seal on these once before, just never documented it.This time I've got the pics to prove It ;)

This Is what the card looks like ,encased.Just a nice,all around solid product.Not pictured  Is the separate card  with the print run and serial number,an added touch that softened the blow of  dropping 14 bucks on the card after shipping. Still.ya gotta love the presentation!

This ,my friends ,Is the infamous etopps seal of authenticity!Dun,dun,dunnnn!

I was hoping for It to peel right off,as It does on most etopps cards,so I could put the card back in the case but as you can see I made a little bit  of a mess.

 Once the seal Is removed ,you'll have to slightly pry the lower part of It open by unsnapping It.

                                                                          And VOILA!

 The protective case Is totally reusable.A little bit of alcohol should help In removing the access gunk left behind by the problematic etopps seal .

As for the card?Aesthetically ,the picture quality could have been a little better.It doesn't come across In the pics but  Howard's looking a little  blurry. Although,It might have been what they were going for  seeing as how they went with television esque scan lines for the background.The card Is  thicker than your average base cards  , with a  plastic feel to it.It's hard to describe . 

            I was surprised to see that the etopps logo wasn't embossed like they are  on other releases.

The serial number Is on an etopps sticker which Is located on the backs of the cards. Not a lot to show stat wise as Howard had yet to break Into the majors.

Did any of you guys collect etopps?If so,What's your take on them and the service In general?

Starting Lineup Figure Of The Day

Dave Parker

Collecting Cards Of Keith As A Card

Looking through my Mets binder the other day,I came to the realization that I was gonna need more Keith Hernandez In my collection.And then I came to another realization .Keith only played 7 years with the Mets ,spending the bulk of his 17 year career with the Cardinals.After scouring the net for Keith Hernandez cards ,I found myself liking his Cardinals cards more than his Mets cards.Hard to believe that he started his career way back In 1975.In his 1976 Topps  card ,you wouldn't even know It was Hernandez If It wasn't for his name tag on the bottom of the card.This has catapulted way up to my top 5 favorite cards list.

 Safe to say,I am now collecting cards of Keith as  a Card.

The Can Stash!

Ya Know What I Miss..?

1984 Topps Andy Van Slyke

Those of you who collected baseball cards post 1980's will never know about the investigatory process that took place every time a new wax pack got ripped. Take today's rookie cards for instance.You know when you pull a rookie card because of  the "rc" label ,right?Such was not the case back In our days.No siree !Most 80's Topps rookie cards looked just like the base card of a 12 year veteran.Occasionally you'd get a future stars card depicting three of the teams/leagues brightest rookies ,but that didn't stop Topps from giving first year players their own ,individual cards.And that's when the profiler In all of us kicked In. Hmmmm?Who Is this guy?I've never heard of him.He's not an established star.He looks rather young.I need answers.I'd better flip the card around.And that ,my friends,was how we would ultimately come to the realization that the card we held In our hand was ,indeed ,a rookie card.The backs of our baseball cards told the story.The list of minor league seasons followed by that solitary major league season  was all the evidence we needed.If his career numbers matched that one major league season on the card back stat roll  then BINGO,we had ourselves a rookie card!Assuming you knew the difference between minor and major league teams (you don't know how many kids got shafted that way).That ,to me,was always a fun part of the hobby.The digging.Investigating.I miss that.

Starting Lineup Figure Of The Day

Robin Yount

The Legend Of Pie