Fernandomania!

 My deepest apologies to those of you who expected  this post to be about a pudgie  pudgy, Mexican American paint-master who had the habit of looking up to the heavens before delivering pitch after filthy pitch. The  "Fernandomania" I am referring to  happened In 2006-07, when the Mets were mashing and pitching  on all cylinders. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the kings played In Queens (literally, Reyes means kings In Spanish) and not the Bronx. A young Dominican GM named Minaya was pushing all the right buttons. A combination of quality trades, timely moves and Minaya's scientist-like ability to create good chemistry  had Mets faithful thinking dynasty! Now I could sit here and tell you about that teams veteran star power until we're  orange and blue In the face. Delgado, Beltran, Reyes, Martinez,Valentin etc. Latino heavy? Yes! I remember watching a game with my dad and thinking out loud "This team needs more white guys In the lineup." Reggeaton laden walk-ups were prevalent. The culture was set  and Minaya sought to continue this trend by calling up  two highly touted Dominican  prospects, Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez. Both were great minor league players. Gomez would get his first crack at big league pitching In 2007 but Martinez was still raw, physically underdeveloped and got the kid gloves treatment, ultimately getting the call in 2009. Both were solid minor league players but It was the sweet swinging Martinez that got most of the praise. The raw lefty drew comparisons to ,wait for it, Ted Williams. (O.K. I don't have any sources but I'm pretty sure I heard or read that somewhere.) A young Manny Ramirez from the left side. The golden child! A new Fernandomania would ensue and prospect card values of the young phenom would skyrocket! Unfortunately, things never worked out for Martinez. I'm not sure what It was. Some say he was rushed into the big league spotlight. Others say he just never had It to begin with. As his numbers, playing time and overall hype declined, so too did his card prices. The image you see below Is of a personal grail card that I thought I'd never own. If anybody out there still has their 2008 Beckett price guide, I would love to know exactly how much this card was going for at the time. I'm thinking It was somewhere In the $40 to $50 range.  I picked this one up for just under $7. I probably should have just bought an 1981 Topps Valenzuela rc , It sells for about the same price.

2007 Bowman Chrome Prospects Fernando Martinez AU

Favorite Card Of The Day!

Here's one of the gems from the myriad of  Mets goodness Inside the package my cousin set me a couple of days ago. Unbeknownst to many In the world of sports,Jefferies was Ritchie Valens stunt double In La Bamba. True story!

The Influx Of Autographed Inserts And What's Next?

Correct me If I'm wrong.Is It easier  and less expensive  nowadays to pull autographed inserts then when they first became the talk of the town - i.e. 90's Upper Deck ? Let's take a trip back,way back to when being able to get your favorite players autograph meant something.You weren't going to find It In any packs of  pre - 90's baseball cards or Ebay ,so It meant having to be at the right place at the right time.Maybe your favorite star got sent down to the minors,which meant that you were going to be able to catch him live and In person at your hometown's next minor league contest.It meant standing In line at your local high class Inn to get your own ,personally signed 6 x 9 of Yount, Gwynn, Dale Murphy or whoever your MLB hero was at the time.It meant creating a memory that would last and stay with you for ever,because you knew that that would most likely be the last time you were going to experience something as sacred as being face to face with a real,live baseball player and being lucky enough to  get his autograph.Don't get me wrong,I love the idea and certainty  of  pulling an autograph insert out of  a box of  contemporary baseball cards.The feeling Is quadrupled  If your lucky enough to only  buy a couple of packs and score an autograph .Instant gratification. A lot of collectors shun the  mid 80's baseball card era,deeming them worthless because of the sheer volume and overproduction of them.Not to mention the whole steroid thing.But just imagine how an autograph  In your pack of 1989 Topps would have changed the minds of those very same collectors,today.!Autographs are popular and pretty much  drive the hobby today.It seems like there are a ton of them,though.And cheap!So much so that some collect them exclusively.Have they or will they soon become the new base card?It's pretty much standard for most card brands to sport the player's  facsimile signature . But the question Is,whats next?There are already DNA cards with encased strands of hair,so It would have to be  some kind of  3d tech or better yet,a flash drive  containing the player's credit card  info and pin  number!Now that would  be worth a lot of money,so long as you don't pull an Elijah Dukes  ;)

I was lucky enough to catch Gregg Olson in the bullpen at a Rochester Red Wings game back when he was  pretty relevant.I think I asked him a really dumb question like "Hello,Mr,Olson.Is It true that your teammates nicknamed you the otter?"He was nice enough, however, to confirm it and  sign my card right after.