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

Singles Only

Forgive my lack of posts as of late.Running two blogs Isn't hard to do ,but when you love both of them equally, It's hard to prioritize between the two.Also,I've got some catching up to do as far baseball cards go.2015 Topps has been getting all of my attention lately as It Is the easiest product to get my hands on at the moment and the new Heritage just doesn't tickle my fancy.I'm not sure If I want to delve into the bottomless pit that Is Bowman with the endless amount of Prospects and Draft Picks,but the cards look damn good.Anyways,I gotta thank Drew over at  http://drewsbbcards.blogspot.com/ for the kind stack of  Tampa Bay Rays cards he so willingly passed on to me after I contacted him about my interest In them.I haven't been able to post about It but trust they are much appreciated!That was an extremely kind act and at some point I will have to pay It back.I forgot to jot down the return address,so Drew If you're  reading this,drop me an E-Mail with that ;) Below are recent singles that I've picked up via online card shops/Ebay In an attempt to add some contemporary flavor to my collection of rookies and prospects. 

Trade With Baseball Card Breakdown

Shout out to Gavin from Baseball Card Breakdown for sending some Met awesomeness my way. The fact that I received It on Valentines day shows that you really care.Seriously,though,great stuff here and I'll start things off with a little J Rey.I loved Jose Reyes as a Met and when we failed to re-sign him ,It was kind of a bummer.Up until that point I had amassed a nice little collection of Reyes cards but stopped collecting his stuff  when he became a Marlin.I've made It a collecting goal of sorts to pick up his Marlins and Jays cards now, and Gavin has helped me get that ball rolling with these beauties.The Upper Deck Ovation (always liked this design) and X-ponential cards I hadn't picked up yet.I'm loving the '14 Topps card as a Marlin  and  the Triple Play  sticker as well.

Todd Hundley. Switch hitting catcher who rakes In all of my  late 90's PS1 Baseball video games,Is a welcomed addition to my Met collection.Check out the interesting factoid on the back of the card,underneath his stat lines.Piazza made that a moot point In 1998.

I loved Darren Oliver In '06 coming out of the bullpen.He was a crafty lefty and I wish we would have given him one more season.Just a solid pitcher.

Elvis wasn't the only Presley to leave the building.Poor Kirk never did get beamed up.Where's Scotty when ya need em'!

Next we have a couple of Met oldies but goodies. Gooden,Hernandez and Koosman.The Hernandez card looks like he's lighting a dynamite fuse.The Koosman card will go to my dad.He's always clamoring on about the 69 Mets and how good they were,so I'll be placing this baby on his dresser so he can see It everyday when he wakes and before he goes to sleep.You wanted '69 Mets you got em.

I'm super excited about these Flores cards as I have a few of his early, prospect cards,but not many of his ,more recent ,Mets stuff.

I'm actively collecting d'Arnaud  so Gavin hooked It up with a Gypsy Queen RC that I'm really diggin'!He also threw In a base 2014 Donruss RC which I have already,so If anybody Is interested ,drop me an e-mail. 

Any Mets prospects after 2008 are non existent In my collection so being able to add a Plaweckie  (currently rated number 2  Met prospect),Puello,Vaughn and Ramos to the collection Is an enormous plus.

This was a much needed Canseco as most of the cards I have of Jose are of the  Oakland Athletics variety.Yes,I collect Canseco.I hope you guys can find It In your heart to forgive me,lol. 

Finally,I've saved the best for last!Gavin must have read my mind because I never told him that I've been tirelessly hunting down a 1989 Topps slightly green parallel 1/1 Mookie Wilson for the better part of my adult life now.I must admit to clenching my chest and my left arm numbing a little upon finding this gem of a Mookie card nestled in between  '97 Bowman cards of Corey Erickson and Brett Herbison.I'm speechless,literally because i'm typing and not talking. Gavin,I loved everything buddy and hope that what I've sent you will  also be well received.Thank you :)   

Mets Prospects

Around the time NY became relevant In the N.L. East ,there was lots of buzz surrounding the farm system Minaya , then G.M. , had put together.Hopes were high for Omar's "golden child" ,Fernando Martinez.Slated to be the next Manny Ramirez ,from the left side,Martinez was thrust into the spotlight prematurely and  never really adapted to major league pitching. I think they even mentioned Ted Williams once In the same breath when analyzing Fernando's swing, lol!It's a shame because I'm pretty sure I overpaid for most of his cards,back before the minor league legend became a major league myth.

The Golden Child

Apparently,Minaya got It right with Carlos "GO-GO" Gomez,another highly touted prospect who was slightly overshadowed by  Fernando Martinez,but still held In high regard.I almost overpaid for this card on  Beckett's  marketplace from a card shop In Yonkers ,NY.I should have known that prices triple when the card shop Is In the same state as the parent club of the prospect's card your  looking for.I gave the card shop a call and the owner wanted me to pay 20 bucks for a 2006 Bowman Chrome Carlos Gomez because of  how  "popular" the card was In N.Y.I paid $6 for It from a local card shop which consequently Is also In N.Y.Go figure.

20 bucks!?!Nah,just 6

Notice the exaggerated overuse of the "Rookie Card" slab

Flores makes up the third of the trio,and was supposed to make an impact with the Mets shortly after Gomez and Martinez made theirs.With a change of G.M. and a little more F.O. stability ,Wilmer has been given stability and more time at the lower levels and has hit In every one of them.I can't wait to see what he'll do with a full season at short under his belt.

Flores Is Spanish for "flowers"Let's hope he smells like one come 2015

Daniel Murphy sneaked his way onto the  Mets In a time of  F.O. turmoil and question marks.My dad and I watched in horror as poor Murph got moved around more than a chess piece during an earthquake.We loved Murphy as a hitter and wished that management would just leave him at second where he belonged.Hindsight Is twenty-twenty ,I guess.I picked up his Bowman Chrome cards for about 60 cents apiece.

What  does that say on the lower left hand corner?Oh It says 2B!

Outfield? Awe crap :(

I don't consider d'Arnaud  a Met prospect as he was a product of the Phillies farm system.I'll include him In this post,though because he's really grown on me.Travis Is showing signs of greatness and could really be a mainstay behind the plate when all Is said and done.I didn't actively search this card out online or anything,instead It just so happened to be In my stash of Bowman prospects that I had acquired In packs.Needless to say I was pretty psyched when I spotted It in my binder while looking through It one lazy afternoon.

The first official card In my Travis d'Arnaud PC!