Important Cards From My Childhood

It's been almost a year since I've posted anything on this poor little sports-card blog of mine. Funny how the prospect of  shoveling out of a foot of snow can be just enough of a stressor to get the creative juices flowing again.  I figured a post about an important childhood baseball card was just what I needed to get my mind off of things  and hopefully get the ball rolling again here at the pub. Plus, baseball is super heavy on the mind right now and the season can't start any faster. So here we go...

 By the time I started collecting cards as a kid McGwire was already In his third year In the bigs and making waves.  We knew how important this card was and would often use It to draw interest from possible trade partners. I distinctly remember my buddy Doug waving this card in my face hoping I'd trade away my 1990 Upper Deck Kevin Maas for It. Wasn't happening. I thought Maas would most certainly become the better player. I thought wrong. McGwire would go on to break the single season homerun record and Maas would have to watch from the sidelines as he lasted only 5 years In the majors.     

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

Starting Lineup Figure Of The Day

Barry Bonds

R.I.P. Brutha 💪 💪

The Papers,The Papers!

I don't know about you but as a kid ,the sound of  Baseball Tonight bumper music playing In the distance meant It was time for me to plant my butt in front of  our living room television set to get filled In  on whatever It was that took place In baseball that day.Of course ,without the internet and the never ending stream of instant sports news and media,there was always that void.That space between the morning edition of Sportscenter and Baseball Tonight .Both shows gave you ample  information on the goings on In baseball that day ,but none of It was tangible.One had to rely solely on memory to run back last nights episode to   anyone who may have missed It.

So what did an 80's kid living In an internet-less world  do to get the 411 on his favorite team? I present to you ....the newspaper!

Prior to this copy ,I hadn't read the sports section of a newspaper In over 20 years!I've yet to pick up another paper ,since.Which begs the question.Do kids still read the sports section?Does anybody?I highly doubt It.

When was the last time you picked up the newspaper to check out the sports section?

My Childhood Sandlot Park!

I got to reminiscing the other day about my childhood sandlot park.I got an idea to swing back by for old times sake and snap a few pics for the blog,but decided not to.The neighborhood isn't as nice as It used to be and I'm streetwise enough  NOT to  be out there, carelessly snapping pics .Fortunately Google has no qualms about It!I took to Google Maps and from the safety of my desk and PC , took screenshots of  my old stomping grounds!Is this even legal?Not sure but for nostalgia's sake, here goes nothing!I present to you...Bay St. Park!


Here's the side view along the Left Field line .

Here's the front view,behind homeplate. That makeshift garden  Is new and was non existent  back when we played there as kids.Those gates on the far right side were always locked .We'd have to squeeze In between the master-locked chains In order to gain access.Most of us lived right on this street.

 Here's an overhead view. Isn't that beautiful?!?There really weren't any foul lines or even a diamond for that matter .That fence is about 15 ft. tall surrounding the entire park.It was our version of The Green Monster.We just decided how far apart the bases would be and placed them accordingly.

I diagrammed It out so you could see how we set up the playing field.As we got a little older ,we actually started hitting balls over the 15 ft. fence If you can believe It ,lol!Damn,good times!  

Poor Royal Cleaners :(  They got the worst of It.Not only did we manage to shatter their windows but also cars driving by would get the unsuspecting drive by balling LOL!Most of the time they'd just keep driving but there were times when we'd get chased off the field by angry drivers.So much fun ,though!I still get a little choked up every time I happen to drive by It.I'll tell you this,Bay St. Park will forever be a part of me.Thank you!   

Recent Pick Ups

I still get a kick out of collecting rookie cards.But why?What's the psychology behind It?I could tell you why I did It as a kid.In price guides ,rookie cards were always worth the most.So naturally,rookie cards were what I looked forward to pulling when opening packs upon packs of 1989 Topps. I couldn't get enough of those Future Stars cards.Even though  I sometimes hoped my  more prominent rookie cards  would accrue value over time,I lived In the present ,concentrating more on what kinds of immediate returns I could get via trades with friends and other collectors.

As I got older I became more of a prospector.I'd pick up lesser valued rookies In hopes of them making an impact In the majors.That only worked once for me.I picked up a 1990 Topps Major League Debut Sammy Sosa card for  fifty cents ,years before the home-run barrages.Note to self-Find my 1990 Topps Major League Debut  Sammy Sosa card.I'm sure It's still floating around somewhere In my dilapidated collection.

Today ,the RC  Is still my favorite kind of card to collect.That's a good thing  seeing as how Topps has decided to slap the RC logo on EVERYTHING!It's whatever ,I guess. I don't prospect anymore.I'm kind of a front runner waiting to see If a player develops into something good  his first couple of MLB seasons before  snatching up their rookie cards.My most recent pick ups will attest to that.

I'm way late to the Ohtani party.That's cool,though,because showing up to the party late means smaller crowds and less raucous. Juuust how I like it ;)

What Is It with Philly and their influx of stud first baseman?I knew Hoskins would be something special  early In his career.Ironically ,I have him paired up with division rival and newly acquired Met Marcus Stroman.