Topps Mets Want Lists

(Updated June 3, 2011)

1962
#7 Frank Tanana
#213 Richie Ashburn
#421 Ken MacKenzie
#572 Bob Miller
#593 Anderson/Moorhead
#597 Rod Kanehl
#598 Jim Hickman

1963
#68 Hodges/Snider
#197 Roger Craig
#228 Ed Kranepool
#233 Casey Stengel
#245 Gil Hodges
#334 Wynn Hawkins
#371 Rod Kanehl
#386 Larry Bearnarth
#419 Tracy Stallard
#469 Jay Hook
#473 Mets Team
#495 Frank Thomas
#511 Charlie Neal
#528 Carl Willey
#550 Duke Snider
#562 Don Rowe
#566 Cliff Cook

1964
#422 Jack Fisher
#442 Pumpsie Green
#527 Larry Bearnarth
#536 Elliot/Stephenson
#546 Joe Christopher
#556 Dillon/Locke
#566 Ed Kranepool
#576 Hinsley/Wakefield
#582 Rod Kanehl

1965
#205 Warren Spahn
#470 Yogi Berra
#533 Tug McGraw
#581 Collins/Perez/Rickets

1966
#561 Choo Choo Coleman
#574 Hepler/Murphy
#589 Lou Klimchock

1967
#533 Jack Fisher
#537 Chuck Estrada
#555 Don Cardwell
#561 Sandy Alomar
#568 John Sullivan
#574 Jerry Buchek
#581 Seaver/Denehy
#587 Shaw/Sutherland
#593 Wes Westrum
#606 Ron Taylor

1968
#177 Ryan/Koosman

1971
#513 Nolan Ryan
#651 Jerry Robertson

Topps Million Card Giveaway

Topps' Willy Wonka-esque Million Card Giveaway finally went live today. Over the past few weeks, I had amassed 23 redemption codes & tonight was the night to cash them in. Here's the haul, in order of redemption:






















(Yup, doubles)























BONUS!


I had 23 redemption cards, but ended up with 24 cards total. My only guess is that since I drew DOUBLES! of the '87 Tony Gwynn, I was awarded with Cleon Jones.

Overall, not too bad. Sure, the eight '87 Topps cards seems out of whack (especially considering I have about 5,000 of them in the basement), but the older cards & the high number of Mets cards makes up for it. (Plus, I needed that Eilers/Gardner card for my ultimate Topps Mets collection.) Not to mention the Shea Stadium bonus on the Russell card.

I will definitely be looking for more of these cards, so if you want to pick me up some packs of 2010 Topps, I would be grateful!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

On a night when the Mets lost another one and their NL East lead shrunk again, I'm here to share the stories of all the Mets games I've seen in person.

Unfortunately, my record while attending Mets games in person is not pretty. This has me feeling a little queasy holding tickets for the final game at Shea Stadium. That could be a pretty important game.

Anywho, on to the games...

Game #1
Sunday, August 4, 1991
Chicago Cubs
Shea Stadium
Cubs 8, Mets 3

My first look at Shea in person. I was thrilled to be there, but not too happy about the outcome.

Here's a shot of Greg Jefferies hitting a home run off of Greg Maddux.



Pretty good pitching matchup of David Cone against Maddux. Too bad Coney got lit up for 6 ERs in 2 IP.

Game #2
Wednesday, June 18, 1997
New York Yankees
Yankee Stadium
Yankees 3, Mets 2 (10)



My first of two trips to Yankee Stadium saw a pretty good game, even though it was another loss.

This was the final game of the first regular season Subway Series. David Cone started this game too, except he was a Yankee by now. He actually flirted with a no-hitter, not giving up his first hit until the 7th inning.

Game #3
Tuesday, August 26, 1997
San Francisco Giants
Shea Stadium
Giants 6, Mets 2


Wow, look at all those people!

Pretty good seats for this game too. I've had some nice seats at Shea in my few visits there.

Pretty uneventful game. One home run (JT Snow) & Rick Reed started this game as well for the Mets. (He also started the game against the Yankees.) At least I saw Barry Bonds play once.

Game #4
Wednesday, May 20, 1998
Cincinnati Reds
Shea Stadium
Reds 8, Mets 6

Another uneventful game, another Mets loss.

Pete Harnisch started for the Reds & Dave Mlicki for the Mets. Home runs from Brian McRae & Carlos Baerga and an appearance from the immortal Mel Rojas. Rick Wilkins was behind the plate for the Mets. Three nights later, that position would be occupied by Mike Piazza.

Game #5
Saturday, June 27, 1998
New York Yankees
Shea Stadium
Yankees 7, Mets 2


I'm not sure who those random people are, but I love the shot of the skyline above the scoreboard. Since that seems to be the one thing the Mets AREN'T selling, here's hoping it will find its way over to Citi Field.

Andy Pettite vs. Bobby L. Jones. A home run by Tino Martinez & my first time seeing Mike Piazza. Oh yeah. Jerry Seinfeld threw out the first pitch. Another loss.

Game #6
Saturday, July 15, 2000
Boston Red Sox
Fenway Park
Red Sox 6, Mets 4

Mike Hampton vs. Ramon Martinez (of course). The Mets rallied for two in the ninth off of El Guapo (a Piazza homer being the highlight), but Derek Lowe (arrrgh) shut the door on the comeback.

The highlight of this game was ex-Met Carl Everett freaking out on umpire Ron Kulpa.

Game #7
Monday, March 31, 2003
Chicago Cubs
Shea Stadium
Cubs 15, Mets 2

Ugh. Very cool to be in Shea for Opening Day. Not cool to be sitting near Tommie Agee's home run landing & freezing. Not cool to see Tom Glavine's auspicious Mets debut. (Not quite as bad as his Mets finale, but pretty close.)

Corey Patterson hit two home runs, the Mets managed 4 hits & the Mets were on their way to a 66 win season.

Game #8
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Colorado Rockies
Shea Stadium
Mets 7, Rockies4

Finally!! A victory!

This was the night the Mets honored the 1986 World Champions. Of course it rained, but at least they won!!

Unfortunately, my camera broke that night. I have the memory card with the pictures on it somewhere, but it's currently missing. Oddly enough, my next camera would break upon my next visit to Shea, a rainout in June of 2008.

David Williams (??) started for the Mets & aside from the '86 throwback jerseys, it was a pretty uneventful game. Oh yeah. THEY WON!!

Game #9
Saturday, July 26, 2008
St. Louis Cardinals
Shea Stadium
Cardinals 10, Mets 8 (14)


This was a wild one. Albert Pujols won it in the 14th, but by this time, I was on the 7 train, hoping to catch the last Metro North train out of Grand Central (we made it).

Game #10
Sunday, July 27, 2008
St. Louis Cardinals
Shea Stadium
Mets 9, Cardinals 1


As you can see, we had much better seats for this game.

Johan Santana started & pitched great. However, the highlight of the game was an amazin' catch by Carlos Beltran.

Video here:
Beltran's Catch

I could watch that over & over.

So, for the record, the Mets are 2-8 when I'm in attendance. However, they've won two of their last three in which I've been there. Lets hope they make it three out of four on September 28.

What Year Is It Again?

What an auspicious debut for the Mets. They show little heart in falling to the Phillies (AGAIN), ruining the final opening day at Shea Stadium.

Even though they were 2-3 after the debacle in Atlanta over the weekend, I still had no worries. The Mets started 2-3 in 1969, 1986 & 2000, all pretty good years. In '86, they even beat the same Phillies to improve to 3-3. Well, that obviously didn't happen.

I understand it's a tad too early to be jumping off the bridge. However, the signs aren't too promising. This team (& more specifically, the bullpen) look too much like last year's house of cards team. Yikes.

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In other news, it was great to see Red Sox fans give Bill Buckner a fantastic ovation today, as he threw out the first pitch at Fenway.

It's A Miracle

38 years ago today, Jerry Koosman got future Mets manager Davey Johnson to fly out to Ron Swoboda, completing the storybook year of the Miracle Mets.

I was still four years away from being born, but I love reading about that team & all the early Mets teams. Hopefully there's some interesting items in the Hall of Fame I'll be able to check out when I get up there in December.

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In other news, here is a shot of Payton, her soccer team & handsome coach.

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The "renovations" on the house are continuing. I still feel like we're camping. The first project we're doing is redoing my computer/TV room. We ripped out the carpet & Mary has painted the ceilings. Once the primer & paint is up and I scrub off the old paint off of the hardwoods, I'll be able to set everything up in there, including this computer. I haven't touched my 360 in almost two weeks!

I do have lots of pictures to share, but first I'll need to locate my memory card reader so I can take them off of the camera. The real interesting shots will be of the driveway/patio project, which started yesterday and is progressing nicely.

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I should have plenty of time to enjoy my new setup during the first week of November. I will be having my wisdom teeth ripped from my mouth. I am not looking forward to this procedure as I have been hearing horror stories about this my entire life. Ugh. Hopefully I'll get to enjoy lots of ice cream.

The Choke's On Us

Ugh.

I don't know what to say or where to begin. The Mets collapse is finally complete. It was a long, drawn out process these past two/three weeks. It wasn't a quick death. It was long & painful. And the Phillies benefit. I think that makes it even worse. While I'm happy for P.J. and Brian, that list ends there. I'll be happy for them if they have success in the post-season, but I will be rooting for the Cubs.

At least I have the Dolphins, right?

20 Years Ago Today

Wow, am I getting old. On this night 20 years ago, the seed would be planted that would eventually sprout into this blog.

I won't describe the game, my thoughts on it, where I was, what I was doing, etc. That will come soon enough on a page dedicated to the event. I will however link to some interesting articles & videos. Enjoy.

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From Ken Burns' "Baseball" documentary:



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The entire 10th inning, recreated on RBI Baseball:



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Coverage from the Boston Globe:

An Error Turns 20

Shaughnessy: One Strike Away

The Gamer

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Here's the ball & the story behind it.

Ouch

Wow, that was tough to watch.

Obviously, posting the same exact post I posted before Game 6 didn't work. A disappointing end to a great season. The bats failed at the wrong time. They had plenty of chances to win this game.

The worst part? This AMAZING catch by Endy Chavez is now wasted.



At least I won't have to watch baseball until next spring, even if Tommy Lasorda tries to talk me into it. I now feel hatred for the Cardinals like I haven't felt since the mid-80's. Even though I won't be watching, I'll be rooting for the Tigers.

Trying Again...

I'm very much aware that the magic of Game Six was much more than this one play, but this will do in a pinch.

Some magic is needed tonight at Shea & what better than this to help stir up the ghosts.

Looking for Some Magic

I'm very much aware that the magic of Game Six was much more than this one play, but this will do in a pinch.

Some magic is needed tonight at Shea & what better than this to help stir up the ghosts.