Roosevelt.
Robinson.
April 15, 1947.
Always remember.
Nine players on the field, nine pockets to a page. Coincidence? Probably.
Showing posts with label Brooklyn Dodgers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brooklyn Dodgers. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Complete Set Sunday - 2001 UD Legends of New York
If you read yesterday's post - and if you didn't, just scroll down and do so - you know that I am spending this afternoon in Philadelphia in the sunshine of the upper deck of Citizen's Bank Park watching my Mets (hopefully) beat the Phucking Phillies. But, through the magic of scheduled posting, this write up has appeared for your reading pleasure. Seeing how it is the first full week of the season and that I am going to Jackie Robinson Day, and since it is Complete Set Sunday, I have chosen a subject near and dear to my heart, the 2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York set.
This is a very handsome set. Granted, also a bit of a niche set, but this was Upper Deck at the height of its powers. The set covers all four major league teams that have been in New York City in the 20th century. They first cover the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today's honoree, Jack Roosevelt Robinson is there in the lower left corner. I am sure if Ralph Kiner is covering today's Mets game, he will wish him a very happy birthday.
The set selects the all-time players from each team and then highlights the best seasons of both the team and the players. It is a very well researched and well thought out set. There is also something else magnificent and unique about it...
Those brightly colored bits are not just colorful...they are FUZZY! Yes, this is the first non-kiddie set I can ever recall that, instead of foil or refraction, used fuzziness as an element of design. It makes the very attractive cards very tactile as well. The only thing more irresistible in life than shiny might just be fuzzy. I dare you to pick up one of these cards and NOT touch the little felt part.
Yes, I am kind of skimming over the New York Giants, I am pretty ambivalent towards them. Let's get to the best part, that's right, my Metsies! and look, here they are!
OK, so maybe the Mets don't have the Hall of Fame superstar selection that the other three teams have, but they are probably more beloved than all the other three teams put together. Yeah yeah, the Brooklyn Dodgers were worshiped by a whole borough, but that was, like, 60 years ago. And remember, they LEFT! Sure, at one point I loved my ex-girlfriend, but she walked out on me and barely bothered to say goodbye. Face it, for all the love and myth-making, the Brooklyn Dodgers are the psycho ex-girlfriends of New York baseball (and the Giants are just the over-infatuated wannabe boyfriend who followed them). OK, I am getting all worked up here over a history that isn't even my own; this is a good opportunity to look at the backs of the cards.
Gotta love cards that include full career stats and good write ups. This is a habit that Upper Deck worked itself into and then, sadly, got itself out of. Luckily, this set lands right in the middle of their disciplined period of fabulous full stat backs. I also like the graphic that echoes the front picture and uniform number. The yearly highlight cards also have very well written info. Did I mention how well put together this set is?
It is obvious that the Mets don't have a lot of great position players, but I will put their all time starting five up against any other teams' in the last 50 years...Seaver, Gooden, Koosman, Ryan et al. Pitching is the richest part of their history, by far. It is a sad testament that Wayne Garrett was still considered an all time great Met 11 years ago.
Yup, I am showing every last Mets card in the set. Besides, they don't have a lot of pennant winning seasons, so it will go by pretty quickly. I appreciate Upper Deck's use of Mr. Met as their alternate logo. Say what you want about baseball mascots, but if you don't like Mr. Met, there is something seriously wrong with you.
Also included in this set is that other team. That collection of overrated, overpaid, overweight, overfed, overwrought overlords. The team that was born on third base and thinks it hit a triple. Damn Yankees...
Since they cover all the MVP and pennant winners of a team in the set, there is a LOT of these cards. The less said about them the better. I don't even wanna touch their fuzzy parts. Lets move on...
There is also a subset that covers all the Subway Series played by the New York teams. I guess the set was put together too late to include the 2000 World Series - which kinda works out in a Mets fan's favor. The set concludes with a newspaper inspired subset of date specific achievements. Alas, these subsets lack the fuzzy bits, but are pretty neat nonetheless.
This set is obviously not everyone's cup of tea. Having grown up in New Jersey a fanatical Mets fan surrounded by a family of Yankees and erstwhile Brooklyn Dodgers fans, this set is an extra large chai latte for me. I put this set together while living in Boston after a crescendo of New York baseball greatness. The Yankees did what they do and the Mets actually mattered at the time (and Boston's time was yet to come). I bought two boxes of this product from my local card shop (I assume at a great discount) and then bought packs until I completed the set. Well, nearly...if I recall, I was one card short for quite a while and finished it off after finding that one card on eBay. I also still have a number of the game used inserts, which were also pretty cool; they will no doubt pop up on a few "favorites" posts.
Needless to say (yet I have said it like a dozen times) I adore this set. Why this set is in my binders is pretty damn obvious and if I have to explain it to you, I will punctuate my speech with head slaps. I can even overlook the fact that it is 200 cards long and has an awful overrun of 2 cards in the whole "divisible by nine" obsession of mine. Since this set coexists with a number of other New York themed sets, that over run is matched up with another and it isn't so bad. Why yes, I do have a whole binder of New York themed sets - and this fantastic set leads it off. And I do wish the whole "fuzzy" thing had caught on, but I guess you can't have everything.
This is a very handsome set. Granted, also a bit of a niche set, but this was Upper Deck at the height of its powers. The set covers all four major league teams that have been in New York City in the 20th century. They first cover the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today's honoree, Jack Roosevelt Robinson is there in the lower left corner. I am sure if Ralph Kiner is covering today's Mets game, he will wish him a very happy birthday.
The set selects the all-time players from each team and then highlights the best seasons of both the team and the players. It is a very well researched and well thought out set. There is also something else magnificent and unique about it...
Those brightly colored bits are not just colorful...they are FUZZY! Yes, this is the first non-kiddie set I can ever recall that, instead of foil or refraction, used fuzziness as an element of design. It makes the very attractive cards very tactile as well. The only thing more irresistible in life than shiny might just be fuzzy. I dare you to pick up one of these cards and NOT touch the little felt part.
Yes, I am kind of skimming over the New York Giants, I am pretty ambivalent towards them. Let's get to the best part, that's right, my Metsies! and look, here they are!
OK, so maybe the Mets don't have the Hall of Fame superstar selection that the other three teams have, but they are probably more beloved than all the other three teams put together. Yeah yeah, the Brooklyn Dodgers were worshiped by a whole borough, but that was, like, 60 years ago. And remember, they LEFT! Sure, at one point I loved my ex-girlfriend, but she walked out on me and barely bothered to say goodbye. Face it, for all the love and myth-making, the Brooklyn Dodgers are the psycho ex-girlfriends of New York baseball (and the Giants are just the over-infatuated wannabe boyfriend who followed them). OK, I am getting all worked up here over a history that isn't even my own; this is a good opportunity to look at the backs of the cards.
Gotta love cards that include full career stats and good write ups. This is a habit that Upper Deck worked itself into and then, sadly, got itself out of. Luckily, this set lands right in the middle of their disciplined period of fabulous full stat backs. I also like the graphic that echoes the front picture and uniform number. The yearly highlight cards also have very well written info. Did I mention how well put together this set is?
It is obvious that the Mets don't have a lot of great position players, but I will put their all time starting five up against any other teams' in the last 50 years...Seaver, Gooden, Koosman, Ryan et al. Pitching is the richest part of their history, by far. It is a sad testament that Wayne Garrett was still considered an all time great Met 11 years ago.
Yup, I am showing every last Mets card in the set. Besides, they don't have a lot of pennant winning seasons, so it will go by pretty quickly. I appreciate Upper Deck's use of Mr. Met as their alternate logo. Say what you want about baseball mascots, but if you don't like Mr. Met, there is something seriously wrong with you.
Also included in this set is that other team. That collection of overrated, overpaid, overweight, overfed, overwrought overlords. The team that was born on third base and thinks it hit a triple. Damn Yankees...
Since they cover all the MVP and pennant winners of a team in the set, there is a LOT of these cards. The less said about them the better. I don't even wanna touch their fuzzy parts. Lets move on...
There is also a subset that covers all the Subway Series played by the New York teams. I guess the set was put together too late to include the 2000 World Series - which kinda works out in a Mets fan's favor. The set concludes with a newspaper inspired subset of date specific achievements. Alas, these subsets lack the fuzzy bits, but are pretty neat nonetheless.
This set is obviously not everyone's cup of tea. Having grown up in New Jersey a fanatical Mets fan surrounded by a family of Yankees and erstwhile Brooklyn Dodgers fans, this set is an extra large chai latte for me. I put this set together while living in Boston after a crescendo of New York baseball greatness. The Yankees did what they do and the Mets actually mattered at the time (and Boston's time was yet to come). I bought two boxes of this product from my local card shop (I assume at a great discount) and then bought packs until I completed the set. Well, nearly...if I recall, I was one card short for quite a while and finished it off after finding that one card on eBay. I also still have a number of the game used inserts, which were also pretty cool; they will no doubt pop up on a few "favorites" posts.
Needless to say (yet I have said it like a dozen times) I adore this set. Why this set is in my binders is pretty damn obvious and if I have to explain it to you, I will punctuate my speech with head slaps. I can even overlook the fact that it is 200 cards long and has an awful overrun of 2 cards in the whole "divisible by nine" obsession of mine. Since this set coexists with a number of other New York themed sets, that over run is matched up with another and it isn't so bad. Why yes, I do have a whole binder of New York themed sets - and this fantastic set leads it off. And I do wish the whole "fuzzy" thing had caught on, but I guess you can't have everything.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Life, The Universe, and Everything.
I was going to call this post "The Answer" but I didn't want you to think it was about Allen Iverson (an athlete I have a lot of opinions about, but that will be a whole different post). If you are the nerd that I am, you already know the answer to life, the universe, and everything: 42. I will let google field the queries for the uninformed on that one, but beyond its literary connotations, the number 42 has a very important meaning in baseball.
In 1997, baseball took the unprecedented step of retiring the #42 throughout Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson (something that subsequently hockey did to the #99 for Wayne Gretzky and football did for the #32 for OJ Simpson - wait, I might be wrong on that second one). Now, I am all for the love and adoration that Jackie Robinson gets as a man. If I have to tell you what he did and what he went through, I have to question your reading of a baseball blog. What gets lost in all of his humanitarian accolades is the fact that he was one hell of a ball player. In a beautiful imaginary world where Cap Anson didn't conspire to ban Fleetwood Walker and blacks always played in MLB, Jackie Robinson would be remembered as one of the great smooth roughhouse ballplayers of all time. From everything I have read and seen, he was a thing to behold. He ran without fear, hit the ball hard to all fields, and fielded his position like a dancer. Just remember during all the hullabaloo this weekend that Jackie Robinson was not only a great human being, he was one of the all time greats between the lines.
After baseball retired the #42, any player wearing it was "grandfathered" in and allowed to wear it until they retired. As players wearing it slowly disappeared, only Mariano Rivera was left. Then a few years ago, some players started wearing it on Jackie Robinson Day as a tribute. Then, baseball let all of the players wear it. While some have bemoaned the recent fetishism of all the players wearing #42 on Jackie Robinson Day, this year, it has personally worked to my advantage. My brother's birthday is at the end of March and my usual birthday present to him is to get him tickets to a baseball game. These tickets almost always involve our team, the Mets...and we don't only go to Mets games in Queens, we have been up and down the eastern seaboard. When I lived in Boston, we went to Fenway. We went to the Bronx and saw the second Mets/Yanks game ever. We went to Baltimore and Camden Yards - twice! - and last year we went to Washington. This year, we will go to Philly and see their ballpark and those (now very hated) Phillies. Also this year, I specifically chose Jackie Robinson Day. First off, because I have never been to Jackie Robinson Day. But secondly and far more importantly, this year my brother turned 42. That's right, this year, my gift to my brother is not only seats to a Major League Baseball game, but I "arranged" it so all the players would wear his age on his back. Happy Birthday Bro!
In 1997, baseball took the unprecedented step of retiring the #42 throughout Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson (something that subsequently hockey did to the #99 for Wayne Gretzky and football did for the #32 for OJ Simpson - wait, I might be wrong on that second one). Now, I am all for the love and adoration that Jackie Robinson gets as a man. If I have to tell you what he did and what he went through, I have to question your reading of a baseball blog. What gets lost in all of his humanitarian accolades is the fact that he was one hell of a ball player. In a beautiful imaginary world where Cap Anson didn't conspire to ban Fleetwood Walker and blacks always played in MLB, Jackie Robinson would be remembered as one of the great smooth roughhouse ballplayers of all time. From everything I have read and seen, he was a thing to behold. He ran without fear, hit the ball hard to all fields, and fielded his position like a dancer. Just remember during all the hullabaloo this weekend that Jackie Robinson was not only a great human being, he was one of the all time greats between the lines.
After baseball retired the #42, any player wearing it was "grandfathered" in and allowed to wear it until they retired. As players wearing it slowly disappeared, only Mariano Rivera was left. Then a few years ago, some players started wearing it on Jackie Robinson Day as a tribute. Then, baseball let all of the players wear it. While some have bemoaned the recent fetishism of all the players wearing #42 on Jackie Robinson Day, this year, it has personally worked to my advantage. My brother's birthday is at the end of March and my usual birthday present to him is to get him tickets to a baseball game. These tickets almost always involve our team, the Mets...and we don't only go to Mets games in Queens, we have been up and down the eastern seaboard. When I lived in Boston, we went to Fenway. We went to the Bronx and saw the second Mets/Yanks game ever. We went to Baltimore and Camden Yards - twice! - and last year we went to Washington. This year, we will go to Philly and see their ballpark and those (now very hated) Phillies. Also this year, I specifically chose Jackie Robinson Day. First off, because I have never been to Jackie Robinson Day. But secondly and far more importantly, this year my brother turned 42. That's right, this year, my gift to my brother is not only seats to a Major League Baseball game, but I "arranged" it so all the players would wear his age on his back. Happy Birthday Bro!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)