A Day Nine Years In The Making.

       Well, 8 years, 11 months, 21 days to be exact, but who's counting, right?  After 3278 days in the desert, the Mets get to play in a playoff game tonight.  Your starters are Jacob deGrom...

...who I had never even heard of two years ago.  Now he is slated to start the first and fifth game of the Division series.  Since this is his first postseason start, I will cherry pick the smallest of samples from the All Star game this year and guess he is going to throw a 90 pitch 27 strikeout perfect game. Yeah, that's the ticket.

The opposing side is putting three time Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw on the bump.

Kershaw started the season 1-5 but finished up 15-2 to end up 16-7 with 301 strikeouts and a 2.13 ERA, which wasn't even the best ERA on his team.  I kinda like that first stat, though; his record in 11 postseason games?  1-5 with a 5.12 ERA.  I hope this trend continues. 

It's nice to have the Mets back in the playoffs but I don't want this team to be satisfied with just making the postseason, I want them to use all this great young pitching they have and make some noise and shock the world.   My prediction for the series?  Mets win 3-1.

Nacho Break.

       I did something last month I hadn't done in a long while, I took part in a group break.  The recent maestro of such activities, Nachos Grande, had one that was all product I didn't plan to buy by the box, so I saw a good opportunity to score some Mets cards and maybe luck out and nab an Amazin' hit.  $35 was my entry fee into this little lottery, so let's see how I made out. 

The first thing busted open was Opening Day. 

There seemed to be a copious amount of Mets because if I didn't get the whole team, I came damn close.  So far so good. I also scored a couple of the shiny blue parallels. 

The next box was Gypsy Queen.  I have never enjoyed busting packs of this stuff, but I kind of liked this years dark borders and not-so-overfancy design, so having the Mets cards was optimal.  Once again, the card gods shined a little light on me, and while they didn't see fit to grant me any of the major hits, I did get most of the team set and a couple inserts, including a mini Tom Seaver.

Okay guys, gimme the leg-up pitcher pose!

After years of pedantic sameness, Bowman has an eye catching design this year, with half bleed pictures and a nifty way to tell prospect cards from regular cards (simply reverse the design).  I didn't get much in the way of unknown rookie players (I got the same guy twice) but at least I got my first Steven Matz and Kevin Plawecki cards. 

Alas at this point, the card gods stopped smiling on me and scowled tremendously for the last three components of the break.  I got one card only from Topps Museum Collection, though it was Jacob deGrom, and just a single base card from the Diamond King box, but at least it was the right player - Gary Carter.  There was a bonus blaster involved as well and I did score a single Tom Seaver card from it.  Something is better than nothing, I suppose, but my dreams of a low number white whale hit were dashed with extreme prejudice.  Oh well, such is the nature of the beast. 

Nacho took a little pity on me and was nice enough to include some bonus Mets cards. 

I didn't have one of those Dwight Gooden rookie all star cards for his player collection, so that was a very nice bonus indeed.

And while I am sure I have multiple copies of all these cards, I never get tired of 1987 Topps cards.  I am in a very small minority in that feeling, I know. 

Nacho also packaged this cards impeccably and included a nice note.  I always appreciate such courtesies.

Oh, and there was one last little surprise, a pack of 2012 Triple Play.  I really enjoyed that initial Triple Play offering from Panini, so I tore into that pack with gusto.

Those cartoon caricatures are great and I scored a David Wright sticker.  Sweet.

I'd like to thank Nacho for doing this break and since you do so many, I am sure it won't be my last.  You should go check out his page and keep an eye out for one you'll like.  He obviously likes to make sure everyone gets an autographed card, so he included his own:

"This is not a Topps product" the back gloriously trumpets and you're right, it's a whole lot better.  I now own four or five personalized cards of bloggers as well as a few custom cards.  These never cease to tickle me, hell, I should make a page of them.

Break It Down For Me, Fellas.

Due to the copious amount of half-writtten posts therein, I have declared March to be the month where I settle all unfinished draft folder business.  This next week, I am bound and determined to get up and thank all of the kind souls who have traded with me and sent me cards. 

      Yesterday, I posted a contest winner and low and behold today I discovered another pile of booty I won from a generous blogger that had not been given proper showcase.  This batch comes from Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown, a fine blog I suggest highly (mostly because of stuff like this).  Last June, defgav held a One Year Anniversary contest where the prizes were lots and lots of lots of autographs.  And when he announced the winner in early July, the randomizer had given me the magic number of 21 which came up, so thank you random chance and Marquis Grissom for the following lot:

I chose the lot with the nicest Mets autograph - shocker, I know.  The Ron Swoboda has found a happy place in my Amazin' auto collection; odd coincidence that this is the second mention of good ol' Ron this week.  The George Foster auto is also pretty cool, and as for Toby Harrah and Daryl Boston, well, they aren't bad guys, are they.  Heck, those Topps Retired autos are cool no matter what.  The other 5 cards here I think are in return for the aforementioned Marquis Grissom rookies I sent Gavin.  Or maybe he just threw them in because he's a nice guy.  I honestly can't recall.  Who knew that Jacob DeGrom would pitch so well and win Rookie of the Year?

Oh, but that's not all for this little post, look at this:

You gotta love the use of old school stamps for the job they were intended.  When I worked at the baseball card store back in the day, we used to buy stamp collections for pennies on the dollar (since most stamps aren't worth more than what they are issued for, after all) and then used most of the stamps to just mail stuff.  It was a slightly ingenious/diabolical way to keep shipping costs down.  Lastly, take a good look at the note Gavin included...

He drew me a David Wright sketch card!

As you can see, I cut that beauty out right away and believe me, it has since found a place of honor in my Wright collection as (technically) my first 1 of 1 of him.  Thanks Gavin!

Trending Upward.

     When I logged into Facebook this morning I saw this.  It is rare and refreshing to see any positive story about the Mets trending, much less two of them.  First, the really good news, yesterday Jacob deGrom was named National League Rookie of the Year, the first Mets player to win the award since 1984 when some pitcher named Dwight Gooden won it. 

I only have these three deGrom cards right now, but I am sure that will be remedied soon.

I am gonna be 100% honest here, before he was called up, I wasn't even sure if Jacob deGrom was a lefty or a righty, he was that far off my radar.  But after his first 4 starts, when he was 0-2 with a minuscule 2.42 ERA, I was intrigued - never mind that the Mets anemic offense was doing him no favors; he easily could have been 4-0.  Though, after his first 8 starts, he was 0-4 and the ERA doubled and I was worried the league had already caught up to him.  Then starting when the calendar turned to July, in his last 14 starts, he was 9-2 with a 2.16 ERA and he just kept looking stronger and more confident with every start and deGrom became yet another great young pitching stud on a team that is just dripping with them. Having too much starting pitching is never ever a problem.  No offense to Kolten Wong or Billy Hamilton, but the writers picked the right player to be ROY, deGrom has a chance to be a good pitcher for a long time. 

Ah, but what of that anemic Mets offense?  Well, secondly, yesterday the Mets were the first team to dip into the free agent waters this year, pulling Michael Cuddyer out of the pond with a 2-year contract. 

This signing makes a ton of sense.  Cuddyer is a professional hitter who plugs nicely into right field, moving Curtis Granderson to a more sensible left.  In fact, it parallels the Bartolo Colon signing from last year in that two of the Mets best prospects are outfielders (Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto) who aren't quite ready for prime time and Cuddyer is a safe bet to do a good job filling in until they are ready.  Plus, Cuddyer is old buddies with David Wright, so that should go to improve an already tight clubhouse.  And of course, if Cuddyer does end up breaking down, it is only a two year deal (unlike the horrific 4-year deals of Oliver Perez and Jason Bay) so if it all goes wrong, I won't be screaming about him in 2018.  Since very few players ever get to free agency in their prime anymore, this is the kind of player that gets out on the market that can make a difference (and it beats the pathetic Chris Young experiment).  While I sure as hell hope it isn't the only move the Mets make this off season, it is a very nice beginning and a decent sign that they are actually going to make serious moves to add real players and improve the offense so we don't lose every damn game 2-1.

And amongst all this positivity, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Juan Lagares won the Gold Glove last week becoming just the third outfielder ever to win one for the Mets (Tommy Agee and Carlos Beltran being the others).  No team ever won because of what happened in mid-November, but it's nice to see things might be looking up.

Habits and Views.

       While I have been on my vacation dog sitting for my brother, I thought maybe a change of scenery would recharge my interest in blogging a little.  Instead I have been kind of unplugged from the world and just mostly chilling out with the dog.  If anything, it has recharged my love of cooking as they have an amazing kitchen that I have taken full advantage of.  But this is a baseball card blog, not a foodie blog, so let's see if there is some unfinished drafts I can share with you.  Before I left last week I received in the mail two packages from fellow bloggers and I scanned their contents, so we'll take a look at those. 

One is a most venerable partner, Robert from $30 a Week Habit.  I had sent him two small piles in the last month or so and to reciprocate, he actually emailed me on his way to a show saying he was going to pick some stuff up for me from my want lists.  As I have pointed out before, he is an amazingly polite individual.

The two cards that are most appreciated, as they are from that aforementioned want list, are the Bautista and the Posey as they finish off player pages that had been sitting at eight for a while.  That Posey is just the regular Walmart blue card but it looks so vibrant in the scan, it almost looks like a refractor, especially when compared to the D'Arnaud, which is also Walmart Blue.  Also here are some recent inserts with Wright and Harvey that I didn't have, plus a couple of prospects from this year's Bowman - which is wonderful since I have purchased exactly zero Bowman this year.  Saving the best for last is the Tom Seaver UD Masterpiece red frame parallel, which is just a glorious looking card.  Upper Deck did a lot wrong at the end, those sets were not one of them.

He also included some miscut 1971 Topps cards I had asked him to set aside for me. 

I asked for two of them, he included six.  That definitely meets my approval. These will find their way to a spot of honor amongst my miscut collection.  Thanks Robert!

On the other end of the trade spectrum was a first time trade with Chris from View From the Skybox.  From a quick little post I did a little while ago, Chris commented and emailed me that he loves blue parallel cards and would love to trade if I had any extras.  I found some blue Walmart cards from the last few years and a couple of the shiny blue Opening Day parallels and sent them to him.  Chris got me back with a nice bunch of Mets:

I didn't have the shiny version of the Seaver or Wright Chasing History nor did I have the WBC Wright card, which seems unthinkable.  He also included a nifty liquorfractor I didn't have, I almost have a page of these for the Mets, I will have to update my want lists to finish this off.  Then he finished me off with some blue parallels.  This seems a little counter-intuitive, but hey, I'll take it, especially that Murphy from this year.  What a stupendous photo that is.

Chris included a nice little note with his stuff...and believe me, I know from how shipping costs have gotten out of hand.  As you can see, they arrived safely.

Chris collects a wide variety of things and has a great Ginter Relic Exchange program on his blog, so this may be the first trade we've done but it definitely won't be the last.  Thanks Chris!

As for the rest of my weekend?  Why, I am gonna watch soccer of course, but probably not the kind you are thinking of...

Look at how happy she is with that thing?  We should all be that happy.  Woof!