The New Normal: Opening Day.

       Today is opening day!  *looks at calendar* Holy shit! It's July 24th.  Like most things these days, things are a little different.  They are going to start playing baseball today amidst this pandemic and they are going to do it with slightly different rules and a very different atmosphere.  Since we can't go out the the old ballgame today (but we can watch on TV) let's breakdown what you might see and what you definitely won't see. 

Famous people throwing out the first pitch:

Yes!  Last night during the Nationals opener, Dr. Anthony Fauci threw out the first pitch, and while it wasn't exactly a strike, I like to think he has more important things to be focusing on right now.  With any luck, the people in charge might even start listening.

Topps needs to bring these back, I always liked these cards.

 





 





 

Mascots: Nope.

The stadiums will be empty and the large costumed buffoonery will have to be on hold for a while.  If you want to dress up in the privacy of your own home, I am certainly not going to judge. UPDATE: I may have been misinformed about this one...

Cardboard cut-out fans:

Yes!  Real fans will not be in the ballpark but most teams (including my Mets) have put up cardboard cutout fans behind home plate and around the stadium.  On TV, it looks like an old computer game with the graphics turned to simple - I can only imagine what it looks like to the players.  They also pipe in crowd noise, which is strange to say the least.  Whoever has been on the button for the cheers and boos needs to be a little faster on the draw, at least from what I saw on SNY last weekend.  Maybe they'll have the bugs worked out by tonight.

Exuberant celebrations: No way.

The players are under orders to socially distance as much as possible.  This means they sit wide in the dugout and the reserves have been sitting in the stands.  Also, no spitting, no high fives, and definitely no walk-off dog pile insanity.  I went to a baseball game and a golf match broke out!

Overpriced delicious fatty foods:

Only if you make them at home.  I am ordering the old ballpark staple Chinese food this afternoon to watch the Mets.  Like I said, this is a very different world we live in.  "Buy me some peanuts and crab rangoon!"

Players going all out to win:

Absolutely.  This 60 game season is, antithetical to baseball history for 150+ years, a sprint and not a marathon.  Also, 16 teams will make the playoffs with some very short opening round series.  I like to think the players are rested and the ones who have chosen to play are coming to win.  This season is going to count, these games are for real; the world is all asunder but better late than never, it's time to Play Ball!

First Things First.

       Ah, Opening Day.  There is nothing else like it.  Except, well, it is now stretched out over a few days so I guess MLB should just trademark Opening Few Days and get it over with.  But enough with the awful march of commerce, let us embrace the wonderful march of time.  The sun is up, the sky is blue (etc.) and the Mets are out in Flushing adding to baseball's best record on Opening Day.

This year at CitiField, the ceremonial First Pitch was very emotional.

My favorite meaningless statistic is that the Mets are now 36-20 on opening day, the best percentage in baseball history.  Also quirky - and often pointed out - is that they won a World Series (1969) before they actually won on opening day (1970) which means they are 36-12 since that Miracle happened.  Fascinating and stupid.

On a more card related point, this is what the 2017 Topps page ended up looking like:

I am still not crazy about the design and it has yet to grow on me.  That along with this year's Heritage being the burlap abortion that is 1968 Topps, I am not in a collecting happy place right now (and let's not even bring up that Panini decided that the 1990 Donruss design needed to be brought back, ugh).

I did, however, follow through on my threat to tweak the Salute inserts into a better looking base design:

My photoshop skills are weak at best, but I think by making the photo a tad larger by dragging out the half-border and replacing the insert title with the position, you have at least a good starting point for a much better and cleaner design than the inception angle boxes Topps gave us this year.  With a little more skill and time, I am sure the gold stripe could match the team colors and the city name in that right border could be something else as well (though I kinda like the half-font thing going on there).  But this is what I was driving at when I critiqued the 2017 base design and in a rare instance, I don't think I am crazy or wrong here.  What do you think? Has anyone else done something similar recently?  Let me know since this is the first year I have been that turned off by the Topps design since I started the blog.

Opening Day Heritage.

        The title of this post would seem slightly contradictory since it is the name of two different Topps products.  And since it actually is opening day, it would make more sense if I was opening packs of said product, but no, seeing how my local Target seems to be restocking will all the efficiency of a dry goods store in Cheyenne, Wyoming circa 1850, my last trip (finally) brought me some value packs of 2015 Heritage three weeks after its release (no Opening Day was to be found).  So before the Mets/Nats game starts at 4pm, let's tear in and see what the pack gods wrought.

Last year saw Topps do one of my absolute favorite sets of all time, 1965.  This year finds us moving on to the next year, 1966, which is one of the more blasé designs of the 60's, second only to the absolute yawn-inducing 1961 design.

I wonder if anyone actually pays attention that Topps Heritage makes the point of making the modern packs the same style of the vintage ones.  I wonder if anyone outside of the blogosphere actually cares?

Out of my three packs, I got two all star rookie trophy cards, this is the absolute highlight of these base cards for me.  I also got one other Mets player, who is now a former Mets player.

One thing I do enjoy is some of the little things Topps does, like include manager cards.  Also making combo cards that somewhat reflect the ones in the original set.  I (and others) have screamed ad nauseum about the superfluous copyright information on the fronts, so I am just going to (try to) ignore that for now.  I also noticed that the team cards are not the normal posed team photos that have been used forever on such cards, both modern and vintage, but are field action shots, mostly of celebrations.  This switch up in Heritage mirrors the team cards in the base set.  I am not 100% sure I like this twist since they do the team cards in the base sets the same way; it would be reasonable to use the classic posed shots for Heritage.  Maybe teams don't pose for such pictures anymore?  I am torn. 

Topps did the multi-player rookie and leader cards in similar style to the 1966 set as well.  I had to look up if they all used black borders and low and behold, they do.  Good on you Topps, for getting that element correct.  One thing they did not do back in the day was put two team names on the front of the rookie star cards, they lumped them into league banners.  I am okay with this slight stylistic change.

They are doing the usual action photo variations, along with some other good (trade lines on back) and bad (color swaps on front) variations as well.  I commend their photo selection overall, it reflects the mostly posed and sideline candid style that the mid-60's cards always had.  They also did a lot of them at spring training, which is also a nice touch.  You get a lot of palm trees and minor league looking advertising backgrounds, which is fun. 

After looking over the 60 cards I got in my packs, this is the page I came up with:

Why these nine cards?  They captured the essence of the vintage set while having some nice modern touches.  Plus, there are some cool things going on in most of the pictures, like light towers, trees,, missing afros, and teams that didn't exist in 1966.  Not to mention they all have beards to tie it all together (and match my glorious facial hair).

While we are talking about the photos and their overall aesthetic, let's look deeper at a few of the quirks and minutae.  I have 20 minutes to kill here.

I like how it is pretty obvious that some teams just lined up at spring training and got their photos taken.  That's how you get the same light stanchions, chain link fences, and blue skies in the background. 

Oh, those blue skies. 

Is the White Sox spring training facility near a park?  This is the second year in a row I have noticed that pretty tree line on their cards. 

If I was a baseball player, I would be very self conscious of photographers because it seems that no other sport lends itself to more goofy candid faces than the grand old game. 

Seems that dude in the Angels dugout was working overtime.  And the Cabrera card looks like the photog snuck up on him and said "hey Miggy!" *click*

Alright, it seems I have scanned just about all the cards I pulled, a rarity, so let's pull the Gilligan's Island Theme trick and do the rest. 

I did get a couple of high number short print cards but it seems that any inserts or variations were lacking, that is until I got to the last pack, when I pulled a rare two-fer.  Seems those two Then and Now cards were stuck together, literally.  There was some kind of goo on the back of the Koufax/Price card, giving me Killebrew/Santana one as well and a grand total of 61 cards in three 20 card value packs.  Too bad this couldn't have happened with the low numbered autographs. 

Okay, they are singing the national anthem in DC, so at last it is time to Play Ball!

Too Much To Ask.

       The Mets suck.  They have sucked for five plus years.  I know they are going to suck again this year.  But it's opening day and while maybe the Mets suck the other 161 games of the year, at least we all know they own opening day.  So what do I come home early from work to find?  The Mets bullpen acting like human gas cans, walking the park, and giving up more bombs than the Manhattan Project.  I am depressed.

Scroll down and read my post from Saturday, it is much happier than this.   I will try and regroup tomorrow during the off day since the Mets have my misery in mid-season form.

It's Time.

Take me out to the ball game

Take me out with the crowd

Buy me some peanuts

and Cracker Jack

I don't care if I never get back.

Let me root, root, root for the home team

If they don't win, it's a shame.

For it's one

two

three strikes, you're out!

At the old ball game.

Today is the Day.

It's Opening Day!


Turn off the Hit Parade...
 

put on your Finest...


settle into the Gallery...


be it in the Upper Deck...


or, if you can afford it, the Stadium Club.


Make sure you have your tickets...


or you'll be stuck at home watching it in HD.


Because they put out the bunting...


and the whole World is watching...


both the Stars...


and Hometown Heroes...


hoping to see some Moments & Milestones...


and give a loud Ovation.


Today is the best day of the year...Play Ball!

Almost There.

       Tomorrow is my favorite day of the year.  Opening day.  Hope springs eternal.  Everyone starts out 0-0. Your positive affirmation here, etc. etc.

Being a Mets fan, the last few years have been an adventure.  And by adventure, I mean like being kidnapped and tortured is an adventure.  But on opening day, everyone has the right to be optimistic.  Every player will hit .300; every pitcher will win 20 games.

My favorite player on the current team is David Wright.  He replaces The Shortstop That Must Not Be Named as the apple of my eye.  Wright has always been my second favorite Met for as long as he's been on the team.  He now has earned the right to be my favorite strictly by sticking around.  For how long, though, no one knows.  I hope with the settlement of all the legal unpleasantness, we can actually try and keep the players who are, you know, good.


Starting on opening day will be Johan Santana.  I became a big time Santana collector when we traded for (stole) him from the Twins.  He is one of the few players who's very presence on the roster is important.  He is affable and a leader.  Seeing #57 back on the mound is a big reason to be positive about the upcoming season.

I have a lot of hope for Ike Davis.  In typical Mets fashion, he was injured in the most freakish of ways last year.  After getting off to a scalding start, he missed the rest of the season with what was suppose to be a little ankle tweak that would keep him off the field for a week or two.  On any other team, this would be tragic...on the Mets, it is par for the course.  I am pretty sure Dr. Mengele is our team trainer.  I have Davis as a fantasy sleeper and penciled in for .320-35-120.  Yeah, I like my rose colored glasses, why do you ask?

On opening day, we can even have hope for Jason Bay.  Going by the Einstein definition of insanity, it would be completely crazy of us to expect anything from him.  But I refuse to give up on him.  That great hitter from Pittsburgh and Boston has to be in there somewhere.

The pitching equivalent of Jason Bay is Mike Pelfrey.  We were sold a bill of goods on Big Pelf and we have never collected.  He is the sad case of the Million Dollar Arm and the $3 head (think about it).  He has all the skills, but is too emotionally unstable to put any of it into motion.  What's that great line from Bull Durham - "don't think, it can only hurt the ballclub." - someone needs to show that scene to Mike.

Replacing Pelfrey as the great future #2 starter is Jonathon Niese.  His great claim to fame is that he was born on October 27, 1986 (if you aren't a Mets fan, look it up).  It would fit into the great cosmic plan if he pitches well this season and becomes a great pitcher.  It is also a pretty nasty knock on the great cosmic plan that someone his age is part of that plan.  Dammit, being a Mets fan is difficult.

Also on that page is Daniel Murphy.  Not only does he look great in those green St. Patrick's Day uniforms, he can hit.  I mean, really hit.  Unfortunately, he can't field.  And he seems to be made of paper maché.  My biggest fear is we never find a position for him, release him, and he goes to an AL team and rakes as a DH for a decade or so.

My current Mets collection is surprisingly skint.  This is a two fold issue, the Mets turnover lately has been unbelievable and my purchase of new product has been practically nil.  Most of the cards you see from 2011 and 2012 have come from kind donations/trades with fellow bloggers.  What will become of Lucas Duda, Ruben Tejada, and Josh Thole?  Well, on opening day, they are all fresh young faces with bright futures.  Duda can mash, Tejada can field, and Thole will bring this pitching staff together.  I say the Mets win 88 games and steal a Wild Card.  Yeah, I said it.

And if everything goes horribly horribly wrong (like it no doubt will) we always have Mr. Met and a lot of great memories (good and bad) to keep us entertained.  Also lucky for Mets fans, we hold the all time best winning percentage on opening day.  Let's Go Mets!