Birthday Wrap Up. Starring Doc Gooden and Jonathon Niese

Well, I can't say I've had too many better birthdays than this.  Enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Mrs. K earlier this evening and then it was time for presents!  And boy was I spoiled!  Got a CD off my Amazon list, the Essential Games of Shea Stadium DVD set, a blaster of 2012 Heritage (more on this in a sec), and then the piece de resistance which you can see below.

The Doctor is In!

Unfortunately, I was too young when Dwight Gooden was at his true peak.  By the time I knew what was what in the baseball universe, Doc's most dominant days were basically past him.  Nonetheless, the awe and mystique of Gooden during the mid-to-late '80s survives to this day.  The guy was basically untouchable for a four year stretch and could have (should have) been remembered as a baseball immortal if not for poor decisions in his personal life (drugs, domestic abuse) and injuries.  Regardless, Doc Gooden is still a Mets all-time great and, naturally, I'm stoked to have this amazing jersey in my collection.

Speaking of the Mets, I feel obligated to mention tonight's 11-1 thumping of the Phillies.  A 10-run win over the hated Phils is sweet enough, but when it occurs on your birthday that makes it even better.  Lots of heroes tonight, but eight innings of three-hit ball make Jonathon Niese tonight's player of the game.

Johnny B Very Good

Gotta love the Rookie Star subset from 2009 Heritage, which paid homage to the 1960 Topps series.  This is card No. 131 from the '09 set.  Along with Dillon Gee, Niese has really rounded into form and given the Mets one of the strongest rotations in the NL.  I'll put Dickey, Johan, Gee and Niese up against most any starting rotation in the league.  If only they had a bullpen.  But, I digress.

From one Heritage issue to another, I earlier mentioned a blaster of the 2012 product I got.  Well, it was a great one!  I netted a lot of cards I needed for my base set, plus three SPs (Cuddyer, Kotchman, Bartlett), a Marichal/Shields "Then & Now" insert, and a Texiera Tiexieria Teixeira sticker.

But, the best card from the break is this slam dunk:

I am Red and I am an SP

Sorry if my aging scanner makes this appear orange, but this is of course a Target red-bordered parallel.  Mike (Giancarlo) Stanton has been firing lasers out of ballparks from coast to coast this year and, despite being a player on the despised Marlins, I'm pretty excited about getting this card.  I already lucked into his regular SP in a previous blaster, so to get this one is just gravy.

So, that's a wrap for birthday No. 32.  Time to recharge the batteries and get ready for the Fourth of July holiday.  I hope everyone has a safe and happy Independence Day, and don't forget to fly the flag!