Fun with Heritage, 4th Edition

I've now done three "Fun with Heritage" features, and all three emanated from the 1963/2012 pipeline.  This mostly has to do with the fact that 2012 Heritage has become one of my favorite card sets of all time.  That plus I had enough good vintage '63s in my collection.  Thus making the feature easy to whip together.

Well, this time I decided to branch out a bit.  I have very few cards from the 1962 Topps set.  But, luckily I have a good number of specimens from 2011 Heritage, which honors the '62 design.  Thus, I was able to find a numerical match between the sets.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't give a nod to Robert from $30 A Week Habit, who recently featured 2011 Heritage in his "Top 25 Sets" feature.  That got me in a 1962/2011 kind of mood.

So, here we go!

Card No. 208 is the subject.  In this feature, the vintage card always gets first treatment.  So let's now travel back to 1962...

1962 Topps, #208

Before he landed the starring role as George Steinbrenner's managerial whipping boy, Billy Martin spent 11 seasons as a big leaguer moonlighting for seven clubs.  Most notably, Billy played seven seasons in the Bronx and won four World Series rings as a Yankee.

This happens to be Martin's final card as a player. He reappeared in the 1969 Topps set (card No. 547) as Minnesota's manager.  Pictured here in a Twins uni, Martin played 108 games for Minnesota in 1961.  As the back of the card notes, Billy was "sold to the Twins" after beginning the '61 season as a member of the Milwaukee Braves.  Martin's final big league campaign resulted in a .242 BA with 26 XBH and 36 RBIs over 360 ABs.

Great info on the back of this card.  We're informed that Martin set a Fall Classic record by "rapping out 12 hits in 6 games" in the '53 Subway Series versus Brooklyn.  If that weren't impressive enough, the cartoon caption states that Billy compiled a .333 average in 28 career World Series contests.  Talk about a Mr. October, right?!

Okay, so what does card No. 208 in the 2011 Heritage set bring us?

2011 Heritage, #208

Wellp, they're both second basemen and they both hit right-handed.  Otherwise, I can't see an obvious connection between Rickie Weeks and Billy Martin.  (If I'm missing something obvious, feel free to chime in!)  I can definitely appreciate how Topps captured Weeks in the follow through of his practice swing, reminiscent of Martin's vintage '62 card.

But, whereas Martin's career was at its end, here we find Weeks still very much in the prime of his.  The Florida native had just completed a career season in 2010, bashing 29 homers in a league-leading 651 ABs as Milwaukee's leadoff man.  The backside cartoon highlights Weeks' propensity for leading off games with a bang: "Rickie has led off 10 games with a home run in his career."  By contrast, Billy Martin totaled but 64 homers for his career, including a career-high 15 for the Yanks in 1953.

The Final Say:  A little bit let down by my first foray outside the 1963/2012 universe.  Don't get me wrong; both of these cards a great-looking pieces of cardboard.  But I guess I was hoping for a more impactful parallel between vintage and current.  Anyhow, Billy gets the upper hand here.  Weeks has the power, but Martin has the hardware.

MK

Previous "Fun with Heritage" features:
3rd Edition
2nd Edition
Debut

Another Brick in the Wall(ach)

You see what I did there with the title?  The whole Pink Floyd meets under-appreciated Expos third baseman from the '80s, and....

Okay, sorry.

Anyhow, it's been a few days since my last post.  My apologies, but it's been pretty busy here at Clubhouse HQ in beautiful New Castle County, Del.  Oh, you know, Christmas preparations and such.  Mother K came down for a visit Saturday, etc etc.

But, you didn't ask, did you?

Oh, so back to my clever title.  At the last local card show, I came across a dime-box Tim Wallach reprint.  It's funny how the blog universe changes things, because before blogging I would've tossed that fish back into the water.  But, that is an unthinkable act now that I know of the Tim Wallach blog.  So, it came home with me and then got stuffed in an envelope marked for New Mexico and the law offices of Mr. Stackhouse.

In return, I got a handsome five-card lot of N.Y. Mets.

Including a glittery and glitzy David Wright...

I'm glad the Flushing brain trust inked David to a lucrative extension.  Is he really worth the dollar amount he will receive?  Especially for a team that will likely finish fourth again?  Probably not, but in a day and age where players change teams more than they change their toothbrushes, I'm glad David -- a true homegrown star -- will be in the Mets lineup for a long time to come.  He's a top notch person and a pretty darn good ballplayer to boot.

I kinda wish Jose Reyes was still in the Queens equation, too.  I figured he and David would be partners in crime for a lot longer than they were.  But, after a year in Miami, he'll now be taking his talents north of the border this spring.  Hey, at least he's out of the NL East.

Anyways, Jose is still one of my all-time favorites.  And thanks to Mr. Stackhouse I have two more cards of Reyes to add to the collection...

Really dig both of these.  Can't go wrong with the retro Topps inserts, right?

And to top off the very generous return from Wallach blog, are a pair of 2009 OPC black parallels...

Ya know, I really like the cards from this set.  A lot.  In fact, I've considered attacking this set on numerous occasions.  Great retro design, super photography.  A real winner, in my opinion.  My local card shop has had hobby boxes of O-Pee-Chee on "special" for months now.  And every time I'm in there I stare at the boxes for a few moments before going "meh" and moving on.  I guess I just don't want to commit myself to another set pursuit.  I'd rather put my monetary resources into furthering my Heritage quest.

Thanks for the great cards, Mr. Stackhouse!  And you folks out there remember to send your Tim Wallach cards and other tchotchkes to the good lawyer out there in the desert.

MK

Public Service Announcement

Attention, attention!

In case none of your wonderful, well-intentioned coworkers or gazillions of Facebook friends told you already, today's date is December 12, 2012.

Otherwise known as...

If you got married today, congrats.

We may now all return to our normal lives, which were otherwise occupied by the Mayan calendar countdown to destruction.

Cheers!

MK

Have You Met...?

[Ed. Note: Hiya gang.  I figured a good way to show some love to the non-superstar players in my Mets collection would be to occasionally feature a card at random.  So, I'll just blindly pluck a card from one of my Mets boxes and let 'er rip.  Hopefully I can be consistent and make this a semi-regular feature.  You know, just for laughs...]

Today's Have You Met...? comes courtesy of a 2004 Donruss set called "Team Heroes."  Not familiar in the least with this product, but I checked it out via The Trading Card Database.  Looks like each team's checklist features an assortment of established players, up-and-comers, and one or more retired representatives.  In the Mets' case, Keith Hernandez and Nolan Ryan fill the bill in the latter designation.

Anyhow, here we have second baseman Danny Garcia, card No. 267.  On the back of the card, we are informed that Danny singled twice and scored a run in his ML debut, a 3-1 Mets victory over Atlanta on September 2, 2003.  Garcia appeared in 19 games for the Mets in '03, totaling 12 hits in 56 ABs (.214) and stroking a pair of homers.

For a brief second, some Mets fans felt that Garcia could be an answer on the infield for the Amazins.  At the very least in a utility capacity.  Then those fans -- myself included -- woke up, I guess.  Garcia batted .232 in 58 games for N.Y. in 2004, his final year in the Majors.  He has the distinction of being one of the seven human beings who played at least three games at the second sack for the Mets in '04.  Garcia's 44 nods were tops on a list that also included the likes of Joe McEwing, Jeff Keppinger and Ricky Gutierrez.

Garcia was last seen playing independent ball for the Somerset (N.J.) Patriots of the Atlantic League in 2007.

The Mets' second base position, meanwhile, continues to be a mash-up of mediocrity.

Well, not a very uplifting way to begin this feature, but certainly fitting for a franchise bejeweled with a proud history of lovable losers.

See ya next time!

MK

A Picture Speaks Volumes

One of the great things about baseball cards -- and there are many to list -- is that they can transmit a multitude of thoughts and feelings and emotions just via the image they contain.

The above card is a prime example.  I wouldn't need to pen you a 1,000 word essay to convey the meaning behind Pete Rose's nickname.  I'd simply have to produce a copy of this '77 Topps card and suddenly the "Charlie Hustle" alias comes to life in more vivid reality than any grouping of words could ever hope to accomplish.

It's pretty cool to come across a card like this, one that encapsulates the soul of a ballplayer.  And maybe there are other Rose cards out there that do an even better job of capturing the essence of the man between the lines. I dunno.  But, I was recently going through some of my vintage cards, and I was really struck by this one.  I guess I forgot how great a card it is.

MK

Cognac and Gold

With apologies to Mr. Burl Ives, a recent trade package I received got me thinking about one of my favorite childhood Christmas specials.  Of course, that would be none other than whimsical Rankin/Bass production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

I'm sure you all recall Ives' "Sam the Snowman" character from the holiday special, as he narrates and sings his way through Rudolph's passion play.  A pretty trippy experience to say the least.  Well, one of the ol' snowman's tunes was "Silver and Gold".  Not the biggest hit in the Ives repertoire, but it kinda sticks with you whether you like it or not.  And worse, it tends to pop up when you're definitely not in the mood for it.  For instance, when you're trying to unravel a very long and uncooperative strand of lights and your blood pressure is on the rise and beads of sweat are building on your brow...  Boom!  There goes Burl crooning about Silver and Gold.

Or is that just me?

Anyhow, back to the trade package.  It comes from one of the best baseball card bloggers God ever graced us with, Nick from Dime Boxes.

And in this was package was, well, not exactly Silver and Gold.  And no snowman with a 'stache and goatee, either.  Fine by me, my blood pressure doesn't need the spike.

On the contrary, this particular trade package was pure pleasure, and it was rife with the next best thing to Silver and Gold.

Cognac and Gold.

As in 2011 Topps Update Cognac...

...and 2012 Topps Update Gold.

I may be in the minority with the Cognac cards.  I've had a thing for them the moment I saw them.  I'm hoarding as many of them as I can get my mitts on.  This year's Gold parallels are fine, too.  Especially if they happen to be Mets.  Or Los Mets, in Manny Acosta's case.

But, perhaps more precious than Silver, Cognac or Gold is a short print hidden in a dime box.  And, Nick did right by me in this regard, too.

A nice addition to my 2011 Topps Heritage SP collection is this Clayton Richard card.  True to his blog's name, Nick informed me he plucked this from a ten-center.  And now he's passed the joy onto me.  Outstanding!

Some big help for my player collections came in this package, also.

Next to Keith Hernandez, John Olerud is my favorite first baseman from the annals of Mets baseball.  Unfortunately he didn't stick around Queens long enough for my liking.  Just three short seasons, all of which he wielded the bat and the glove like a true pro.  Then it was onto Seattle and eventually the (gag) Yankees. No matter the uniform he's sporting, I love getting new cards of Johnny O.

Speaking of love...

I love Butch Huskey and Butch Huskey cards.  That's pretty much all I have to say on this topic.

And, you know who else I love?

This guy.  Great shot of Todd launching one during Spring Training with the Cubbies.  This was most likely a 490-foot foul ball.  Still an awesome shot.

Oh, back to Mets first basemen for a sec.  Another guy who is certainly up there on my list is Carlos Delgado...

This is from the 2004 Donruss set, which features a pretty boring design but lots of  neat photography.  Like this.

And, I can never ignore a great Vladimir Guerrero card...

Nick, a fellow Vlad collector, made sure to include a host of great cards of this future HOFer.

I'm lucky to have had the opportunity to swap cards with Nick on two occasions now.  And I'll definitely look forward to the next time.

Silver, Gold, Cognac or otherwise.

MK

Let's Play Two

I recently received a fantastic trade package from Tim at Home of the Toddfather.  When he first emailed me, Tim mentioned he had a Topps Doubleheader...umm...card of Dwight Gooden.  I was pretty excited about that, since I've read about those things and seen pictures of them on the internet, but didn't own one.

To my surprise, these guys are pretty small.  I know the above picture is less-than-clear, but that is a dime in the foreground.  Still, it's a pretty cool collectible.  If you're unfamiliar, one side of the plastic-encased card has the player's Topps rookie, while the opposite side features the card from that year's Topps set.  In this case, it's Gooden's 1990 Topps card.

I'm not sure what you're supposed to do with these or how you're supposed to store them, but I guess I can worry about that at some point in the future.  After all, my desk has become completely overrun with stacks of cards that are yearning to be organized.  What's one more?

Anyhow, lots of neat stuff in the package Tim sent (as is always the case).

I really dig this one, which is from a 1987 Collector's Series set that Topps put out.  Here, Lenny Dykstra is pictured hacking away during Game Three of the '86 Series.  Down two games to none, the Mets got a huge jolt from "Nails" as he led off the third game with a homer en route to a 7-1 win.

One of Lenny's teammates on that '86 Mets team was Howard Johnson...

My friends and I idolized HoJo when we were growing up.  After all, he was pretty much Mr. Everything for the Mets in the early '90s, after Darryl had left town and Doc was mired in a haze of drug use.  Johnson's time with the Rockies was brief (one season) and he would play just one more season after the 1994 campaign.

After HoJo moved on from Flushing and Shea Stadium became a baseball wasteland, a trio of prospect pitchers became a blinding ray of hope for the Mets beginning with the 1995 season.  One of those pitchers was Jason Isringhausen.

You all know the story by now.  None of those three pitchers lived up to their billing, and surely didn't change the Mets' fortunes.  Nonetheless, after his brief stint in New York, Izzy managed to carve out a nice career for himself as a closer, specifically in Oakland.  Not exactly the stuff of "Tomorrow's Legends", but he sure as hell did better than Bill Pulsipher and Paul Wilson!

Here's a nice medley of mini cards...

I used to have some heated discussions with my dad and grandfather regarding Aaron Heilman's worth as a productive pitcher for the Mets.  I was always staunchly in the corner of the former Notre Dame hurler.  But, I think the homer he gave up to Yadi Molina in Game Seven of the 2006 NLCS finally threw me off the ol' Heilman bandwagon for good.  Oh well.

I'm a big fan of the blue Doug Flynn sticker.  It's from the 1982 Topps sticker collection.  Does that guy look like a ballplayer from a movie or what?

Oh, in addition to the Mets goodies, there's also this sweet Albert Belle card from this year's Topps Tribute set...

These are beautiful cards.  Numbered to 199, to boot.  And, let me say that I'm glad Topps decided to include Belle in many of their products this year.  He was a nasty S.O.B., but buy could he produce some runs.  And, I dunno, I kinda like the fact that he was ornery and crude.  Not every ballplayer should be cute and cuddly and huggable.

Tim, another perfect trade package, my friend.  This one in particular was especially fun.  And, I didn't even discuss the 1989 Topps Coin of Will Clark -- mustache and all -- or the mini-poster of Robbie Alomar from some Spanish baseball set or the Mike Piazza Upper Deck cartoon card.

Heck, do yourselves a favor and give Tim a holler and make a trade with this man!

MK