Obscure baseball cards

[Benjamin Grimm]

I had someone post to the UMDB Facebook page that the site is missing a Mets player: Jerry Robertson.



I've known for over 20 years that nobody is missing, but I checked anyway. Apparently the poster was basing his claim on this baseball card:



https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/71/71-651Fr.jpg>



https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/71/71-651Bk.jpg>



Robertson was acquired by the Mets from the Tigers prior to the 1971 season in exchance for Bill Denehy and Dean Chance. He spent the 1971 season with the Tides and then his career ended at the age of 27.



I had never seen this card before, but it really brought me back. Sometimes I would see a Mets baseball card and wonder who the hell the player was that was pictured. This card definitely would have fallen into that category, along with the 1971 Dean Chance and the 1973 Phil Hennigan.



By the way, I like how they used the same photo on the front of the card and the back, but they didn't bother with the Mets' NY insignia on the front of the card. They didn't even try to get the right shade of blue for the cap.

[Edgy MD]

I like that the best evidence of the card you can find is so poorly cut.



Maybe clarifying ghost Mets who made it to the 25-man roster but not the field, and/or guys who made the 40- but not the 25 (those are big-league contracts) can be a future UMDB project.



After Spanish-language broadcasters!!

[batmagadanleadoff]

A coupl'a other ghost Mets, Topps style:

[G-Fafif]

I obtained this card from a classmate in a straight cash deal several years after the fact. I was so fascinated that there was a totally mysterious player identified as a Met from a season (and set) I remembered that I had to have a Jerry Robertson the same way I had to have at other intervals of my collecting an Ernie Banks and a Sandy Koufax.



One of the best dimes/quarters I ever spent. Don't recall the price. Still recall the satisfaction.

[batmagadanleadoff]

[FIMG=228]https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/attachment.php?s=aee265a7dc0aea92b7b3a89502f2c930&attachmentid=715433&stc=1&d=1595596029[/FIMG]



Hawkins participated in the Mets '63 Spring Training and was even included in the Mets set of team issued press photos for that season. I can't find an image of that press photo on the web right now but I know that that photo exists because I own a copy.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Wynn Hawkins



[FIMG=311]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52229916935_4c57f3f08d_t.jpg[/FIMG]

[Edgy MD]

Wynn Hawkins was 12-13 / 4.17 in parts of three seasons for Cleveland. Sounds like there's reason to hope your career might continue on.



But can you imagine how much of a reality check it must be to find out the 1963 Mets have no use for you?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Hawkins passed away last year. From RIP Baseball:



Excerpt:

Hawkins was sold to the Mets at the end of the 1962 season. The Mets returned him to Cleveland before the end of the 1963 training camp, despite the fact that he had thrown very well. He pitched with the Indians' AAA teams before retiring after the 1964 season, at the age of 28. He reportedly injured his arm while throwing a snowball in 1961, and he was never able to recover his old form after that.

https://ripbaseball.com/2021/03/04/obituary-wynn-hawkins-1936-2021/https://ripbaseball.com/2021/03/04/obituary-wynn-hawkins-1936-2021/



I wouldn't be surprised if Hawkins was included in the first version of the Mets '63 yearbook. My copy of that yearbook is a revised edition so I won't even bother to track it down to take a look.

[whippoorwill]

I remember when Hennigan came in the game the organ would play H E DOUBLE N I G A N spells HENNIGAN

[stevejrogers]

=whippoorwill post_id=100434 time=1658349945 user_id=79]
I remember when Hennigan came in the game the organ would play H E DOUBLE N I G A N spells HENNIGAN

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I liked the part when Winn Hawkins sold his truck right there on the lot for a fraction of what it was worth, then, laid every dollar down on himself, beat up a bodyguard, AND won the arm wrestling tournament, which not only won him the big bet, but the love of his estranged son!

[Benjamin Grimm]

What's up with the Mets "acting as agents for the Cleveland Indians"?

[Edgy MD]

Indians weren't allowed to control their own affairs back then.

[whippoorwill]

=stevejrogers post_id=100437 time=1658351996 user_id=57]
=whippoorwill post_id=100434 time=1658349945 user_id=79]
I remember when Hennigan came in the game the organ would play H E DOUBLE N I G A N spells HENNIGAN

[stevejrogers]

I remember when Hennigan came in the game the organ would play H E DOUBLE N I G A N spells HENNIGAN Probably a take on this George M. Cohan classic, here performed by James Cagney [media=youtube]a_cBhdRQgFI[/media] Can't see your video but I'm betting it's Finnegan?

H, A, double-R, I, G, A, N spells Harrigan

Proud of all the Irish blood that's in me

Divvil a man can say a word agin me

H, A, double-R, I, G, A, N you see

Is a name that a shame never has been connected with

Harrigan, that's me!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrigan_%28song%29?wprov=sfti1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrigan_(song)?wprov=sfti1

[whippoorwill]

Ah Harrigan, not Finnegan!



They used it on Gillian's Island once too

[roger_that]

Ah Harrigan, not Finnegan! They used it on Gillian's Island once too

Was that Ann http://www.annjillian.com/index.phphttp://www.annjillian.com/index.php Jillian?

[whippoorwill]

Aw geez this stupid auto spell lol

[roger_that]

lol indeed

[batmagadanleadoff]

A coupl'a other ghost Mets, Topps style:

I was sure that there was another Topps "ghost" Met from the mid-60s when I wrote that post, but the player's name eluded me at the time. I gave it some thought, but continued to come up empty and so eventually, gave up. I also thought that maybe the other Topps ghost whose name I couldn't recall perhaps didnt exist and was simply a ghost of my imagination instead of a Topps ghost. I could've dug out my Mets baseball cards or gone through Mets cards on ebay or Check Out My Cards, but wasn't motivated enough.



But today, when I woke up, the name of this other Mets Topps ghost suddenly popped into my head, as if it was put in there by some external force because I wasn't consciously or knowingly trying to come up with the name this morning.







From Bowman's SABR bio:

While toiling in the Mets' minor league system [in 1966,] Bowman's succinct advice to Tom Seaver would have a memorable effect on the hurler's Hall of Fame career. Seaver fondly recalled that advice in his 1994 book The Art of Pitching.. [***] On June 8 [bowman] played a role in the first triple play in Jacksonville's five-year history. It was during this time that Bowman approached 21-year-old Seaver with cogent advice that the future Hall of Famer never forgot: “Kid, you got a good fastball, but to keep it, you gotta throw it. Don't save it for Christmas.”

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ernie-bowman/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ernie-bowman/

[G-Fafif]

[Ceetar]

http://www.ceetar.com/optimisticmetsfan/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DALL·E-2022-08-29-23.03.10-A-New-York-Mets-MLB-baseball-card-from-the-year-1516.png>



Another Mets card from 1516

[Benjamin Grimm]

What was the prompt that you gave to DALL-E for these?

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: What was the prompt that you gave to DALL-E for these?

It's inthe url, but

New York Mets MLB baseball card from the year 1516

Had to replace New York with "A futuristic Mercury" to get ones from 2499.



[FIMG=400]http://www.ceetar.com/optimisticmetsfan/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DALL·E-2022-08-29-23.02.23-A-futuristic-Mercury-Mets-MLB-baseball-card-from-the-year-2499.png[/FIMG]





Inspired by this thread from Randall Munroe doing Pokémon cards.

[Willets Point]

http://www.ceetar.com/optimisticmetsfan/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DALL·E-2022-08-29-23.03.10-A-New-York-Mets-MLB-baseball-card-from-the-year-1516.png> Another Mets card from 1516

This looks like it should be on a cigar box.

[Willets Point]

Turns out that the Mets were unusually popular in the Ming Dynasty

https://64.media.tumblr.com/cb1976a3b97d4e3c10ff463283d9aeba/a00bc6360dbf73df-5e/s540x810/e38d9c0eff75326fd615cb439708e71bdf5f6db8.pnj>

[Ceetar]

[attachment=0]MetsCard.jpg[/attachment]

You can draw 'em too. This is from the 1980s of Mr. Met.

[Frayed Knot]

=Ceetar post_id=105860 time=1661954692 user_id=102]
Another Mets card from 1516

[Willets Point]

It may be too modern for some of you, but I found the Pablo Picasso set to be really something special.



https://64.media.tumblr.com/ab37b3ac8dddb896365ea36499bd11d4/972cbab5674bd172-a3/s500x750/2971a1c19fca62d94348175b1d3a670bf24fb023.pnj>

[Edgy MD]

[fimg=317]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/clendennon.png[/fimg] https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/aspromonte.png>