Who Am I? & The Dedication & Re-creation of Butterball Field

[G-Fafif]

Golly. Galarraga the would-be Met. I've been walking around not thinking about him in that context for well over eight years, yet he was front and center on the second day in the existence of FAFIF.

More importantly, why wasn't Galarraga photographed protecting a chain link fence. Or was the chain link fence done in by Joe Moock's negligence?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Remember when his nickname was "Radio Gaga"? I remember hearing Ralph Kiner talking about "Radio Gaga" and thinking that he was even less hip than I was. Not an easy feat.

[G-Fafif]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Remember when his nickname was "Radio Gaga"? I remember hearing Ralph Kiner talking about "Radio Gaga" and thinking that he was even less hip than I was. Not an easy feat.

I do not remember that!

[batmagadanleadoff]

This one-time Met with an asterisk ended up on Topps' cutting room floor as far as his Padres career was concerned. No Mets or Padres cards of this player exist. The Padres obtained him after Topps' print run was completed. His San Diego stint consisted of less than 20 at bats. Same player. Same deal. The one-time Met with an asterisk ended his career with the Pale Red Hose, without a Topps baseball card to commemorate his last gig. But he didn't escape the attention of The Man From Topps. The asterisk (and supporting evidence) suggests Jerry Moses, called up to the Mets in 1975 but avoiding playing before being sent on his way.

From the UMDB FAQ:

Why isn't Jerry Moses listed?
Jerry Moses, a catcher who played for the Red Sox, Yankees and five other clubs during a ten-year major league career, was on the Mets active roster during part of the 1975 season, but he never appeared in a game. Some have argued that his presence on the regular-season active roster should earn him a spot in our database, but we disagree. Our all-time roster is limited to players who have played in at least one official regular-season game. We've also received questions about Glenn Davis, Terry Puhl, and Charlie Hayes, big-league veterans who played in Mets spring training games. We're not including them, either, for the same reason.

[Edgy MD]

Strange thing about Andres is that everything about his game performance in camp that spring suggested he had made the team.

I think what we appreciate about spring triaining tryouts is that a big part of what's being judged is not about what's happening in the games, and the Mets applauded his hitting but saw him day to day and didn't believe he could possibly make it through a season, or shuddered at the thought of him ever actually playing the field during a game.

Either that or the guy that had to get hurt for him to make the squad didn't get hurt.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Based on spring training games, I'm surprised Garth Brooks never got a card!

I think I saw some of those Andres games.

[G-Fafif]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Based on spring training games, I'm surprised Garth Brooks never got a card!

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

G-Fafif wrote: metsguyinmichigan wrote: Based on spring training games, I'm surprised Garth Brooks never got a card!

I stand corrected!

Sadly for Garth, he's wearing a lesser uniform.

[G-Fafif]

[G-Fafif]

Garth the Padre appears to be Zvonesque fantasy, though it looks good. The OSU version is good exploitation -- and reminscent of the Partridge Family cards.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I know that there's at least one guy on this forum who'll nail this player with the Metly connections in less time than it takes for Topps to remove the logo from a baseball cap.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: I know that there's at least one guy on this forum who'll nail this player with the Metly connections in less time than it takes for Topps to remove the logo from a baseball cap.

Is that the Polo Grounds in the background? Chris Cannizzaro?

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Found it!

And that's from the 1969 set. So Topps poorly airbrushed a 7-year-old photo?

[Zvon]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Found it! And that's from the 1969 set. So Topps poorly airbrushed a 7-year-old photo?

My brother and I were just talking about Topps reusing old pictures on cards. None were as old as 7 years tho. That might be the record.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Heck, he wasn't even on the Pirates that year. He was in Pittsburgh in 1968, playing in only 25 games, before heading to the Padres in 1969, I'm assuming in the expansion draft.

[G-Fafif]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Found it! And that's from the 1969 set. So Topps poorly airbrushed a 7-year-old photo?

Phenomenon explored here.

[batmagadanleadoff]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Found it! And that's from the 1969 set. So Topps poorly airbrushed a 7-year-old photo?

For reason unknown, the first four series of Topps' 1969 set were downright disgraceful. Topps' shoddy production values included old photos (Cannizzaro above)

Al Jackson



old recycled photos (Mays '69 card is his '66 card cropped)



many reused photos from the 1968 set








And an extreme overabundance of capless head shots



An airbrushed removal of the KC cap logo below even though Duncan was an Athletic for his whole career, dating back to 1964, and the A's had moved to Oakland for the '68 season.


Tommie Agee in an airbrushed and logoless White Sox uniform even though he was an everyday playing Met in 1968 and slated to play everyday going into the '69 season.


These aren't isolated examples. The first four series of the 1969 set were replete with these types of cards.

Edited September 5, 2013 by Guest

[batmagadanleadoff]

The slugger depicted on the front page of the newspaper above did not know it at the time, but by the time he joined the Mets organization, he had already played his final major league game.

[batmagadanleadoff]

His major league career consisted of just 63 innings pitched, none of them with the Mets. He's Toppless and as far as I know, never even photographed by The Man From Topps. Still, we're bringing him back for your quizzing pleasure.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Armless Joe Jackson

[Edgy MD]

Martin Milner?

[batmagadanleadoff]

This former Met spent a whole season pitching for Tony LaRussa's Cardinals, but amassed just 2 1/3 innings pitched for the Redbirds. He has no Card card. Most people taking this quiz would guess Jesse Orosco because of the uncanny resemblance the Cards pitcher bears to the iconic Met reliever.

[Edgy MD]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: The slugger depicted on the front page of the newspaper above did not know it at the time, but by the time he joined the Mets organization, he had already played his final major league game.

That's Glenn Davis, laughing about how phallic it is when the swoosh penetrates the loop in the Y.

[Zvon]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Tommie Agee in an airbrushed and logoless White Sox uniform even though he was an everyday playing Met in 1968 and slated to play everyday going into the '69 season. These aren't isolated examples. The first four series of the 1969 set were replete with these types of cards.

When I got the older Agee cards I never saw as a kid I was very disappointed in the '68,'69 Agees. Nothing to really show he was a Met. '69 really is the poorest.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: The slugger depicted on the front page of the newspaper above did not know it at the time, but by the time he joined the Mets organization, he had already played his final major league game.

Harry Reems?

Edgy MD wrote: Martin Milner?

One Adam Twelve, One Adam Twelve. Be on the look out for whatever this weeks episode is about.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

There's got to be a story behind that horrid 1969 set. Even the circle with the name was used another year. It's too bad to simply be a case of a company with a monopoly getting soft and lazy. I wonder if there was something else going on within the company that caused it's attention to be elsewhere, or whether there was a personnel change or something.

[Edgy MD]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Tommie Agee in an airbrushed and logoless White Sox uniform even though he was an everyday playing Met in 1968 and slated to play everyday going into the '69 season.

Even overlapping the autograph with the team name comes off as pretty bush.

[Benjamin Grimm]

That's not an autograph. That's a watermark from whatever web site is hosting that image.

[Edgy MD]

Well, then, never mind and stuff.

What I really like about that fake young Agee card floating around is that it's a rare image where his athleticism is shining thought in the flower of his youth. Like Jackie Robinson, he appears to have had a perhaps not-yet-diagnosed diabetic condition going on during his career, and he got old while he was still young.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Edgy MD wrote: Well, then, never mind and stuff. What I really like about that fake young Agee card floating around is that it's a rare image where his athleticism is shining thought in the flower of his youth. Like Jackie Robinson, he appears to have had a perhaps not-yet-diagnosed diabetic condition going on during his career, and he got old while he was still young.

Speaking of Jackie Robinson, I finally got to see 42 this week. Nice to see the Ed Charles thing in there at the end. So, work with me here: No Jackie would mean no Ed Charles inspired as kid would mean no Ed Charles helping lead the 1969 Mets would mean no World Championship. Rotunda justified.

[Edgy MD]

Jackie Robinson also helped talk Donn Clendenon's stepfather talk young Donn out of football and into baseball.