Who am I and the Creation of Butterball Field

[batmagadanleadoff]

Buddy at The Butter, including a rare shot of Harrelson and Ol' Case in the same frame. Harrelson never did get to play for Stengel, and never wore #8 in the majors.

[fimg=544:2rzp9v43]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8563/16524546978_945d4b2cbc_o.jpg[/fimg:2rzp9v43][fimg=844:2rzp9v43]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8657/16524546888_f274e3a1f8_o.jpg[/fimg:2rzp9v43][fimg=555:2rzp9v43]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8627/16524546838_69f67fa728_o.jpg[/fimg:2rzp9v43]

[G-Fafif]

Buddy credits Casey, ST '65, with teaching him to bunt.

[Edgy MD]

Genius that he is, Stengel taught him how to bunt from 100 feet away, with his back turned.

[Zvon]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: "The Man From Topps had to dig deep into his archives for the earliest pictures shot at Shea to uncover this one of me. So which one-time Met am I"? [fimg=555]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8666/16691227225_15c711c936_o.jpg[/fimg]

Ken Henderson. Scoreboard trumps batting cage.
[fimg=200]http://topps.pixafy.netdna-cdn.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/2000x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/a/u/auction_hend_730.jpg[/fimg]
[fimg=400]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8627/16524546838_69f67fa728_o.jpg[/fimg]

Everyone always forgets about Mr. Murphy. And I'll bet my 25th Anni Mets cap that is Ron Hunt on the left.
How tall was Casey? Cause Murphy looks a full head taller.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Zvon wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: "The Man From Topps had to dig deep into his archives for the earliest pictures shot at Shea to uncover this one of me. So which one-time Met am I"? [fimg=355]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8666/16691227225_15c711c936_o.jpg[/fimg] Ken Henderson. Scoreboard trumps batting cage.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Wanna see older pictures of Derrel Mckinley?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Mets by the Numbers & Uni Watch nerdiness. Or: this is what's on my mind when I have 25 minutes to kill at six in the morning.



I'm struggling to date this photo. As a starting point, the photo could only have been taken in the Spring of either '64 or '65: Harrelson first signed with the Mets in the Summer of '63 and so wouldn't have appeared in St. Petersburg that year, at least not simultaneously with Stengel.

The lack of a World's Fair patch on Bud's left sleeve means that the photo had to have been taken in '64. While the Mets wore the WF patch in '64 and in '65, the team did not debut the WF patch until the beginning of the '64 regular season -- they didn't wear the WF patch in ST '64.

But if the photo is from the Spring of '64, Harrelson would not have been assigned either #6 or #8, the only possible numbers on his jersey. Those numbers belonged to, respectively, Larry Burright and Chris Cannizzaro, who were each on the Mets roster at the end of the '63 season and at the beginning of the '64 regular season. In the Spring of '64, those numbers were accounted for.

If the picture is from the Spring of '65, then #8 was available. 8 would eventually be assigned to Yogi Berra, but not until after the '65 season had begun. #6 belonged to Bobby Klaus in the Spring of '65, who was a Met at the end of '64 and at the start of '65. But if Bud's wearing a #8 jersey in the Spring of '65, where the hell is the WF patch, which the Mets wore in ST that year?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Never mind. I figured it out. Dressed to the Nines is wrong. (see below)

[fimg=633:x8z12vv9]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8680/16697211216_b74781cbb2_o.jpg[/fimg:x8z12vv9]

The Mets wore the WF patch on the right sleeve. So Bud likely has a WF patch that's not in view in that photo. Because it's on his right sleeve.

Stupid Dressed to the Nines!

[Edgy MD]

Do these patches tend to appear during spring training?

[stevejrogers]

Edgy MD wrote: Do these patches tend to appear during spring training?

Probably depends if the ST Game uniform is same as the one worn going North.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy MD wrote: Do these patches tend to appear during spring training?

Depends on the year. In '64 and in '65, the Mets wore the previous year's uniforms in ST. So in ST '64, there was no WF patch on the Mets unis and in ST '65, there was a WF patch on their unis, but no numbers on the front of their jerseys.

Anyways, the Harrelson number mystery deepens. Bud couldnt'a been #8 in ST '65 because Yogi was with the Mets by then. I shoulda known this from my vast photo collection, which I looked at just now (at least the shots from ST 64 and 65 and was reminded).

[fimg=655]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8638/16103647074_7ee37f01ac_o.jpg[/fimg]

So now, I really don't know what year that Harrelson photo was shot.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Mitchell & Ness once sold a 1965 Tug Mcgraw #56 Mets jersey. When skeptical Mets fans noted that Tug never wore #56 with the Mets, M&N, I suppose, backtracked rather than admit their error, suddenly claiming that Tug wore 56 in ST '65. Whatever the case was, M&N never produced photographic evidence of Tug in a #56 Mets jersey, even though it claims to have that proof.

Even if Tug did wear #56, which he probably didn't, the M&N jersey is still inaccurate because the Mets front numerals were not introduced until the start of the '65 regular season -- not ST. And why would M&N issue a ST jersey in the first place? That's gotta be a coverup for an embarrassing mistake, right?

[Edgy MD]

>> "What number did McGraw wear?"

>>>> "For what team?"

>> "What? The Mets."

>>>> "Let me dial it up here... Mets... McRae... 56."

>> "Thanks. I'll get to work on the copy. Limited edition. Authentic... "

[batmagadanleadoff]

Even if M&N truly did have a photo of Tug from ST '65, the photo would have, more than likely, been shot from in front of Tug, as most photos are, thus hiding whatever number Tug was wearing because the Mets ST '65 unis were numberless in the front.

[fimg=544:qscot1yv]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8638/16103647074_7ee37f01ac_o.jpg[/fimg:qscot1yv]

[Zvon]

batmagadanleadoff wrote:

No doubt in my mind that he's wearing #6 in this photo. I'll say that's 1965 without anything to back it up. Lets tweet it to Buddy and ask him.

[batmagadanleadoff]

OK. But #6 was Bobby Klaus's uni # in the Spring of '65.

[Zvon]

The mystery thickens.

Everyone always forgets poor Mr.Murphy! Maybe his presence is an indicator of the year. In 1964 he was the Mets Administrative Assistant.
In 1965 he was Mets team Vice President.

Which of those gigs puts him on a field with Casey in Spring Training?

If you say both I'll Moe you in the eyes.

But I suppose it could be both. GAH!

[batmagadanleadoff]

Zvon wrote: The mystery thickens. Everyone always forgets poor Mr.Murphy! Maybe his presence is an indicator of the year. In 1964 he was the Mets Administrative Assistant. In 1965 he was Mets team Vice President. Which of those gigs puts him on a field with Casey in Spring Training? If you say both I'll Moe you in the eyes. But I suppose it could be both. GAH!

Johnny Murph's presence at The Butter doesn't help any here because Murph was a Met from day one, and even before day one. Murph coulda been there any year. So Moe me. Even if I'm just the poor messenger.

[Zvon]

[fimg=300]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/2c/6f/c1/2c6fc1c50199e5cc206e1ade6cee3536.jpg[/fimg]


Could it be possible he posed in someone elses uni just for the photo? Like maybe The Man From Topps came down and wanted a photo of Bud for his card so the equipt guy said, here, slip this on for now.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Zvon wrote: [fimg=300]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/2c/6f/c1/2c6fc1c50199e5cc206e1ade6cee3536.jpg[/fimg] Could it be possible he posed in someone elses uni just for the photo? Like maybe The Man From Topps came down and wanted a photo of Bud for his card so the equipt guy said, here, slip this on for now.

Yeah. Because just before the Man From Topps got there, Buddy was fielding grounders in an Irish Fisherman's Sweater.

[fimg=844]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2857/10332279293_613c7c8967_o.jpg[/fimg]

[batmagadanleadoff]

I'm struggling to date this photo. As a starting point, the photo could only have been taken in the Spring of either '64 or '65: Harrelson first signed with the Mets in the Summer of '63 and so wouldn't have appeared in St. Petersburg that year, at least not simultaneously with Stengel....

Plus, the tall fence in the background has that horizontal pipe that divides the fence in half. So it's the newer fence that first appeared in '64. More proof that the photo can't be from '63, Harrelson's first year with the organization.

[batmagadanleadoff]

One Year Winner Rich Rusteck and an almost head on side view of the Butterball Field cage.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Today is Botz Day at the CPF. 53 years ago today, Ol' Butterfield was the winning pitcher in the Mets first win ever. Go out and buy yourself a turkey to commemorate the day, and to honor the guy who gave this and the original Butterball thread the legs I never knew it would have.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Some cage action at The Butter on Botz Day at the CPF. The picture below could well have been taken exactly 30 years ago to the day.

[fimg=655:3neaamwp]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8754/16786319172_21a54f903a_o.jpg[/fimg:3neaamwp]

[batmagadanleadoff]

Clubhouse Ed

[fimg=566:35o2wg1x]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7612/16643646117_854a11f448_o.jpg[/fimg:35o2wg1x]

[Zvon]

He's getting blurrier in his old age.

I did this thing to the Botz pic--tried to totally re-color it. This was after I softened the colors for his 62t card. This was done a long time ago for his Sadecki Spot card. I don't think I posted it here. I thought it was horrible and left off on it, but I just saw it the other day and it does look interesting. Ill finish up that card and post it here.

[Zvon]

This came out weird.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Zvon wrote: This came out weird.

Botz is glowing.

[Zvon]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Botz is glowing.

He must have been exposed to some type of gamma rays!

[batmagadanleadoff]

Zvon wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: Botz is glowing. He must have been exposed to some type of gamma rays!

I see a superhero comic book starring Butterball Botz as the time-travelling mild mannered pitcher who uses his superpowers for truth, never ending justice and the American way.