The Jim Gosger Photo

[Zvon]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Zvon wrote: Gosger's hat looks like that because he (like many other players) would fold the hat backwards, folding the brim forward and under the bridge of the cap, wrapping it around the hat. Then they'd stick the folded hat in their back pocket. Interesting. I never thought of that. I've seen plenty of pictures of Mets caps folding in that fashion over the years. But in my mind, all of those pics are from the flannel uniform era. I figured that the 70's caps are different and don't leave those fold marks.

Willie Mays did that all his time w/the Mets.
I never saw him in an overly worn cap (as a Metropolitan) so I bet he'd get a new cap every month or so.

I collect baseball caps, have all my life. And early on as a teen playing baseball I would do that, emulating Mays, and the bridge of the cap would eventually look like Gosger's. I'm talking after a few months. So I stopped doing it. I was always very concerned with the bridge of my caps, and sometimes I even stuck a cardboard support in there to make it even more pronounced. Ha, I remember I thought I looked so kool.

These days the mesh material that supports the bridge of the cap is much better, much stronger than the caps of the early 70's. And even these days from time to time I'll see a player folding the cap old school and slipping into their back pocket.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Here's another mis-autographed Mets photo. This picture of not Jerry Koosman has a Jerry Koosman sig.

[fimg=555:3m5nlmi8]https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8162/29014089734_74f63228f1_o.jpg[/fimg:3m5nlmi8]


Who's this Met?

[Guest cooby]

I know that face Willie is making. It means "my knees hurt!"

[dinosaur jesus]

Jack DiLauro?

[Guest d'Kong76]

Why would Kooz's signature end up on a photo unless it was a fake sig?
I mean, he obviously wouldn't sign a pic that wasn't of him right?

[batmagadanleadoff]

dinosaur jesus wrote: Jack DiLauro?

There's no uni # on the front of the jersey, so the photo's gotta be from one of the first three seasons. It looks more Shea than Polo to me, but I can't make out the World's Fair Patch that the Mets wore in '64.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

After all the Jim Gosger talk, I recommend this podcast:

http://www.majorleaguepodcast.com/2016/03/14/jim-gosger-2/

Steve Hofstetter does a great job with these. He mostly interviews guys who have had short or relatively undistinguished careers, realizing that even the guys who have cups of coffee are great stories.

He's a Mets fan, too, so he tends to talk to guys with connections to the Mets, like Ed Hearn and Barry Lyons. The Gosger podcast is particularly good, as he also played for the Seattle Pilots in addition to the 1969 and 1973 Mets. Some pretty wild stories there. And, he's worked for the city of Port Huron, Mich. for years.

[dinosaur jesus]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: dinosaur jesus wrote: Jack DiLauro? There's no uni # on the front of the jersey, so the photo's gotta be from one of the first three seasons. It looks more Shea than Polo to me, but I can't make out the World's Fair Patch that the Mets wore in '64.

Got it. I was thinking maybe the number was Photoshopped out to make the quiz harder. Or his uniform was flapping right over the number.

[Zvon]

Great photo Batmags. I'll have to get out my facial recognition software.

[Zvon]

First guess: Willard Hunter

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

After all the Jim Gosger talk, I recommend this podcast: http://www.majorleaguepodcast.com/2016/03/14/jim-gosger-2/ Steve Hofstetter does a great job with these. He mostly interviews guys who have had short or relatively undistinguished careers, realizing that even the guys who have cups of coffee are great stories. He's a Mets fan, too, so he tends to talk to guys with connections to the Mets, like Ed Hearn and Barry Lyons. The Gosger podcast is particularly good, as he also played for the Seattle Pilots in addition to the 1969 and 1973 Mets. Some pretty wild stories there. And, he's worked for the city of Port Huron, Mich. for years.

IIRC, Hofstedder had one of the great websites of the Paleo Internet Era when they did "Sports Jerk of the Week."

[seawolf17]

d'Kong76 wrote: Why would Kooz's signature end up on a photo unless it was a fake sig? I mean, he obviously wouldn't sign a pic that wasn't of him right?

Has to be. That's so bizarre.

[stevejrogers]

seawolf17 wrote: d'Kong76 wrote: Why would Kooz's signature end up on a photo unless it was a fake sig? I mean, he obviously wouldn't sign a pic that wasn't of him right? Has to be. That's so bizarre.

Well, we have instances of Jim Gosger signing Dave Marshall photos.

Could just be a case of signing things quickly to keep a line moving without thinking about what is being signed.

[Zvon]

SteveJRogers wrote: Could just be a case of signing things quickly to keep a line moving without thinking about what is being signed.

Dykstra signed this drawing at a card show. As far as I know, to this day he has never seen the drawing.
I think if it involves $$ a player will sign anything.

[Guest cooby]

He signed a drawing you made of him and he didn't even look at it? I can't even imagine how that must have felt for you.

[Zvon]

cooby wrote: He signed a drawing you made of him and he didn't even look at it? I can't even imagine how that must have felt for you.

I actually get very nervous in situations like that. Cuz what if the guy says "this sucks!", lol.

This thing w/Lenny was different. At the time of the show I hadn't completed the drawing. Only the pencil portrait was there. After you complete a pencil drawing you should "fix" it with a special spray. This keeps the lead from smearing or fading over time. I hadn't fixed the portrait yet (it was a rush job for this card show). It was actually still in the drawing pad.

I knew that I was going to add color action shots around the portrait, and I knew exactly where I wanted him to sign. He would have to put his arm directly on the portrait to sign in that spot. So I flipped over the next blank page on the pad and cut a hole in it exactly where I wanted him to sign. So what he saw was a blank piece of drawing paper with a hole in it. Ha.

Approaching Lenny on line you get up to his table and then his people (2 or 3 dudes) would ask what you wanted signed and that kinda shit, and they'd look it over and approve or reject (I guess-I didn't see anyone get rejected-but they would "clear" it, so to speak). And then they hustled me down to Dykstra, slid it under him, he signed, and then NEXT! He didn't even look up at me. It was like a fast conveyor belt when it got to Lenny. The more he signed, the more $$ he'd make.

I didn't mind at all. I was kinda relieved. I wanted the drawing signed and I got it, w/ a certificate and all, and that's all that mattered to me. Might have been different if I wasn't paying for the privilege. I'm sure I've told this tale here before. And also the tale of the Glenn Wilson drawing/autograph, and how he was such an asshole. And the Gooden and how I lost the drawing in Shea's parking lot, AND FOUND IT AGAIN! after searching for over an hour. That never got signed though. That got run over by probably a hundred cars before I found it.

[Guest cooby]

Now that's clever!