batmagadanleadoff

That's Steve Henderson's rookie trophy on Dawson's card.

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Boy did '78 suck for Met fans. And wait'll you see all the MFY content that'll eventually fill this quiz page.

Alright. We've got some action. Step right up. Spin the wheel.

Let's play hall of famers from the 1978 Topps baseball set. Because this still beats Cleveland, even with the Mets comfortably ahead. And because I loved that '78 set. Elegant simplicity. Action shots that bring you within a hair's length of the action. And the thickest cardboard I ever got to own, to that date, from packs I bought and opened. I'll start. Nolan Ryan. One guess per post.

Zvon wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: If it weren't for the one team that he played for between his Met and Yankee stints, he might've been the only modern player in baseball history who wouldn't of had to change residences, stadiums or even lockers though he was traded from one league to the other. Bill Sudakis when the Yankees slept over for those two years. Also a spot man but Sadeki now reigns as King Of The Spot, having seen two cards of him hanging out in that little corner of the world.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: That first Brown card is really dramatic. That would have been the most spectacular card in that set. Did players celebrate home runs right out of the batter's box in the late '70's? Carlton Fisk did it, famously so, but his was a WS [crossout]walk-off[/crossout] game winning HR in the team's final AB. I think that any player doing that under ordinary circumstances 30-35 years ago would've been Valdespinned.

Mets 3B David Wright to rejoin team to continue rehabbing hamstring injury CLEVELAND - New York Mets third baseman David Wright is expected to rejoin the team Monday to continue his rehab work for a strained right hamstring. Wright, a seven-time All-Star, hasn't played since Aug. 2. He'd like to play again this season, but the timeline for his return is unclear. Wright has been working out at the Mets' complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Manager Terry Collins said he wants to continue his rehab with the major league team, where he can increase his baseball activities. Wright is hitting .309 with 16 home runs and 54 RBIs in 109 games. The Mets begin a four-game series in New York on Monday night against the Washington Nationals. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/baseball/mets-3b-david-wright-to-rejoin-team-to-continue-rehabbing-hamstring-injury-222818761.html _________________ Wright returning to NYC September, 7, 2013 By Adam Rubin | ESPNNewYork.com David Wright is returning to New York, although that does not signal he is ready for game action. With minor league seasons done and the fall instructional league yet to begin, there is little activity or available pitching at the Mets' Port St. Lucie, Fla., complex. Rehab coordinator Jon Debus also has dealt with a serious artery blockage. Wright (strained right hamstring) last played in the majors Aug. 2. http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/77314/wright-returning-to-nyc

Here are your Hall of Famers appearing in the 1959 Topps baseball set. I've purposely omitted two HOF'ers. Try and name them in the same post. No partial credit.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: This one-time Met and San Diego Rule V pick never got to play for the Padres. He then landed in Pittsburgh -- traded in exchange for the expansion team's future all-star catcher, Chris Cannizzaro. Cannizaro was once a Met, too, by the way. And even appeared on a baseball card as a Met. And continued to appear on a baseball card as a Met even when he wasn't a Met anymore by a good many years. But that's a whole 'nuther story by itself and this post isn't really supposed to be about Chris Cannizzaro. The man in the Padres uniform above didn't get to play for the Pirates, just like he didn't get to play for the Padres, either. And then he ran out of teams that were interested in him. But The Man From Topps couldn't resist shooting anything in those original snazzy Padres unis. batmagadanleadoff wrote: Zvon wrote: Wait. I do know this. Bobby Klaus. Just saw his 68 card recently. You could see that Klaus's Padres and Mets card used shots from the same photo session. Klaus is the Padres' Jerry Robertson.

Zvon wrote: There's that spot again.

If it weren't for the one team that he played for between his Met and Yankee stints, he might've been the only modern player in baseball history who wouldn't of had to change residences, stadiums or even lockers though he was traded from one league to the other.

This player appeared in a Topps baseball set in two different seasons: once as a Met and once as a Cub. But he only played in actual MLB games for one of the two teams.

He played on two Met pennant winning teams. I hope he got the blingy rings to commemorate those stints, 'cause he didn't get any Mets baseball cards from Topps.

Photographed by The Man From Topps in his old stomping grounds, you won't find this ex-Met on any baseball card in a Redbird uniform.

Zvon wrote: Wait. I do know this. Bobby Klaus. Just saw his 68 card recently.

This one-time Met and San Diego Rule V pick never got to play for the Padres. He then landed in Pittsburgh -- traded in exchange for the expansion team's future all-star catcher, Chris Cannizzaro. Cannizaro was once a Met, too, by the way. And even appeared on a baseball card as a Met. And continued to appear on a baseball card as a Met even when he wasn't a Met anymore by a good many years. But that's a whole 'nuther story by itself and this post isn't really supposed to be about Chris Cannizzaro. The man in the Padres uniform above didn't get to play for the Pirates, just like he didn't get to play for the Padres. And then he ran out teams that were interested in him. But The Man From Topps couldn't resist shooting anything in those original snazzy Padres unis.

Who the fuck is Joe Gordon? Did Grimm make that card? According to this piece, even die-hard Yankee fans don't know who Joe Gordon is. Joe Gordon is proof that being a New York Yankees star second baseman for a few years is good enough to get in the Hall of Fame. As if electing Phil Rizzuto under similar circumstances was not enough, the veterans committee repeated the mistake in late 2008. The difference seems to be that Joe Gordon really did have some Hall of Fame years � just not enough of them, in our view. How, exactly, did Joe Gordon accrue enough Hall of Fame votes? He fails the Fame test � within a few years of retirement from baseball in 1970 he was all but forgotten by most fans. Upon his election, even die-hard Yankees fans asked �Who?� He fails the career statistics test, primarily because he lacks longevity. He batted over .300 just once, in 1942, and his career lasted just 11 years. It�s true that Gordon is the sole American League infielder of his era with 253 home runs and 1,530 hits; only Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio (both outfielders) equalled those numbers while Gordon was active. However, his career stats cannot be even superficially compare to the entire careers of Williams and DiMaggio, nor most other Hall of Famers. Gordon�s �era� lasted little more than a decade. Gordon was named Most Valuable Player in 1942 (beating Ted Williams), but by then the ranks of the players had been thinned by World War II. He was a nine-time All-Star between 1939 and 1949. But neither of those accomplishments, even taken together, should be a ticket to the Hall of Fame. He never led the American League in an important batting category. His fielding was average to above average though he did form part of a good double play combination with Frankie Crosetti and Babe Dahlgren. His Yankees World Series appearances were undistinguished except in 1941, when he batted .500 with an outstanding slugging percentage of .929. His nine All-Star Game appearances led to only four hits, even though he started in five of the games. Gordon supporters cite anecdotal evidence, always suspect in baseball, that includes high praise from his manager. He was, it is said, known as one of the best second basemen of all time. If so, where were the Hall of Fame voters when Gordon retired? After all, the voters were the baseball writers who actually saw him play. Here are more objective observations about Joe Gordon�s career: Aside from the war year of 1942 when he won the American League Most Valuable Player award, Gordon never finished in the top five in MVP balloting. At the time, his career was not viewed as being in the top tier of his peers. His post-season batting was just average, at best. He batted .243 and his slugging percentage was .427, neither of which are Hall of Fame caliber. Finding someone with comparable overall batting stats from the 1940s American League, we end up with Vern Stephens � a St. Louis Brown who is hardly a household name. Gordon had fewer than 1,000 career runs batted in, well below 100 career stolen bases and less than 3,000 total bases. Joe Gordon played just 11 years � he lost 1944 and 1945 to the war � and ended with a mere 1,530 hits and 253 home runs, in both cases little more than half of the figures that are normally associated with hard-hitting Hall of Famers. He just didn�t play long enough to amass impressive numbers. Gordon played in just 1,551 games, so reliable fielding stats may be shaky. But his career fielding percentage of .970 is almost exactly average for career players of the same era. Likewise other fielding stats that take into account attempts and put-outs. So what is the argument for electing a very good but not famous journeyman infielder to the Hall of Fame? First, look at the value placed on him by his teams: The Yankees traded Gordon to Cleveland in 1946 for an excellent pitcher, Allie Reynolds, but he was released by the Indians just four years later. Like many marginal Hall of Fame inductees, Joe Gordon managed minor- and major-league teams for many years after retiring as a player. The players from his managing era are now on the Hall of Fame veterans committee. (Gordon�s best finish was second place with the 1959 Cleveland Indians, so no statistical explanation there.) In 1960, Gordon was traded to Detroit for Jimmy Dykes, the only trade in baseball history involving two managers. In fact, managing probably kept his name current among the voters even after his death in 1978. What does the Hall of Fame press release say about Gordon? �Gordon combined power and fielding ability like few second basemen before or since. He hit 20 or more homers seven times, drove in 100-plus runs four times and averaged 89 RBIs and 83 runs scored per season. With the leather, Gordon posted a .970 fielding percentage, leading the American League in assists four times and double plays three times. �In 1942, Gordon won the AL Most Valuable Player Award, edging out Triple Crown-winner Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox. He was part of World Series-winning teams in New York in 1938, '39, '41 and '43 and helped the Indians win their last Fall Classic in 1948. Gordon died on April 14, 1978.� A lot of team achievements are mentioned, but where are the outstanding career numbers? Assists and double plays are equally a result of sure-handed teammates, no surprise on the Yankees. Yes, Joe Gordon was the only American League second baseman from his active years to have more than 25 home runs, and he did it four times. But when it comes to general hitting stats among second basemen, his on-base percentage is roughly equal to Snuffy Stirnweiss�s. Gordon was passed over many times in Hall of Fame voting, including the famous 1988 veterans committee vote that resulted in no inductees. Bill James, a leading baseball statistician, was apparently a big booster for Gordon, which no doubt helped with the 2008 veterans committee vote. But James himself lists Gordon behind Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker, neither likely Hall of Famers, on the list of all-time great second basemen. Gordon is #16, just ahead of Willie Randolph. The argument was also made that if Bobby Doerr could be elected, why not Joe Gordon? But Joe Gordon was on the ballot roughly twice as long as his own career lasted, a big hint that he just didn�t have a Hall of Fame career. Our argument is that a career of 11 years simply isn�t long enough to judge a position player, even someone as good as Joe Gordon. Extrapolating might-have-been statistics for fielders with short careers is simply not sufficient to determine Hall of Fame credentials. What we have is yet another Yankees inductee into the Hall of the Very Good. http://what-the-hall.info/?gordon

G-Fafif wrote: Lenny Shecter's version: When the Mets returned to the Polo Grounds to play the Cardinals on Opening Day [1963], the fans were already in mid-season form. One of their banners read: "BRING BACK BUTTERBALL BOTZ." Botz, Shecter also noted, "was so bad Dawes Hamilt could hit line drives off him." Shecter's version, in which a fan banner is the medium for the slogan, is the more familiar version. I tried surfing for that version, but could not find it, so I went with Isaac's tale instead. Did you type your post from Shecter's book?

Lenny Shecter's version: When the Mets returned to the Polo Grounds to play the Cardinals on Opening Day [1963], the fans were already in mid-season form. One of their banners read: "BRING BACK BUTTERBALL BOTZ." Botz, Shecter also noted, "was so bad Dawes Hamilt could hit line drives off him." I love that book.

Bring Back Butterball Botz!!!! What the hell took you so long? From Bob's Custom Cards: