It was tough to pick an eBay auction of the day. I was tempted to go with the Triple Threads Johan Santana 3/3 card, but it’s ugly as sin (apologies to anyone who likes the Triple Threads cards and whoever ends up buying it.)
Instead, I’ll go with this signed, game-used Lenny Dykstra bat, which comes from a certificate of authenticity from California Sports Investments. (A few months ago, I would have laughed at the idea of “sports investments.” These days, they almost seem like a better idea than the Wall Street kind. But I digress.)
With two days left to go in the auction, the bat has just one bid for the opening $99.99 price. Unfortunately, that puts it out of my budget, but I really don’t collect bats for that reason.
Dykstra was a scrappy, hard-nosed player for the New York Mets from 1985-1989. He was part of one of the Mets worst trades of the 1980s, going to the Phillies with Roger McDowell for Juan Samuel. In Philadelphia, Dykstra turned into a mini version of Jose Canseco. In 1990, he flirted with hitting .400 into the summer and was named to the All-Star Team. He had another great year in 1993, when the Phillies went to the World Series.
Dyktstra’s son Cutter was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers this year, which kinda makes me feel old.
PaulHadsall.com 
Speaking of investments – I wonder how Lenny is doing in today’s environment.
Dykstra was the best… they traded the heart of the Mets away that day.
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The Dykstra/McDowell trade really was the end of the 1986 Mets. I’m not sure which faction of the front office/ownership had it in for guys like Dykstra, but it was sad to see them go in exchange for guys that could play but had no personality (Kevin McReynolds) and guys that were pretty much through (Samuel).
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Did Juan Samuel start the tradition of washed-up NY Mets secondbasemen? Samuel, Tommy Herr, Carlos Baerga, Robbie Alomar, Luis Castillo? Or was Samuel moved to OF?
Question for you… I just posted a picture I found of Mookie Wilson. Any idea who the kid is with him? Preston?
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Samuel never played a game at second for the Mets. That’s what made the trade worse. Who in their right mind takes a perfectly good center fielder and packages him with a pitcher to get a second baseman that you want to play in the outfield?
Like Carlos Baerga did after him, Samuel managed to make the transition to productive part-time player after leaving New York, so I guess it’s a bit unfair for me to characterize him as being “through” when he got to New York.
I’m going to guess that the kid in the photo is Preston, but I really couldn’t say for sure. Have fun at MAB MetsFest next week. With the holidays coming up, that’s not in my budget.
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Paul – Thanks for checking the photo out. I’m guessing it’s Preston too, I may ask him about it next weekend.
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