Tag: All-Star Game

Posted in Baseball

Mets baseball card of the week: Carlos Beltran 2011 All-Star Game Relic

Posted on by Paul

Carlos-Beltran-ASG

A while ago, Twitchy sent me some really neat Mets baseball cards… and I still haven’t shown any of them off. So let’s fix that.

I love All-Star Game relic cards, despite not being a particularly big fan of relic cards or the All-Star Game. Go figure. I think it’s because it’s fun to see players in uniforms that they don’t normally wear.

In 2011, Carlos Beltran was in his final year as a Met. It seems like a lifetime ago, but it hasn’t even been five years since he represented the Mets in the National League’s 5-1 victory in the All-Star Game at Chase Field. Beltran went 1-for-2, scoring on Prince Fielder‘s home run off of C.J. Wilson. A few weeks later, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Zack Wheeler.

In a few hours, Beltran will be trotting out to right field at Yankee Stadium as New York’s other team tries again to get their 2016 season started. On the plus side, it’s not raining today…but it’s not exactly baseball weather – fans might need to worry about frostbite.

It’s too easy for Mets fans to remember Beltran’s career for one playoff at-bat in 2006, but he really was one of the greatest players in team history. Hopefully after he retires, the Mets will honor him with a plaque in the team’s Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, the Mets will try again this afternoon to get that first win under their belts. Friday’s home opener will be more fun if they aren’t starting the season with an 0-2 record.

Posted in Autographs, Baseball, Uncategorized

Starting the second half

Posted on by Paul

How great was Jacob deGrom‘s All-Star appearance? By next week, I’m pretty sure I will have forgotten the outcome of the game…but deGrom’s completely unhittable, 10-pitch three-strikeout inning is going to be a lasting memory.

The All-Star Break is over and the New York Mets will be back in action tonight. Noah Syndergaard takes on the St. Louis Cardinals to open up the second half.

The next couple of weeks will tell us a lot about whether the Mets really have a chance to play post-season baseball this year. Can they hold their own with the Cardinals and Dodgers and gain ground when they play the Nationals? Will Sandy Alderson make any moves at the trade deadline? Will he instead follow in the footsteps of the Cubs and promote 2014 first-round draft pick Michael Conforto to try to spark the offense?

I guess we won’t have much longer to wait to find out.

Speaking of Syndergaard, he and Steven Matz are scheduled to sign autographs at the The East Coast National Show at Westchester County Center in White Plains, N.Y., on August 15th. The signing fees are a bit steep – $69 for photos and baseballs, $79 for bats and jerseys – but that seems to be the way things are headed, unfortunately. (Should either pitcher be scheduled to start that day, or should Matz be on a minor league rehab assignment, their appearances will be cancelled.)

John Buck takes the field
Posted in Baseball, Uncategorized

Two former Mets turn the page on MLB careers

Posted on by Paul

Two former New York Mets players retired this week, bringing an end to solid, if only occasionally spectacular, careers.

Signed Heath Bell baseball card from my collection
Signed Heath Bell baseball card from my collection

Heath Bell, 37, was in camp with the Washington Nationals this spring. He walked five and gave up seven hits while allowing four earned runs in 6.1 innings in Grapefruit League competition, and was not expected to earn a spot in the Nationals’ bullpen.

For the three-year period between 2009 and 2011, Bell was an All-Star closer for the San Diego Padres. He led the National League with 42 saves in 2009.

I’ll remember Bell for two things: first, his entrance to the 2011 All-Star Game.

Second, for signing autographs for fans at nearly every Mets game I went to at Shea Stadium in 2005. Continue reading “Two former Mets turn the page on MLB careers” →

Posted in Uncategorized

Baseball Card of the Day: 2014 Topps All-Star Fanfest Daniel Murphy

Posted on by Paul

Topps produced a set of sixty-nine 10″ by 14″ prints of the Major League Baseball All-Stars this summer, which were limited to 99 copies each and sold through Topps.com for $34.99 a piece. At the All-Star Fan Fest in Minnesota, Topps sold smaller (5″ by 7″) versions that are not serial numbered.

Daniel-Murphy-AS

I learned about the All-Star Fanfest version while searching eBay for the Daniel Murphy All-Star cards in the Topps Update set. I picked up Murphy’s All-Star Fanfest card for $5.49 shipped. I’m not quite sure how the oversized blank-backed baseball card fits in my collection – if Murphy is still a Met next spring, maybe I’ll frame it and hang it on the wall.