It’s Amazin’ Mets Night this Sunday, August 9th, at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater as the Somerset Patriots take on the Sugarland Skeeters. 1969 World Series Champs Art Shamsky, Ed Kranepool and Ed Charles are scheduled to appear at the ballpark and there will be a team autograph session with the Somerset Patriots from 4-4:25 p.m. prior to the 5:05 p.m. first pitch.
After a very quiet February, the autograph show circuit picks up a bit in March with the White Plains sports card show as the major event.
If I lived a bit closer (and had some money that I could afford to spend), I’d love to go – there are some “fresh” autograph guests that haven’t done shows in the area recently, if at all, and I’ve heard good things about the card show aspect.
If money really was no object, I’d also take advantage of Joe Torre‘s appearance at the Steiner Sports store this week to obtain his autograph for my All-Time Mets collection.
Reality says that I should be happy to be able to buy the basic 2014 Topps Heritage Mets team set once the cards come out, but here’s the information on those upcoming events in case you’ve got more money available for discretionary spending than I do.
JP’s Sports & Rock Solid Promotions will hold its bi-monthly sports card show at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, N.Y. on March 21st-23rd. Admission is $8 per day, with kids under 12 admitted free.
Five members of the 1969 World Series Champion New York Mets team are scheduled to attend and sign autographs on Sunday, March 23rd: Ed Kranepool, Jerry Grote, Art Shamsky, Ron Taylor and Jim Gosger. Kranepool and Grote will cost $15 per signature; the others will cost $20 each.
Other notable guests for the weekend include future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera ($299), 1987 NL Rookie of the Year Benito Santiago ($25), 1978 NL Rookie of the Year Bob Horner (1 free autograph with paid admission Sunday), and 4-time AL All-Star Ruben Sierra (1 free autograph with paid admission Saturday)
For more details about the autograph guests and their fees, visit http://www.nyshows.org.
Continue reading “Ex-Mets’ autograph signing appearances in March 2014”
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m already sick of Hot Stove season and it’s barely started. So instead, let’s take a look at some 40-year-old baseball cards I bought yesterday.
(For any of my readers in the Union County area, Rookies and Stars Sports Collectibles has opened up a new store at 400 West Broad Street in Westfield.)
Here are some more 1970s Mets cards from Anthony:
Tommie Agee was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2002. He hit one of the longest home runs in Shea Stadium history, which was commemorated with a marker halfway up section 48 of the left field upper deck.
In the 1969 playoffs, Agee hit two home runs against the Braves in the LCS and led off Game 3 of the World Series with another homer. He made two highlight-reel catches in that game, too.
In 1970, he hit .286 with 24 home runs and 74 RBI and won a Gold Glove. The Mets finished with an 83-79 record, in third place.
Art Shamsky was a Major League Baseball player for eight seasons, four with the New York Mets.
In 1969, Shamsky platooned with Ron Swoboda in right field. He hit .300 with 14 home runs and 47 RBI in 303 at-bats. It was his best season in baseball. In the League Championship Series against Atlanta, Shamsky was 7-for-13. He only started one game in the World Series and was hitless in six at-bats.
After his retirement from baseball, Shamsky became involved with the Israel Baseball League. He managed the Modi’in Miracle in 2007. He has also worked as a television and radio sports commentator and made a cameo appearance on an episode of the TV sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
To learn more about Shamsky, check out his website.
Continue reading “Mets Autograph of the Day: 1970 Topps Art Shamsky”
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