Tag: David Wright

Posted in Baseball, Uncategorized

Time to stop waiting for Mr. Wright

Posted on by Paul
David Wright (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
David Wright (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)

Though Mets manager Terry Collins expressed some optimism this weekend that David Wright would be cleared to resume baseball activity soon, today was not the day.

The Mets captain has played in just eight games this season. He’s been on the disabled list since April, first with a strained hamstring and then with a back issue. Wright has been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a condition that’s forced other athletes to retire.

Wright and Mets GM Sandy Alderson still publicly profess that he’s going to play again this season, but it’s hard for me to imagine Wright will be able to have much of an impact. Even if he had been cleared to resume baseball activity today, Wright probably would not have been ready to rejoin the Mets’ lineup before August. With that milestone still off in the future, the likelihood is that we’ll be talking about getting Wright ready for spring training.

Alderson can say whatever he needs to say to the media, but I hope he’s not counting on Wright’s return to bolster an anemic offense. The Mets GM is going to have to take care of that himself.

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Thoughts on the New York Mets at Memorial Day, 2015

Posted on by Paul
Members of the New York City Police Department unfurl a giant American flag across the outfield at Citi Field during the Mets' 2015 home opener in April (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
Members of the New York City Police Department unfurl a giant American flag across the outfield at Citi Field before the Mets’ 2015 home opener in April (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)

Memorial Day is often thought of as the time that it makes sense to start looking at the MLB standings. More than a quarter of the schedule has been played, and we think we’re getting a handle on which teams are good, which teams could be “good enough,” and which teams need to wait until next year.

This Memorial Day certainly went better for the New York Mets than last year’s. No one got fired and they managed to win their game.

But all the hope and optimism generated by April’s 11-game winning streak are gone. Despite today’s victory, the Mets are just four games over the .500 mark and are mathematically closer to the third-place Atlanta Braves than the first place Washington Nationals.

Over the last seven days, the Mets are 2-5 and have been outscored 43-17. A lineup that had several question marks on Opening Day is now a serious cause for concern thanks to disappointing performances and injuries.

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First baseball cards of 2015

Posted on by Paul

It took a little longer for this year’s baseball cards to reach retailers near me, but I finally found them today and splurged to by a “value box” of 2015 Topps Series 1 from Target.

Daniel-Murphy Daniel-Murphy-b

I really like this year’s design. The colorful borders help the 2015 cards to stand out from Topps’ recent efforts, and really, they don’t look much like anything else in the company’s 60+ years of flagship sets. The card fronts are mercifully foil free except for the Topps logo in most cases, and the backs have large, easy-to-read card numbers.

Or maybe I’m just happy that I found some Mets in my 10 packs of cards. Daniel Murphy was the top card on the first regular pack of 2015 baseball cards I opened. (He could have been my first card of the year, except I wanted to see what was in the bonus pack before I got started.)

And the Mets kept coming.

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Mets baseball cards from Japan

Posted on by Paul

I have a number of Japanese baseball cards in my collection. Most feature Japanese players who signed with the Mets or North American players who went on to play in the Atlantic League.

Until recently, I didn’t have any Japanese baseball cards of Major League Baseball players… it just never occurred to me to look for them.

Earlier this month, Kenny posted scans of some cards he picked up during a recent trip to Japan (link potentially NSFW due to scans of bikini model cards) at his blog, Torren’ Up Cards.

Jose-Reyes Jose-Reyes-b

Among the baseball cards were some produced by Upper Deck for Kelloggs in 2008, and I noticed a partially obscured Jose Reyes card in the image. I left a comment hoping to get a better look at it in a future post, and before you know it Kenny sent me a copy for my own collection.

According to Kenny, the back of the Reyes card says: “Represented the Dominican Republic in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, had a .300 average, 19 HRs & 81 RBI in the regular season which were all career highs. For three consecutive seasons, in 2005, 2006 & 2007, he led the league in stolen bases.”

(I’m not sure how you’re seeing the images above, but the Kelloggs card does have traditional square corners.)

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