Posted in Uncategorized

Merry Christmas

B428fvuCIAA1cXrI’d like to take a moment to wish you all a merry Christmas (or a happy Thursday, if you don’t celebrate the Christian holiday.)

I haven’t written anything here in almost a month. Partly that’s due to having less free time to write – I took a seasonal job at a department store so I’d have some money coming in during the holidays. Partly it’s due to not having much to write about – while John Mayberry Jr. may turn out to be an important part of the Mets’ bench, I don’t really have much to say about him.

And Mayberry’s been the most interesting addition to the Mets’ roster since the early signing of Michael Cuddyer. At some point, I’ll probably want to talk about the moves that the Marlins, Braves and Phillies have been making this winter… but that can wait until we get closer to spring training.

(And how about those Padres and Dodgers? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen two teams in the same division make such significant roster overhauls during the same off-season.)

Mike-PiazzaUntil today, I hadn’t added many new baseball cards to my collection in the last month. But when I got home from work today, I found a surprise envelope from Geof, who occasionally sends interesting packages my way. I opened it to find a Mets yearbook from 1972, an issue of Time magazine from 1986 with a young Doc Gooden on the cover, some vintage Topps baseball coins, and an assortment of oddball baseball cards.

They are all awesome, but I’m going to save most of them for another time. But this is the perfect time to feature one, a Mike Piazza card that went right on our Christmas tree. Pacific certainly did produce some interesting baseball cards, once upon a time.

Posted in Baseball, Uncategorized

Winnings from Collector’s Crack “Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web”

Last month, I entered the “Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web” run by Mark at Collector’s Crack: Alaska’s #1 Sports Card and Collectibles Blog. Out of 43 entrants, I was the only one who correctly picked the San Francisco Giants as the winners of the 2014 World Series. (And that turned out to be a good thing, because I would have missed all the tie breakers.)

My prize arrived yesterday, complete with a certificate recognizing me as the grand prize winner.

Winner

Continue reading “Winnings from Collector’s Crack “Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web””

Posted in Auction Watch, Baseball, Uncategorized

Infamous Mike Piazza bat shard could fetch $10,000

Mike Piazza‘s first inning at bat against Roger Clemens in Game 2 of the 2000 World Series led to one of the more bizarre moments in post-season history.

Now, some collector has the chance to own the bat shard that was at the center of the controversy.

This Mike Piazza bat shard. tossed by Roger Clemens during the 2000 World Series, is up for auction next month. (Heritage Auctions photo)
This Mike Piazza bat shard. tossed by Roger Clemens during the 2000 World Series, is up for auction next month. (Heritage Auctions photo)

Former New York Yankees strength and conditioning coach Jeff Mangold is selling the bat barrel through Dallas-based Heritage Auctions on Saturday, February 22nd. Early internet bidding had already raised the price to $4,000 as of Wednesday evening; the auction catalog estimate is $10,000 plus.

“I’ve had this for 13 years,” Mangold told ESPN’s Darren Rovell. “It was just sitting in my office and very few people knew about it. But I think this is an article of sports memorabilia that has some substance to it.”

So, baseball fans, if you had $10,000 to spend on a piece of memorabilia, is this something you’d want in your collection? I think I’d pass – the incident is really not the high point of either player’s career nor one I especially enjoy remembering.

You can follow Paul’s Random Baseball Stuff on Facebook or Google+, see my photos on Flickr and Instagram, and follow @Paul_Hadsall on Twitter, where I talk about about a variety of things in addition to baseball.

Posted in Baseball, Uncategorized

9 moments from 2013: Probably not the Hall of Fame day he was hoping for

During the final nine days of 2013, I’m going to revisit nine memorable baseball moments from the year.

Mike Piazza acknowledges the cheering crowd on Sept. 29, 2013 (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
Mike Piazza acknowledges the cheering crowd on Sept. 29, 2013 (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)

On September 29th, the catcher with the most home runs in Major League Baseball history was celebrated at a Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

It was two months later and 200 miles south of the celebration he had probably been hoping for at the beginning of the year, but Mike Piazza was gracious as he was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.

Continue reading “9 moments from 2013: Probably not the Hall of Fame day he was hoping for”