Mets Card of the Week: Four Stanzas on a Partially Completed Checklist

I had a crude grip on the pencil when I filled in these squares-- High up the neck and held too tightly, The hexagon imprinting Lines on my fingers That would remain there for hours. This was the sixth and final series and summer was over-- Second grade had started, and I imagine That white-haired [...]

Mets Card of the Week: Baseball goes to the movies

[Editor's Note: The Card of the Week fact-checking team is unavailable this week, suffering as they are from collective nervous exhaustion brought on by Card of the Week's consistently tenuous grasp of the very facts that they are sworn to uphold. As a result, we cannot vouch for the complete accuracy of this week's installment.] [...]

Mets Card of the Week: History of 31

It's reasonable to expect that the Mets will retire Mike Piazza's 31 this year. It's equally reasonable to expect that they'll handle the announcement in their patented tone-deaf manner, timed so that any reasonable cynic could mark it as compensation for a lost free agent or a lost season. But never mind that-- the bottom [...]

Mets Card of the Week: 2015 Yoenis Cespedes

2015 TOPPS CHROME UPDATE YOENIS CESPEDES Last week's meditation on Mike Piazza's brief time in Miami was sparked when I pulled this pulsating piece of chrome out of a box from the local Target. Yoenis Cespedes' lifespan with the Mets will probably amount to 57 regular-season games and the length and breadth of the 2015 [...]

Mets Card of the Week: 1998 Mike Piazza

1998 LEAF ROOKIES & STARS MIKE PIAZZA Sometimes I'm sure it was a hallucination. The idea that Mike Piazza's road from Los Angeles to New York included a week in Miami playing for the Florida Marlins just seems surreal. But fortunately a number of card companies were on hand to capture this mid-1998 madness. Among [...]

Interview with former Mets prospect Jeff Grose: Part 2

INTERVIEW WITH JEFF GROSE: PART 2 Last week in this space we featured part 1 of our discussion with Jeff Grose. We heard about his early days with the Mets, Spring Training memories, and the onset of arm troubles. We wrap up today with his recollections of some of his teammates, the emotional end of [...]