TOPPS ALL-STAR ROOKIES
Since 1959, Topps has been naming an annual All-Star Rookie roster, composed generally of eight position players, a left-handed pitcher, and a right-handed pitcher.
Along with a 40′ yacht and a roomful of supermodels, each player named to the squad receives the All-Star rookie designation on their following year’s card. Up through 1972, this took the form of a gold trophy; in 1973, the award transitioned to a gold cup with a matching base, until finally morphing into a gold cup with a wood-grain base in 1994.
Through the 2014 season, a total of 22 Mets players have been recognized by Topps with this honor:
1962: Al Jackson
1963: Jesse Gonder
1965: Ron Swoboda
1966: Cleon Jones
1967: Tom Seaver
1968: Ken Boswell, Jerry Koosman
1972: Jon Matlack
1981: Hubie Brooks, Mookie Wilson
1983: Darryl Strawberry
1984: Mike Fitzgerald, Dwight Gooden
1985: Roger McDowell
1989: Gregg Jefferies
1992: Todd Hundley, Jeff Kent
2000: Jay Payton
2001: Tsuyoshi Shinjo
2003: Ty Wigginton
2009: Omir Santos
2014: Travis d’Arnaud
Some random thoughts on this list:
- Topps must have seen 1969 coming with that run of players from 1965 through 1968.
- Damn, did the ’70s (mostly) suck. And all hail Jonathan Trumpbour Matlack, whose Rookie-of-the-Year campaign in 1972 prevented the franchise from taking a decade-spanning oh’fer…
- As with 1969, 1986 seems inevitable when you see Mookie, Straw, Doc, and McDowell as precursor events. (And let’s not forget that Hubie Brooks and Mike Fitzgerald turned into half of Gary Carter.)
- Damn, did the ’90s (mostly) suck.
- Representing the aughts: Jay Payton, Tsuyoshi Shinjo, Ty Wigginton, and Omir Santos. Sigh.
- OK, it was only six years ago, but I completely forgot that Omir Santos was a thing. A long-time minor-leaguer, he somehow managed to log 281 ABs as a 28-year old rookie, batting .261 with seven home runs. His big-league career after 2009 consisted of 31 essentially futile ABs.
- Good to see that every Mets player to ever win a Rookie-of-the-Year award is represented on the list. Except, wait a second, they’re not. You might notice that Jacob deGrom was not identified as the top rookie RHP in 2014; instead the cup went to Masahiro Tanaka…
I look forward to the Ceciliani card.
Whoever made the decision to go from the trophy to the bedpan needs to be punished severely.
I feel like the bedpan was appropriate for Santos…