2000 TOPPS RICKEY HENDERSON Baseball cards taught me that Hall of Famers Yogi Berra, Duke Snider and Warren Spahn played for the Mets. I have vivid memories of Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Mike Piazza and Tom Seaver playing for my favorite team. Yet, somehow, it’s not an immediate memory for me of Rickey Henderson [...]
1991 NOBODY BEATS THE WIZ BOB W. JOHNSON Card of the Week: Return of the Revenge of the Beyond the Valley of the Escape from the Card of the Week: Episode 1: Bob Johnson Well, it’s been over seven years since I’ve written one of these thingamabobs, so forgive the rust… In the intervening years [...]
2007 TOPPS WILLIE RANDOLPH With the Mets hiring a coach from the Yankees with no previous MLB managerial experience, my thoughts turned to Willie Randolph. The Mets hired Randolph following the 2004 season, in which he served as Joe Torre’s bench coach. The previous 10 years, Randolph was the team’s third base coach. And in [...]
1969 DECKLE JERRY KOOSMAN Most Topps inserts from the 1960s and 1970s get a big thumbs up from me. And then there’s this deckle insert from 1969. It would be curious to know the exec who greenlighted a glossy, black and white offering. And if that contrast wasn’t bad enough, we have the “deckle” edging. [...]
1981 DONRUSS MIKE JORGENSEN We all knew that the world of baseball card collectors was going to be turned upside down back in 1981, when Fleer and Donruss were allowed to compete with Topps. Their first offerings in 1981 weren’t the most-polished, as there were error cards galore in the two non-Topps sets. Additionally, the [...]
Mets, Padres, Angels and Yankees cards inside!
1988 TOPPS KEITH HERNANDEZ Earlier this week, I finally finished putting my Topps doubles and cards from other manufacturers of players who made the Hall of Fame into plastic sheets and binders. The final (current) tally is 134 players and managers and 1,516 cards. It’s a project that has been on the to-do list for [...]
2018 TOPPS HERITAGE MARK VIENTOS Mark Vientos hit two homers in a Spring Training game against the Marlins today, which made me search for one of his cards. This Heritage card jumped out to me, with its ultra-tight shot of Vientos. But what really caught my eye was the double yellow combination. The big circle [...]
1970 TOPPS DUFFY DYER This Duffy Dyer card is from the last series in what at the time was the largest set Topps had ever produced. As one who has had the privilege/misfortune to chase high-series cards in a bunch of different sets over the years, it has always seemed to me that these cards [...]
1962 TOPPS ROGER CRAIG My collection has complete sets from the late 90s to 1963, plus 1961. Currently, my chase includes 1960, 1957 and the first series of 1952. Missing is 1962, the first year of the Mets, one that would seem to be a key set for a Mets fan who collects cards. How [...]
The Good's Gone?
1984 FLEER UPDATE DWIGHT GOODEN In 1990 I started a Dwight Gooden collection. Previously, my interest was all about collecting complete sets and that’s still very much my priority. But, given all of the various card manufacturers that were around then, it seemed reasonable to have a single-player corner in my collection. Gooden had already [...]