1986 TOPPS LEN DYKSTRA Nails, we called him. He showed up in 1985, raw and disruptive. He was a dervish, always adjusting a batting glove or fidgeting with his helmet. He got dirty, diving and sliding and dribbling brown spittle down the front of his shirt. Tough as nails. But come 1986, Lenny's value amounted [...]
1981 TOPPS MARK BOMBACK During a game in the recent Mets-Phillies series, talk in the broadcast booth turned to hitters who over the years have owned the Mets. And as these discussions are wont, the topic soon shifted to Willie Stargell and his 60 career HRs against our boys. In an effort to lionize Stargell, [...]
1973 TOPPS HANK WEBB I was fortunate enough to catch the Mets' opening weekend, thanks to a free preview of MLB Extra Innings. Opening Night was a crystallization of much that I expect will be wrong with the Mets this year: a jaw-grindingly enigmatic showing from Pelfrey, a somnolent offensive performance. Things improved over the [...]
1976 TOPPS FELIX MILLAN Fans today are amazed by how far Josh Thole chokes up on the bat. He had nothing on Felix Millan. If you take a look at Millan’s 1976 card, you might think he was fooling around for the camera. But this was actually how he held the bat when he was [...]
1977 TOPPS JOE TORRE People like to attach themselves to greatness by claiming to be at epic sporting events. I don’t know if greatness is necessarily on the table here, but I actually was one of the 6,505 fans who saw the managerial debut of Joe Torre in 1977. Of course, we had no idea [...]
1974 TOPPS BOB APODACA ERROR I’m in medical publishing, so I know a thing or two about printing errors. I recall running a cover once that referred to “resluts” instead of “results.” And we all know that it is bad enough to slut once. But to reslut? This was such a signal mistake that we [...]
1976 TOPPS RANDY TATE It can be hard to distinguish Randy Tate from the Bobbs and Todds and Webbs and Crams and all the other single-syllabled 1970s Mets' pitchers of no particular report. He has just one major league season to his name, during which he went 5-13 with a 4.45 ERA. He was back [...]
2011 TOPPS DIAMOND DILLON GEE After my previous Mets misadventures with the new Topps set, I resolved to give it another go. And my luck improved-- I pulled this sparkly, shiny, spangly card of Dillon Gee. It was so shiny, sparkly, and spangly that I could only say one thing upon pulling it: “Gee.” You [...]
2005 TOPPS ALL-TIME FAN FAVORITES ED KRANEPOOL This card is like one of those off-kilter dreams where you're falling in love with your spouse, but it's not really your spouse. Maybe your dream spouse is shorter than she is in waking life. Or maybe he has more charm and humor. Invariably, you wake up feeling [...]
2001 FLEER E-X BRIAN COLE ROOKIE AUTO Last week, I heard someone make an offhand comment on DC talk radio to the effect that the Mets are a “cursed franchise.” The hosts then moved on to a discussion of why the Wizards can’t win on the road or why the Caps can’t score, or some [...]
2011 TOPPS Lucas Duda Leap with me, if you will, into the present. The kids were looking at the pegs of Pokemon cards in Target over the weekend, and the 2011 Topps cards caught my eye. “The new cards are out! The new cards are out!” I yelled. Well, actually I didn't. But I did [...]
This is all about the gum. It could be about a lot of different things, I suppose. The vibrant Laughlin artwork. The earlier iterations of the set (1967 and 1970), or the subsequent update (1978). Maybe the trajectory of the Topps monopoly… Or perhaps the 1969 World Series itself. Which I suspect you all know [...]