LATEST STORIES FROM METS GUY IN MICHIGAN
Hostess baseball cards in 1976 fit in with good times, bicentennial
The Hostess sets printed on the bottoms of snack boxes between 1975 and 1979 looked pretty similar, with the white borders and simple listing of a player's name, team and position.Except, of course, for the 1976 issue.The cards have bold red, white and blue bars across the bottom – making sure they'd blend in perfectly with everything else during that magical bicentennial year...
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January 14, 2012
Discuss
Twinkies were fine, but the cards were better
I confess there was some sadness when I learned this week that Hostess was filing for bankruptcy.It's not a love for Twinkies, you understand. I haven't enjoyed one in years.But from 1975 to 1979, I'd rush to the Twinkies section of Dan's Supreme and Pathmark to turn over box after box, scanning the bottom for elusive Mets. There were cards issued in 1993, too, but...
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January 12, 2012
Mets ornament of the day: Dropping a big ball in hopes of a better year
I'm not a big New Year's Eve person. But I'm eagerly celebrating the end of 2011.This has not been a good year. At the risk of tempting fate, I'm very happy to be throwing out the 2011 calendar in hopes that 2012 won't be as bad.I'm not saying that we are not blessed as a whole, or that there have not been some good times during the past 12 months.Manny Acosta...
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December 30, 2011
Mets ornaments of the day: The best present ever
I opened some wonderful Christmas gifts this year and in the past, but there is one that stands above all others.You have to understand that I've always loved baseball uniforms. Stores didn't start selling polyester replicas until I was in high school. They were not as close as to the authentic versions as you see today. Everything was polyester, and all the lettering was screen...
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December 26, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Johan Santana and the rare benefit of being a Michigan Mets fan
There are very few benefits to being a Mets fan in Michigan.It's nice when the Mets come to Detroit to play the Tigers at Comerica Park because most of the Detroit fans are crowded around the Tigers dugout before and after the game. With less competition, I was able to have nice experiences with Chip Hale and Scott Hairston before the game.And after the game, Manny Acosta famously...
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December 25, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Some of the best aren't found in a store
Mets ornaments are special for different reasons. Some are hard to find. Some are linked to specific events. Some pay tribute to individual players.And others are special because of the person who made them.The baseball room Christmas tree is, of course, a great source of pride and family discussion. My daughter Caroline usually helps me set it up and decorate it.Caroline also is...
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December 24, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: David Wright, who is NOT going to the Phillies
Some silly Phillies fans are spreading ugly Twitter rumors that the Mets are going to trade David Wright to their goofy little team.Silly Phillies fans.The team would have to throw in Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, that bell they broke and a Pat's King of Steaks stand to go alongside the Shake Shack for us to even begin the conversation. For one thing, nothing good comes of a trade with...
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December 23, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Jerry Manuel giving Santa the bunt sign
Jose Reyes got a lot of gruff for bunting in his last Mets at-bat, believing he wanted to snag one more base hit then scamper off to greener pastures with a batting title added to his resume.Not true. I think Jose was paying tribute to former manager Jerry Manuel. Manuel was known for his devotion to bunting. This made his managing pretty predictable.Man on first with no outs? Jerry...
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December 22, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Santa needs to get his treadmill fixed
This has been a year of challenges, and among the latest is that the family treadmill is broken.This frustrating because it is not all that old, and it's been a staple of my effort to first lose weight and then to keep it off.The replacement part costs nearly as much as a new machine, so I dragged my wife and daughter to four sporting goods stores one night this week.This, after...
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December 22, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Mike Piazza, a really big star
Mike Piazza wasn't “The Franchise,” because there can be only one. But when we start compling a list of the best players to wear the Mets uniform, he's certainly near the top.Note that such a list would have to be limited to guys who played for the Mets in their prime. There is absolutely no shame in boasting that Willie Mays, Warren Spahn, Duke Snider, Richie Ashburn and Yogi...
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December 20, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Spring training and other Florida memories
It's getting close to the point that I've seen the Mets play in Florida as many times as I've seen them play in New York.My parents thoughtfully moved to Florida in the early 1990s, selecting a spot about 40 miles from the Mets spring home in Port St. Lucie. And the Cardinals later moved their shared spring home to Jupiter, right near the parental homestead.This has led to some pretty...
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December 19, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: 1988, so close
Well, I fell just short of obtaining something recently. I was so certain, so close. It had to happen.Except that it didn't.I remember feeling this way exactly once before.I was so sure the Mets were going to the 1988 World Series, and that they'd win it. It was in the bag.The 1986 championship season was followed by a year devastated by injuries. But the 1988 Mets were incredible...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 18, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Mets nutcracker not needed for peanuts
I've been spending a great deal of time in Lansing, Mich., lately covering activity in and around the state Capitol.You know the expression about laws and sausage-making. Well, I like to see the process. I've enjoyed my new assignment.One of the best parts of downtown Lansing is a magical place called The Peanut Store, located on Washington Square a block from the Capitol...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 16, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: There was no question about Johan Santana in 2008
Lots of talk about Johan Santana being a “question mark” for the upcoming season. I'm not sure what kind of punctuation mark he'd get for 2011, considering he missed the entire season.Well, he'll always be in mid-season form on the Christmas tree.I have a several Santanas on the tree, and one is more interesting than the others. The face could be anyone from Jay Hook to Pat Misch...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 14, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: David Wright, Pedro and a soon-to-be-jinxed Santa
The Mets had their annual Christmas party today. This has known to be a jinx to the player wearing the Santa suit, and know to be a very good day when Anna Benson showed up in her now infamous elf costume.So today we have a Forever Collectibles version of what the day is like, with Mets players David Wright and Pedro Martinez posing with Santa. Is this a since-departed teammate...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 13, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Shea Stadium, a little askew
No Mets tree would be complete without at least one tribute to Shea Stadium.Like the beloved ballpark, my ornament is a little off. The Mets logo that is supposed to help the ornament hang straight.This one is a little askew, but so was Shea. That's the way I'm rationalized this one, which wasn't quite pictured this way in the photo on eBay. Fighting with eBay vendors on a fairly...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 12, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Citi Field
I love baseball stadiums.Lets' face it, with very few exceptions, a hockey rink is a hockey rink, and I think it's safe to say the same goes for the other lesser sports.But a baseball stadium is different. It can have an impact on the game itself, with green monsters, short porches, Tal's Hills, bricks and ivy and deafening Metrodomes.The ballpark can be a point of pride, like Camden...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 11, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Pedro Martinez, quirky and fun
I read Thursday that Pedro Martinez has retired.I confess that this surprised me, because I thought Pedro Martinez has already retired. I mistakenly came to this conclusion because Pedro hasn't pitched since he lost two games against the vile team that must not be named in the 2009 World Series for another team that must not be named.To be honest, I had blotted that entire World...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 10, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Reminder of a simpler time
Not every Mets ornament has to be a fancy, mass-produced affair.We lived in Connecticut for three years, which was nice because it's close enough to the homeland that we could still go to Mets games and find Mets items in stores mixed in with the Red Sox gear and stuff for the other team that will not be mentioned during the nice holiday season.Our Christmas tree was fairly bare...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 09, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Jose Reyes in happier times
It's going to be a little crowded on the back of the tree in the baseball room, because Jose was a popular ornament subject.In going through the loss of Reyes to the Marlins – a rival I confess to not openly hating – I quickly moved through the denial, anger and bargaining stages and went straight to depression. But we can't have a blue Christmas. Oh, maybe a blue and orange...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 06, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: Jose Reyes, headed to the back of the tree
Well, guess who is going to be hanging in the back of the tree this year.Forever Collectibles had several years making larger ornaments of individual players, none of which drew even a passing resemblance of the player intended to be depicted.I suspect this is like that first year of Starting Lineup figures, where the company had about five poses and five heads – “Slap the white...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 05, 2011
Mets ornament of the day: The elusive Mr. Met
It started innocently, with a Mets ornament or two mixed in with our others on the Christmas tree.But then I started expanding, tracing Tom Seaver's career in ornaments and adding Hallmark decorations featuring baseball players.Several years later, when we had our first house, my wife surprised me with an artificial tree for the baseball room – a special tree to fill be with baseball...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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December 04, 2011
Postcard tour: Cleveland, from 'The Mistake' to the Jake
It doesn't have the retro charm of Camden Yards, the spectacular views of PNC Park or the iconic bay blasts of AT&T Park's McCovey Cove.But Progressive Field in Cleveland is a wonderful place to see a ballgame. Cleveland residents must be pretty proud of it, too, based on the number of postcards I've found when visiting the city.I've seen a number of games at...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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October 09, 2011
Friday Five takes an artistic turn
I almost didn't get in.After waiting months for the double-bill of Switchfoot and Anberlin at Calvin College, I walked up to the ticket booth as the student worker was setting things up.“You've got tickets, right?” I asked. I wasn't worried. Once I attended a concert at Calvin, and it was a gathering of John Reuben and about 50 friends.“We've got two.”I smiled.“No, I'm...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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September 30, 2011
Friday Five: Google, Beltran and the Diet 'iCoke' machine make for a San Francisco treat
This week's Deezo Friday Five recalls some of the things I learned while attending an education writers conference in the Bay Area this week.For instance, I had no idea that there are palm trees in San Fran. After seeing all those Giants fans in parkas at Candlestick Park all those years, I assumed it was a colder place. But here are some more interesting things.1)GoogleplexWe all...
Via Mets Guy in Michigan
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September 25, 2011
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