Sometimes Trades Come from the Weirdest Places

Sometimes Trades Come from the Weirdest Places
November 20th, 2009 by slangon

Well, I guess this really isn’t a trade since I didn’t give anything up for them, but they’re a bunch of cards that found their way into my hands. And they came from my Dad of all people. My parents came to visit the other day and my Dad just hands me this stack of top-loaders and keeps walking to say hello to the wife. Turns out their church was having some kind of flea market and some dude was selling cards for $0.25 a pop, so my Old Man hooked me up.

Here’s what I got.

1985 Leaf #62 Keith Hernandez

The ‘stache is in full effect. I just recently finished reading a book Hernandez wrote called If at First… which is a game by game account of the ’85 Mets season from his perspective. Pretty interesting. Oddly enough, my dad also gave me that book.

1987 Kaybee #17 Keith Hernandez

I vaguely remember getting these sets as a kid. I still have a few in their boxes. One is a K-Mart set, I think, and another is a different Kaybee set. They were pretty cool for their time. A box full of nothing but the biggest stars of the day.

1989 Topps #300 Darryl Strawberry

Nobody does that leg kick any more, do they? And I guess nobody’s that skinny any more.

2001 Topps Opening Day #4 Robin Ventura

Is he officially the only dude credited with a grand slam single? You know whats a little maddening? Ventura is tied with Willie McCovey for most career grand slams in the National League. You know would have happened if he finished running them bases?

2001 UD Legends of New York #66 Donn Clendenon

2001 UD Legends of New York #72 Lenny Dykstra

I’ve slowly been gathering these cards from different places without really trying. I kind of like them. I like that they vaguely look like a ticket stub. I like that they have awesome Mets through the years. I even like the bizarre felt/fuzz team logo. (I cannot for the life of me remember which blog it was, but a couple of months ago, maybe half a year ago, some blog I was reading mentioned these cards and then proceeded to go on about their phobia/aversion to the fuzz on these cards. I belive they also mentioned not liking cotton balls. Anyone remember that?)

2003 UD Authentics #85 Tom Seaver

Like I said, my dad paid $0.25 a pop for all these cards, but this one’s top loader had $4.00 written on it in sharpie, which is weird because when I looked this card up on Beckett (for whatever that’s worth) its high-grade value was $0.75. I wonder what the story with that is.

2003 Fleer Patchworks #31 Mike Piazza

I’m always down with getting Mikey P. cards, but this one is kind of odd. I always felt that Mike had a really good looking swing when he was on, like what old-time ball players call a “pretty” swing. I’ve seen hundreds of photos of Mike in mid-swing, or after-swing watching the ball sail majestically out of sight. In light of all those great photos out there of Mike, this card seems like an odd photo choice. Hidden face, hidden number (except for the wrist band), barely noticeable Mets logo, hardly any bat, and worst of all that giant hunch-back.

2006 Topps #520 Carlos Beltran

This was the first card after Carlos’ first year in New York. I remember feeling pretty bad for him that year. I seem to recall a couple of injuries, and overall just a down year. I also recall the Mets fans riding him mercilessly because of it. Now that I mention it, I also remember Mike Piazzas first year in New York when he would get booed pretty much every time he didn’t hit a home run. I’m beginning to see why a lot of people don’t like Mets fans.

2007 Upper Deck Series 1 #419 Mike Piazza

Mike Piazza in my mind will always be a Met. I’m sure there’s Dodger fans out there who say the same thing about him and the Dodgers. But Mets fan is what I am, so Met is what he is to me. So here we have a card of a Met, pictured in a Padres uniform, listed as an Athletic.