Thanks to the generosity of Beardy, I got the Obak bug. Well, maybe not that bad. I still don’t think I’m going to collect the set, but good ole Beardy sent me 3 out of the 4 Mets cards from the set, so I figured I might as well at least try and track down that last Mets card. While fishing around for it on eBay, I stumbled across this card, which was at a very cheap price and ending soon, so I couldn’t help myself.

2009 Obak #A42 Gregg Jefferies Autograph #’d 30/50

It’s always cool to get an autographed card from a player on your favorite team, especially when it’s from a set as good looking as this. Actually, now that I think about it, I believe this is my first issued Mets autographed card. I have a couple of ’63 Mets cards that were autographed, but this is the first one that was issued from a set.

In thinking about Jefferies, I notice a kind of disturbing trend within the Mets organization. When Jefferies came up in the late 80’s, I remember there being so much hype about him, which was probably deserved. I mean the guy did win back to back Minor League Player of the Year awards and was tearing the cover off the ball down there. But it seemed like he was sooooo hyped up, when he finally made it to New York, that the fans and media were eating him alive when he didn’t hit a homer every time he came to bat. He ended up getting fed up with it and never really produced for the Mets. I think he ended up having a couple of solid seasons for St. Louis, maybe, but overall, was not the player he was hyped up to be.

Was he not as good as the Mets PR machine made him out to be, or did all the pressure and expectations get to him? Was it the chicken or the egg?

I feel like a similar scenario played out for Fernando Martinez this year. It seems like every other year there’s some Mets prospect who gets the same treatment: Jay Payton, Alex Escobar, Timo Perez, Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber. Anyone remember “Generation K”? I guess Wright and Reyes are exceptions, but even the way that the Reyes thing is going, I’m not 100% on him right now.

If the Mets have a guy down on the farm that’s really that awesome, I really wish they would just keep it to themselves and just bring him up when he’s ready and let him play.

I also feel like I’m so incredibly fed up with the Mets right now that I’m looking for any reason to bash them.

Anyway, I wish things worked out better for us both, Gregg, but cool card nonetheless.

Tags: 2009 Obak, Autographs, Gregg Jefferies, prospects
Filed Under: It Came from the 'Bay by slangon
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