Trade with an Underdog

I have been actively seeking good homes for all of my non-baseball cards.  I have pretty much taken care of hockey (only 3 more cards to go!) and have made some progress with the football and basketball cards.

I had a small stack of San Diego Chargers that I was looking for a nice home.  I used Zistle to look for some potential trade partners when I found Zach of The Underdog Collector.  He was more than happy to take these cards off my hands and sent along some nice Mets cards in return.

Zach also sent over this oversized Dwight Gooden.  It was a nice suprise and my first oversized Mets card!  Thanks Zach!

Zach blogged about our trade back in October.  You can really see how far behind from current time I am on these posts.  

Let me know if you would like some football and basketball cards.  I saw a couple other blogs offering their unwanted non-baseball cards.  I will hopefully be reaching out to those that commented on those posts soon.

Zistle Trade #17

This Zistle trade was with user glassnickels.

Not too long before glassnickels sent a trade request, I had purchased a number of 2007 Upper Deck Goudey packs.  I found them in the clearance section at a local drug store for $0.75 a pack.  I ended up with a few Mets, a number of short prints, and a Ken Griffey, Jr. relic.  Griffey was one of my favorite players to collect back in the day and pulling a relic was quite the surprise.

Anyway, glassnickels requested a bunch of these for his set.  He offered quite a large number of cards in return when compared to my previous Zistle trades.

I debated leaving off those 1991 Fleer, but I just need one of each Met.  They look bad due to their yellow color, but at least they look different.

Some more glorious 1992 cards from Donruss and Score.  It looks like Score kept to two basic types of card shots that year.  Hitters hitting and pitchers pitching.

I sometimes forget that Carlos Gomez started out with the Mets.  He was part of the deal that brought Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins to Queens.

Zistle Trade #16

This Zistle trade with user jkgrice was a Topps trade.  I offered up some miscellaneous Topps cards for some Mets in return.  A couple of modifications later and we had a trade.

The 1992 Topps set had some decent card photography.  The Hubie Brooks card is a good action shot showing two base runners on the move.

I did not notice this until looking at these scans, but all of these cards (except the last one) show the Mets various home game uniforms.  Other than their colors, the Mets have stayed pretty consistent with their uniforms.

Zistle Trade #15

Here is another trade completed through Zistle.  This one with user pb68.  I sent him some Cleveland Cavaliers and Oakland Raiders for some Mets.

Here are the cards I received in return:

Nicko Riesgo is an interesting card (and a name that rhymes!).  He never appeared in an MLB game as a Met, but had one decent season playing for their single-A Florida league team.  I think that this 1991 Bowman card is noting that accomplishment.

He would make it to the majors with the Montreal Expos in 1991.  His first of only four game appearances was a contest between the Expos and the Mets.  He recorded his only MLB hit off Frank Viola that game.  He would go hit-less in his other three appearances and after that he was pretty much bounced from team to team.  He would never reach the big leagues again.  He would later become a replacement player with the Boston Red Sox in 1995 during spring training while the players were on strike.  

2014 Topps Chrome Group Break

With 2015 Topps Series One being released next month, I thought what a better time to put up a post featuring some 2014 product.

Alex over at Chavez Ravining held a group break for 2014 Topps Chrome.  This was my second group break I have participated in, so far.  Of course, I selected the Mets, but was also randomly given the Yankees.  I fared a little better with the Yankees, as far as inserts and refractors go.  I am not complaining about the Mets cards that I received, though.

Alex was kind enough to throw in a few extra cards, too.

I also participated in a fantasy league that Alex started last season.  It was my first time doing fantasy baseball since something like 2006.  I was not any good then, so I expected something similar.  Well, I ended in a tie with Alex for first place!  He was kind enough to send some Mets my way for my finish that I will show off in a future post, so thank you Alex for the cards!  I still have to get a package back out to you for hosting the league and allowing me to participate.

Zistle Trade #14

Another trade in the books with Zistle user neckababy1.  He offered a handful of Mets for a few cards in return.  He has been a good source for Darryl Strawberry cards thus far.

Here is what I received:

The Hall of Fame ballots were made official yesterday.  Mike Piazza will have to wait another year to be elected.  It was a pretty stacked list this year with those getting elected being very deserving.  Piazza will be the top holdover next year and will only have one sure thing in Ken Griffey, Jr. in front of him.

I think the biggest oversight on this year's ballot was Carlos Delgado.  He did not receive enough votes to remain on the ballot next year.  Oh, and this was just his first year of eligibility.  He definitely had an amazing career.  Some might say he was not quite a Hall of Famer, while others will say different.  He does deserve, at the least, to be on the ballot longer than one year.  I feel it is another reason to throw amongst the many others to reevaluate the voting process for the Hall of Fame.

Zistle Trade #13

Lucky number 13!  This Zistle trade was with fellow blogger Laurie at LV's TTM autographs and Baseball Cards.

I initiated this trade offering a variety cards that fit her various collections.

Here is what I received in return:

Those 1990 Topps Traded complete my base set Mets needs for 1990 Topps!  I think that is my first Topps base set completed, so far.