It's Opening Day.....

Well the best day of the year is here....OPENING DAY.


Here are my predictions for this season etched forever in the blogosphere.  I'm sure some strange things will play out and you can poke fun at some of my selections.

Pirates

80-82

Bell 28 HR

Pirates finish above .500

Mets

88-74

Conforto 33 HR

Make the playoff as WC

 AL East - Yankees
AL Central - Indians
AL West - Astros



Wildcard 1 - Red Sox
Wildcard 2 - Angels



Best Record in the AL - Astros
ALCS - Astros over Indians



NL East - Nats
NL Central - Cubs
NL West - Dodgers



Wildcard 1 Cardinals
Wildcard 2 Mets - Let the blasting begin



Best Record in the NL - Nats


NLCS - Dodgers over Nats



World Series - Astros over Dodgers (6 games)




AL MVP - Mike Trout
NL MVP - Bryce Harper



AL Cy Young - Chris Sale
NL Cy Young - Noah Syndergaard


AL ROY - Willie Calhoun
NL ROY - Ronald Ocuna

AL HR Stanton

NL HR  Goldschmidt

AL WAR Trout

NL WAR Arenado

Well what is a post without a card.  So here is one I picked up off eBay with hopes of adding some more the seller was taking offers on but could not get  a deal worked out.  Heres a nice chunk of grey jersey or pants of David Wright from museum collection.  That's one guy I feel sorry for with all the medical issues he's had these past few years especially the way he played the game and went about the game.  Was hoping he'd be able to make it back, but now its highly unlikely. 

Well Rusty Staub or the Le Grande Orange has passed away this morning.  He was always raising funds for police and fire fighters killed in the line of duty. Here's and interesting stat the he holds as he's the only player in MLB history to have at least 500 hits with four different teams.

Thanks for reading this far

LETS GO METS



The Home Run Apple Rises Again!!!

Yes, cue all the smart ass remarks for that title.


I'm still skimming the blogs and checking Twitter as time allows and should become more active in the very near future.


It has been a busy few months and things have started to settle down finally.  Had two different job changes and a shift change in the past 6 months.  Going from working midnights for almost 9 years and changing to a dayshift job has been an experience.  The family routine got upended on that one. 


Well enough about that.  I'm hoping with working days I'll be able to get back into the hobby some albeit at a snails pace probably.  I have been scanning eBay and keeping my eyes open to see if anything catches my attention.  If only I had unlimited funds.  Its time to start small and ease myself back into this great hobby and hopefully get my kids into collecting cards, but we shall see.


No card postings with this post but hopefully in the coming week or weeks some will be included.


I'm hoping that I can bang out some posts while on breaks or at lunch during the day and grab photos at home in the evening being Little League is starting up. 


Well here's to the 2018 season




LETS GO METS

Yes I'm Still Here

Yes The Home Run Apple guy is still here.

I try to read as much as I can a couple a days a week and see a bunch of posts via twitter. I'm hoping in the next few months to get going again on the blog be it a once a week post or more frequent we shall see. Time is still limited but I should be able to squeeze some time in the not so distant future to start blogging again.

This past Sunday we took in the Pirates vs Mets ESPN game of the week. I was sure the Mets were going to lose being every time I see them in Pittsburgh they lose and Harvey was on the mound so it appeared to be the stars aligned for another loss with the way he's been pitching, but alas the Mets proved victorious in the end.

The highlight of the day had to be our oldest getting some in person autos from Josh Edgin and Tyler Pill who just got called up from triple A. Josh signed a bunch of autos and Tyler did too which is nice to see for the young fans of the game. Josh had a reply to my son when he started to sign his hat being he asked can I have your autograph an josh said how bout some manners and please can I have your auto but it was all in good fun. He did say thanks for the auto an josh said something to the effect that's more like it and glad to see you found your manners. 

Next up Aaron Boone taking in the game from right field

A little panoramic view of PNC park.  Wish I was down the third base line to get the city in as a backdrop.  

A little pregame warmup of Duda, Granderson, and Walker.



Thanks for reading and

Lets Go Mets!!!!!

Ya Gotta Believe!!!

LEGOs It's been awhile

I'm still here reading blogs, but don't have much time to post. Haven't been busting boxes but would if had the chance. Working the odd hours between 6p and 6a and having 2 boys keeps me busy when not at work. Still try to pickup the occasional cards via eBay to get my fix and keep my collection growing. 

Speaking of collecting the two boys are getting into the LEGO minifigures hence the play on words for the title and have some duplicates from the latest series that I'd/they be interested in trading. They have just recently gotten into them so this is all new to me too. 

Feel free to leave a comment if interested in trading or pointing me to people who do or a place where we can

Thanks in advance

LETS GO METS

and

LETS GO MOUNTAINEERS

The Dark Knight Rises and Some Beer

Well after watching game 4 of the world series and having to go through another shotty play by Murphy is.....I dunno I can't even put it into words.  Then add to it the blunder on the bases by Cespedes in the bottom of the 9th just is even more perplexing. 

At the beginning of the year my buddies all submit who we think are going to be the division champs, wild cards, Rookie of Year, etc.  I was tempted to put the Mets down as one of the Wild Card teams, but still said they were a year away from the post season.  Well they fooled me and everyone by winning the division due to the Nationals collapsing.  This World Series has been close with the Mets blowing leads in the 1st and 4th game of the series.  I know Murphy batted us through the division and championship series, but as last night showed his defense can be susceptible at times which showed its ugly head last night at the worst time.  I figure they'll make him a qualifying offer being hes a free agent at the end of season just to get a draft pick in return.  Tyler Clippard also has been shaky the last month or so in his relief appearances and that is another BIG question mark going forward with this team.  Starting pitching they are sound with 4 young arms and with Wheeler coming back from Tommy John have a 5th so I'm curious to see what wheeling and dealing they do this off season cause they have some young talent to make a run for the next couple of years if they can acquire some key pieces.

Enough of my rant as an upset Mets fan after that game.

Well Matt Harvey takes the mound in game 5.  Its put up time for him being he said he'd pitch in the post season and didn't have that spectacular of a game 1 so lets see how he rebounds on 5 days rest.  Well if you read my previous 2 posts you'd see how I kept mentioning history repeating itself of the 1986 World Series.  Well the score didn't show this time, but the a Mets player did hit 2 home runs in last nights game and in 1986.  The last team to overcome a 3-1 deficit was the Royals back in 1985 lets see if the Mets can give them a taste of their own medicine and do the same to them.  Interesting tidbit is that the next 3 Mets pitcher are Harvey, deGrom, and Syndergaard have won 3 in a row this season 8 different times so lets see if they can make it 9 and seal it with a ring.

The card I chose for this post is a card in waiting, as in a redemption card.  I long wanted an auto of his and couldn't bring myself to spend what the going rate was on eBay.  So, I went the redemption card route cause it was a gamble I was willing to take for the price that I got it for.  You can probably guess who the player is by the title or maybe by some of the reference in this post.  If not the player I am referring to is Matt Harvey and the card in waiting is from this years High Tek and a Tidal parallel /99.  Hopefully he comes thru being he hasn't signed in about a year or 2.  I was going for a book auto of him and Wheeler but the guy wouldn't come down enough on a Panini redemption where I felt comfortable.  SO here is a photo of the redemption until I get the actual card in hand.

Well another hobby or craft the I enjoy is beer.  Nothing like baseball and some beer.  As I write this I am currently drink an Oskar Blues IPA which is quite refreshing.  I know Matt over at Bob Walk touched on this briefly in a post or two of his.  Being located in WV the craft beer selection has definitely improved in the past year or so with the amount of selections due to the state increasing its alcohol limit on beer.  Well being from NJ I always picked up a bunch of beer whenever I head their to visit family or ask family to pick some up if they were coming in for a visit.  Well I plan on chugging all 6 of these if the Mets win the Series.  Yes that is a 6 pack of Dog Fish 120 which comes in about 18-20 percent ABV.

 Well stayed tuned for the aftermath and more beer and baseball posts in the future

LETS GO METS!!!! and in the words of Tug McGraw YA GOTTA BELIEVE!!!

Lets Go Mets and Ya Gotta Believe!!!!

Well Game of 3 of the World Series the Mets bats finally awoke with some power and hits, but the first pitch drew some controversy of its how in being head high just off the plate.  First David Wright went yard in his first at bat for a 2 run shot and then later in the game Curtis Granderson hit a run shot of his own after Noah Syndergaard singled.  After the first two innings I thought it was all going to be downhill in KC's favor, but somehow Syndergaard pitched well up until the 6th inning where he pitched himself out of a bases loaded jam.  Well I'm a firm believer that history repeats itself, but more on that later towards the end of the post.

The first pitch of the game by Syndergaard was a head high heater a bit inside but not directly at Escobar.  The Royals took offense instantly to the pitch being Syndergaard said earlier he had a game plan.  Then he followed up with a curveball down and away.  Hosmer said "When one of your teammates gets [a pitch] thrown at his head, it's not going to go over well, I think everyone was upset about it. It's the only location he missed all night by that far. No one in here is stupid. Everyone knows what was said, and everybody knows what was done."  Now I guess the Royals have another team to be pissed off at they can add to their list.  Here is the pitch location so the Royals can get their panties out of a bunch and wonder what your opinions are of the pitch.  From the chart below it looks like it may have touched the front edge of the batters box.  I was fine with the pitch it wasn't directly at his head or ear it was above his head and thought it was just good ol baseball being Escobar has been swinging and hitting every first pitch pretty much.  Syndergaards reaction after the game from hearing the Royals didn't like me was priceless.  It was pretty much if they don't like it they know where to find me and thats 60'6" from the plate.  He also admitted he had no intentions of hitting Escobar in his post game press conference.

The interesting thing is that the Mets open up 2016 in Kansas City for 2 games so I'm sure there will be some sort of retaliation at that time being Hosmer said they'll just file this incident away till a later time being they're trying to win a championship.

Well if you read my last post you would have known that the Mets have lost the first 2 games of the series by the same exact margin as the 1986 Mets who won the Series in 7 games.  Well game 3 showed that history does repeat itself and the Mets won game 3 in 1986 and this year by 6 runs.  So far every game this year has had the winning margin the same as 1986 with the proper team winning.  So who says history doesn't repeat itself. It sure looks like it does to me.

Well whats a post without a card.  The choice of who to feature wasn't tough.  I chose Syndergaard aka Thor due to his performance in game 3 and only being 23.  Hopefully the Mets hold onto this guy cause not only can he throw gas up in the triple digits but he also has some pretty good secondary pitches.  I believe I showed off this dual auto relic before, but I figured I'd show it off again due to his sweet performance in last nights game.

LETS GO METS and YA GOTTA BELIEVE!!!!!

Here's to history repeating itself some more

Lets Go Mets and Ya Gotta Believe

Well after losing Game 1 of the World Series as they did.   I was curious to see how the Mets responded in Game 2 which didn't go so well either.  Hopefully they were just emotionally drained from Game 1 which was a tremendous game and I'm not signaling the worry alarm just yet.  More on that later in the post.

Up first I was hit with another PWE from Jeff over at 2 by 3 heroes about a month ago.  With my work schedule and having two little ones I've been hard pressed lately to sit down and find some time to do a blog post.  The biggest obstacle/reason is I work midnight's.  So from the time I wake up till I leave for work my time is spent with my family.  Rarely do I have a free afternoon from the kids or trying to do work/projects around the house.  So that's why my posts have tailed off quite a bit these past few months.  Hopefully I can get into a routine of snapping some photos and busting out a post while at work a couple days a week.  One project I need to get into but its not at the top of my list is organizing my collection and dispersing some of my unwanted or non collected cards to free up some room.

Well enough rambling lets get to what Jeff sent over my way.

First up is two Hall of Fame pitchers in Pedro Martinez and Tom Seaver.

Next up are two shiny cards.  Who doesn't like shiny new things? Especially when they are in the form of baseball cards of your favorite team.  First up was a shiny David Wright out of Prizm and next up was a Zack Wheeler decked out in some pink chrome. 

Thanks again Jeff for the sweet PWE

Well the reason I'm not signaling the worry alarm just yet is that back when the Mets won their last World Series they did so in similar fashion in going down 2-0 to the Red Sox before winning it in 7 games.  Its so similar that the Mets lost the first game by 1 run and in game 2 to lost by 6 although they were at home and not on the road in 1986.  So lets see what happens.  Kansas City is a phenomenal team who just doesn't quit and just keeps hitting the ball somehow.  Here's hoping the rest of the games are like game 1, but with the Mets winning of course. 


LETS GO METS and YA GOTTA BELIEVE!!!!!!!

and

Lets Go Mountaineers!!