Will It Be Tebow Time With The Mets Next Season?

The 2016 Arizona Fall League ended yesterday and in a league of six teams and just over 200 potential future MLB players it seems like the only name that shows up is Tim Tebow.

 

He had a tough time playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions and because he remained with ESPN as a college analyst he missed out on a number of weekend games which hurt his potential. In all he had 71 plate appearances going .194 with 2 RBIs and 20 strikeouts. The positive is that he did get better over the weeks but the question is whether this was a one and done thing for the Mets?

 

In case you are wondering how he compared to another out-of-their-element guy who also played for the Scottsdale Scorpions a little over 20 years ago, His Airness. Michael Jordan had 153 plate appearances and hit .253 with 8 RBIs and 34 strikeouts. Look how young Nomar Garciaparra looks in 1994 when he was with Scottsdale. I wish he could have won a World Series, he is just the kind of guy you have to root for no matter which team he was with.

 

Back to Tim Tebow, his #15 Mets jersey was one of the top sellers this year and Mets GM Sandy Alderson said the goal is for Tebow to come back for Spring Training and compete for a spot on their Single-A roster so maybe the Mets do intent to actual continue forward with this experiment.  

Baseball collectors will have to wait for his first official baseball card.

Happy Opening Day!

Today is the most anticipated day for baseball fans, Opening Day! Of course this is ignoring yesterday’s Cardinals-Cubs game. And after today’s 4-1 win over the Angels the Mariners are in sole ownership of the AL West, which is probably the last time I can say that this season.

ITG 2011 Prospects & Heores Baseball Series 1

Schedule Release Date: February 24, 2011
Box Configuration: 5 cards per box
SRP: $95/box

Box Break:
5 Auto or Memorabilia cards

My Thoughts:
Just yesterday I was pointing out that card manufacturers seem to be giving no love to set collectors and here we go a day later and ITG is releasing a set made of only hits.

When I wrote about this release back in August I brought up the point that I am not a fan of joining superstars with prospects, my view has not changed since then. I don’t like that they are using sticker either, you would think with prospects ITG would be able to get on-card autographs. Stealing Upper Deck’s Sweet Spot Signature design for the “Between The Seams” design is just plain low.


Pros:
Big time hits including: Johnny Bench, Tommy Lasorda, Yogi Berra, Tom Seaver, Cal Ripken Jr., Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson, Don Mattingly and Harmon Killebrew

Every 5 card box contains 5 hits, autos or memorabilia

Cons:
Loooooooots of prospects who may never make it more than filler for a roster

Sticker autographs

Uninspired designs


Rating:
Since I am not a fan of an all hits release not to mention that I think joining HOF players with prospects is a bad move I will reserve judgment and not rate this set,

In The Game Heroes & Prospects Baseball

In The Game Trading Cards, a company that has been known solely for hockey since they came in to the market in 1998, has recently announced their plans for a baseball release expected to be shipping in November. ITG, who will be working without a MLB license, will be releasing a set of retired/HOF players and prospects.

Each box will contain 4 cards with each an average of 3.5 autographs per box (their words not mine) and every other box will contain a Heroes Cut Signature or Heroes Memorabilia card.

For an unlicensed set the autograph cards look pretty decent but I am not a fan of mixing HOF players with prospects. Pulling a cut signature of Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams along with a sticker autograph of Tim Beckham really puts a damper on the whole experience for me. It does not help that team logos can be seen plus they are using the UD Sweet Spot Signature design, calling it “Between The Seams”, you wonder what ITG was thinking.

Customer Support

A few years back I picked up a box of 2006 UD Special F/X Baseball when it was first released and the box ended up being short a couple of packs. I contacted UD customer support and sent in the information that they needed and a number of weeks later I received a package that contained 5 packs of 2006 Special F/X; surprisingly each pack contained a Special Endorsements autograph too. Nobody likes being shorted so Upper Deck ended up turning this in to a pretty good situation.

In May I picked up a box of 2009 UD Artifacts Baseball and unfortunately again the box ended up being a couple of packs short so once again I contacted Upper Deck customer support and sent in the information that they requested. Over the last few weeks I have been waiting patiently, hoping that there would be something cool waiting for me in my mailbox. Today I opened up my box to find an over-stuffed padded mailer from Carlsbad, California. Inside was a letter thanking me for being a customer and apologizing for any inconvenience along with 2007-08 Fleer Ultra Uniformity Patrice Bergeron jersey and a retail pack of 2006-07 Fleer Hockey.

This was a bit of a disappointment because I am not a hockey fan; I would have preferred something from a baseball series. I do have to say that I do appreciate that Upper Deck took the time to keep in touch with me and did at least attempt to make me whole in the end.

2009 Goudey Baseball

I am a fan of many of the throwback sets. Because I collect vintage cards I enjoy seeing some of the better-designed sets making a comeback. Some of my favorite sets of all time are the Goudey sets of the 1930s, so of course I really liked that Upper Deck brought the set back, keeping it old school but tossing in some new ideas to keep it current.

My wife surprised me tonight with a couple of packs of 2009 Goudey that she picked up from a local shop. This was actually my first chance to bust open some of the 2009 series so I was pretty eager to see what I was going to pull.

The cards are based on the 1933 Goudey set with a solid color background, the player image and “Goudey” along the bottom. The cards are surprisingly similar to the original set from 1933. A couple of cool additions include the Heads Up subset which is actually based on the 1938 Goudey set and the Sport Royalty subset which seems to be loosely based on the 1933 Sport Kings set.

I got a nice variety of players ranging from rookies to veterans to all-time greats. The 4-in-1 cards are unique, some cards have four players that play the same position and other cards have four players from the same team.

#65- Dexter Fowler

#181- Bob Gibson

#251- Adrian Peterson Sport Royalty

#278- Manny Ramirez Heads Up: Like Manny needs a bigger head

#35-40- Mariners 4-in-1 card

I have been a Mariner fan most of my life so this card was a keeper for me. I have been through the good times (1995-2003) and the bad times… every other year; I sure miss 2001 some days. The player selection for this card has me a bit confused.

Ichiro and Hernandez are a given.

Tuiasosopo has some potential down the road but may even have some trouble making it in AAA this year, not to mention that Beltre is cemented at 3rd Base when he is healthy.

Bedard is another one that has me confused. He is a decent pitcher, but he is by no means a Mariner at heart. Hell, he has been with the team only a year and will most likely be traded by the deadline. He is 5-2 with a 2.47 ERA for a team sitting around .500 with 86 games to go; the Mariners are going to trade him away while he has value.

Better choices would have been Griffey, the “Ultimate Mariner” and possibly Beltre, Johjima or even Betancourt (my second favorite current Mariner behind Griffey).

Finally, the card that I was hoping to pull and definitely made this pack busting a positive experience

#46- Ken Griffey Jr… as a Mariner!

Meathead begets Meathead

After a few days of a nasty flu bug I am back to work…

OK, so while everyone else in the world could figure that Sammy Sosa was juicing, Paul Konerko, who is a jackass in his own right, is now demanding proof that Sosa used steroids. OK, lets take in to account that in his first 9 years of pro ball he hit a total of 207 homeruns. Over those 9 years he also hit for a .284 average while having a .492 slugging average.

Now, lets look at the insane jump over the next couple of years. He hit an unheard of 243 homeruns over a 4-year period. In those 4 years he also hit for a .311 average and a .663 slugging average.

He also suddenly bulked up from 185-195 pounds to well over 220 pounds in just a year. That has got to seem concerning because his weight was all muscle and while he was most likely working out daily that is still a lot of muscle to put on over an off-season. Put it all together and all you get is accusations and an assumption that he was juicing, but as a fan I still believe that he illegally affected the game that I love.

I do have to say, Konerko has a point… he said that the names should not be released because the players signed a contract regarding the tests stating that the results would not get out.

Fine, my response to that is Bud Selig has proven that the “interim” should have never been removed from his “Commissioner” title and someone with a spine should have been put in to place, someone who would have never agreed to a confidentiality clause. As Commissioner their job is to protect the players, the owners, the fans and the sanctity of the game. Selig protecting those 104 players on the list from 2003 is not looking out for the sanctity of the game; he is giving in to the MLBPA and turning tail. Now there will always be a question in the fan’s mind on who is on the list.
Way to go Sammy! *