This has been a very refreshing weekend for me. As a Mets fan living, working and breathing the Yankee brand of baseball can get to you after a while. It's not that I don't have friends on the team and friends that support the team...it's just not who I am. With the above in mind it is awesome to, every now and then, have a few days where my sole focus in both work and leisure is the New York Mets brand of baseball. The past three days have been just that.
Friday evening we had former Mets manager Davey Johnson appearing at Last Licks Scarsdale. I have always been a huge fan of Davey as, I am assuming, all Metropolitan supporters are. The role of manager as it pertains to memorabilia is truly hit or miss though. When doing a team signed piece the manager is arguably the most important person on the baseball. Traditionally the coveted sweetspot is saved for him. Single signed collectibles is a whole other ballgame. Joe Torre has always been the exception to that rule as his line of signed memorabilia has sold extremely well over the years (4 world series rings doesn't hurt obviously...world series wins equals celebration photos/carry off images). I was thinking about the pat few sentences on the way over to Scarsdale mid-afternoon Friday. Several hours later I was pleasantly surprised by the great crowd that came out for Davey as well as the strength of the product I got signed for our inventory. People came out of the woodwork with their multi-signed Mets pieces and each one thanked Johnson for the '86 season. I then kind of realized that everything I said about the gamble of manager's collectibles applies to every market but New York (save a few all-timers like my boy Tony LaRussa). If and when you win here you are an immortal... and that really showed in the adulation the fans that did come out gave to Davey. People forget too that Davey was an unbelievable player. He was a teammate of Hank Aaron when Henry blasted number 715 and also got the last ever hit off of Sandy Koufax (I have some great video to be posted tomorrow actually talking about that hit off of Sandy). All in all it was a fantastic signing... and we have some stellar inscription pieces to prove it. Check back over the next few days for images of these tremendous collectibles.
Then came Saturday where we had Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) appearing at the Steiner Store. This was my first time working with Frankie and, I must say, he was as nice as can be. There was a huge crowd on hand for this and it absolutely roared as he walked over to the table. Rodriguez , who has the all-time single season save record, is saving games at a torrid pace. I always joke around with Mariano about how lights out he is and how spoiled the Yankee fans are because of it. I have told Mo on numerous occasions about my spells of nausea every time a closer enters the game(I am not going to go down the list entirely but Benitez and Looper come to mind)... my sickness has subsided entirely thus far this season. K-Rod is as lock down as it gets in the ninth and, when you have that going for you, a team can easily ride a horse such as him all the way deep into October. Anyway, it seemed like every fan in attendance was wearing a K-Rod shirt. I have rarely seen a free agent come to the Mets (especially a reliever) and win over the fans this quickly. What is even better is that Frankie reciprocates the love as he talked to everyone and each and every fan got a photo with the star. After the public portion concluded Rodriguez signed some stellar product including Mets replica pitching rubbers, Citi Field commemorative baseballs (with and without the 1st Save 4/6/09 inscription) and some great photos. Just like I said earlier about manager's memorabilia there are only handful of relievers and closers that are a must-have for any collector...K-Rod is one of them.
My National League weekend ended today at Citi Field where I attended my second game of the season. Truthfully the stadium still feels and looks so strange to me. I practically grew up at Shea (as did many) and despite it's dumpiness (not sure if that is a word but if it is it 100% describes Shea) I loved it. We all experienced some incredible moments there and it was the loudest park in the country (several players, including Bernie Williams, have told me that). I think over the course of the season it will feel more like home as people will spend more time in their seats rather than exploring (same can probably be said for the gorgeous amusement park in the Bronx). Despite my reservations about the field it is always awesome to be amongst Mets fans (which is what made this weekend superb). I read an article a few years ago (wish I could recall who wrote it) that talked about how fans bond over losses not wins. It is the devastating defeats that endear us to each other...not championships. People sit around bars talking about how they were there when Kenny Rogers walked in the winning run to lose the 1999 NLCS or that they were there when Piazza just missed a home run to prolong the 2000 World Series or where they were when Yadi went deep off of Heilman (I was at LaGuardia deplaning after travelling back from Detroit where I was doing Tigers signings). All the losses are what makes us Mets fans so it is always cool to be around those who have felt the pain...all those bad losses are what bonds us and what is going to make it all the more sweeter when we nail championship #3. Anyway, today's game was a nail biter but, at the end of the day, Frankie locked in up in the ninth to notch his fourteenth save in as many tries. As I said earlier a great closer can take you to the promised land so, after all the heartache and collapses, things are looking good in Metsville.

This is going to be a whirlwind of a week. With the Yankees coming home we have several signings scheduled as well as some great appearances over the upcoming weekend. I will try my best to update this forum daily but will unquestionably be tweeting...so be sure to check me out on there as well.
Enjoy what is left of the weekend! Let's Go Mets!


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