New School Trade With Another Met Fan

This time my thanks go out Anthony over at Mike Pelfrey Collectibles for a several non-Met game used cards. I sent him some Met game used stuff to which I was less attached.

First, a former Met coupled with my current Ryan Howard alternative, Prince Fielder (the scans came out awkwardly, but the cards themselves are in perfect condition).



Eddie Murray played two seasons with the Mets in the early 90s and his numbers were solid. Now the Mets were far from a spectacular team those years, but Murray still managed around 100 RBIs each year. Though the second year with the Mets was much better than the first and he was supposedly not great in the public relations department, I remember being happy with the years he put up with the Mets. As for Prince Fielder, though I was never a huge Cecil Fielder fan (especially after he went to the Yankees), I really like Fielder. I think there are several reasons for this. First, he and Howard are in the same discussion when it comes to elite NL first basemen after Pujols and I think that Fielder is better in large part because of the vast difference in strikeouts and contact rates. It is nice to have a non-Howard option after Pujols who, though he is great, I have just never been enamored with. It is always nice to get a dual jersey card of two players that one likes, and maybe Prince will join Murray in the 500 HR club making their pairing even more meaningful. Just another reason to root for Fielder over Howard then I guess.




While the first card at least had a Met connection, the second might just be confusing. I mean, how many people outside of Toronto and Cincinnati even know Encarnacion? Well, he helped me in my NL only fantasy leagues a couple of times, so there is a start. I also always kind of wanted an All-Star game used relic for some odd reason. What really sealed the deal, though, is that when I went to the Dominican Republic one of our tour guides saw me wearing a Reds hat (yes, I have a Reds hat, for some reason I've liked the Reds the past two years and will again this year). So he asks me if I know of a player named Edwin Encarnacion, and I say "Of course." So, my guide goes onto explain how he used to live two blocks away from Encarnacion's house (presumably before he was signed). All that and the fact that this card depicts Encarnacion wearing the DR flag made this a must acquire for me.

And just to bring this full circle back to the Mets, I did see a winter league game while in the DR in which Fernando Martinez played (his team ended up winning the Caribbean World Series this year).

So to sum things up for those keeping track thanks to Anthony I got to take a trip from Murray to Fielder to Encarnacion to Fernando Martinez.

Finally, here's hoping, for my and Anthony's sake, that Pelfry goes out and has a break out season.