mfc>>>The Regular Season Comes To A Close

This wacky, incredible, ridiculously amazin' and finally fulfilling regular season (weather willing) comes to an end today. What a long strange trip it's been.

And look who's #1!

If you've been following this blog for a while then you know I have steered somewhat off course.

My first Fantazy Card

I was marching up through time telling the New York Mets club history with custom made baseball cards. If you remember I started this blog back in 2013 as a distraction because I was not happy with the current state of affairs with my favorite team.

I never intended to make current cards here. In 2014 I did a Season Set and those cards were displayed on a separate blog. For that project I made at least one card for each game. That was fun but I got a bit burnt out on it at the season's close.

At the beginning of this season I did say I would make current cards for notable games and player accomplishments. I figured I'd be able to make 20- 30 cards. And then  this season happened. This wacky season. As of this writing there are 205 Season Set cards with more coming up before the playoffs.

And you can't say this isn't Metropolitan history.
I left off on game 7 of the 1973 World Series and that page has yet to be completed. And that can wait.

......wait for it.

First we will have NLDS cards! We might have NLCS cards.
And if we're really fortunate, World Series cards!!!
I'll return to the 1973 World Series this offseason.

For now I will totally enjoy being distracted by the 2015 National League New York Mets.

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Mets great Rusty Staub suffered a heart attack the other day. He is said to be recuperating nicely.
GET WELL SOON RUSTY!!

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I'll stick this one down here and maybe no one will see it.
I have to add that it was a magnificent performance.

^That's NYM-SS card #206!^

Next up will be cards commemorating the Mets clinching game vs. the Reds. I know these are late but things have been happening so fast I have to play catchup.

LETS GO METS!!

No-no. NOOOOO0000oooo!

I must introduce this card to the season set. I'm not too thrilled about it, but these things happen. The Mets are still dancing around first place, playing hot potato with the nasty Nats. Can they keep this up? Injured players are starting to return and this should help. David Wright is still a big question mark. New York just got slapped around a bit by San Fran but were able to squeeze in a walk off win to stave off a sweep. 

The Mets will play the Atlanta Braves in a three game series starting tonight at Citi Field. New York needs to slap Atlanta around and build up a few games over Washington.

LETS GO METS!

A card denoting Heston's no hitter against the Mets is entered into the record.

Chris Heston pitches no-hitter, leads Giants over Mets 5-0

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>THOR!!!!!

Three cards have been added to the season set. All deal with Noah Syndergaard's outing on May 27th.

Thor pitched a very impressive 7.1 innings and hit an even more impressive home run.

The day before his father's birthday Noah played not the good son, but the great son. Syndergaard became the first Mets rookie pitcher to ever strike out at least five batters in his first four starts. The Franchise never did that. Doc didn't do it. Not even The Dark Knight.

 Only Thor.

He also went 3 for 3 at the plate, tying a franchise record for hits in a game by a pitcher - matched by Jacob deGrom earlier this month. One of those hits was a massive four bagger to deep center.

Syndrgaard had homered earlier this season out in Triple-A Las Vegas and gave that home run ball to his mom for Mother's Day. After the game Noah said he would give this game ball to his dad, adding with a wide smile: "This one has my dad's name written all over it.''

Lucas Duda had a great game, smacking two dingers. The home runs are starting to come for Lucas. This is going to be the season that really puts him on the map. Last years 30 home runs were just an appetizer. What he's doing vs. lefties is sick. I want to see 100 RBIs from The Lumberjack.

The Mets fell out of first but are trying to haul themselves back in. They are virtually tied with the Washington Nationals for first place, a mere .002 behind in the standings. Thor goes tonight against the San Diego Padres with an opportunity to put New York back in the drivers seat.

There was a buzz about how Matt Harvey reacted to Syndergaards home run. Video of him in the dugout showed he made a face. Many have said he was jealous or some other such garbage. To me he looked surprised AND impressed at the same time.

Look at how Noahs head is right on that ball.

OPERATION WRIGHT ! NOT GOOD!

 I didn't want to see the OPERATION WRIGHT: Injury Chart again, especially so soon. I expected to be commenting on David's return. But the Mets All-Star third baseman has suffered another set-back.

David Wright has been diagnosed with lumbar (lower back) spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is an abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal that may occur in any of the regions of the spine. This narrowing causes a restriction to the spinal canal, resulting in a neurological deficit. Symptoms include pain, numbness, paraesthesia, and loss of motor control.

There are several types of spinal stenosis. Lumbar spinal stenosis is more common than others. In lumbar stenosis, the spinal nerve roots in the lower back are compressed which can lead to symptoms of sciatica (tingling, weakness, or numbness that radiates from the low back and into the buttocks and legs).

According to wikipedia the use of non surgical treatments is unclear as they have not been well studied. If surgery is necessary Wright will undergo a lumbar decompressive laminectomy which involves removing the roof of bone overlying the spinal canal and thickened ligaments in order to decompress the nerves and sac of nerves. 70-90% of people have good results.

As of this writing the prognosis is rest and as a result David has again been shut down during re-hab. The Mets & the medical folk say there is nothing to worry about. They say he will be rested for a week and then re-examined, that all he needs is additional time.

As a fan of the Mets I am very worried. This ailment ended Lenny Dykstra's baseball career and it is a serious matter. We have been told that this injury has nothing to do with Wright's stress fracture to his spine in 2011. This is reassuring but does not alleviate the severity of this recent development.

Recall how the great Don Mattingly's career went south due to back problems. That parallel scares me and I don't even want to think about it. So yes, I'm worried about Wright's future. Hopefully the next time I make a post dealing with David it'll be to comment on his awesome comeback. Get well Wright.

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Mets Season Set

addition

One card has been added to the season set. On May 16 New York rolled all over the Milwaukee Brewers in a 14-1 beatdown. The Mets scored 10 runs in the 4th inning, one shy of the team record.

 The Mets had lost five games in a row prior to the offensive explosion. During those five games the team had scored a total of ten runs.


The Mets manager slotted  Wilmer Flores, New York's top home run hitter with 5, last in the batting order and batted his pitcher eighth for the third time this season. New York's top home run hitter had not been ninth in the order since April 30, 1967, in a doubleheader opener at Cincinnati. Don Cardwell, New York's starting pitcher that day, was in a seven-way tie for the Mets' home run lead with one. Flores became the Mets' first outright home run leader to hit ninth and his 6th long ball ties him for his career high for home runs in a season. DeGrom was 3-for-3 with three singles -- including two in the big inning. He became only the second pitcher since at least 1914 to have three hits in the No. 8 hole.

New York tied the record for runs by a team at Citi Field and had a season-high 16 hits. Their 10-run inning is the most runs they've scored in an inning since July 16, 2006.

Cutting down on his stride, Jacob deGrom (4-4) limited the Brewers to five hits in six innings, giving up his only run on Ryan Braun's sixth-inning sacrifice fly. He was 9-1 with a 1.32 ERA in his last 11 home starts.




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All information regarding spinal stenosis is from wikipedia.
Text for 10 run inning from ESPN News Services
Lenny Dykstra•Nailed- Zvon93