mfc FABER TEACHES-HoF Weekend, 1964

This is a play off the 1964 Topps card "CASEY TEACHES", one of my favorite Met cards from the 1960's.

I learned a lot about "Red" Faber in the making of this card. Here's some cool stuff I could not squeeze in on the card back:

> He pitched a perfect game in the minor leagues for Dubuque.

>  In his 1915 season, he won 24 games to tie for second in the American League behind Walter Johnson, and he led the league with 50 appearances. In one game that season, he pitched a three-hitter with only 67 pitches.

>  In one game against Boston he stole home, a rare feat for a pitcher.

> Perhaps his last great performance was a one-hitter at age 40 in 1929.

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This card below goes out to Stubby, who reminded me of the Stengel/ Chris Cannizzaro story. One of Casey's most famous quotes was the tale line to this beaut involving Cannizzaro, whose name Stengel never quite got right.

"I got this Canzoneri whose supposed to be a defensive catcher, only he can't catch the ball. The pitcher throws. Wild pitch. Pitcher throws again. Passed ball. Throws again. Oops! Ball dropped out of his glove. And all the time I'm getting dizzy watchin' all these runners running around the bases in circles on me. Makes you wonder. Can anybody here play this game?"

Yea, I stuck Stengel in there, more than likely harping on Canzoneri. As Stubby pointed out in comments on an earlier post, Cannizzaro was a pretty damned good defensive catcher throughout his career. So it must have been an especially bad game when that quote about Chris was uttered. I think if I was Cannizzaro I'd have been a bit upset by what Stengel said. It was kinda cruel, although all saw it as comic relief. Fortunately you rarely see the entire quote as everyone latched onto the "Can anybody here play this game?" line and the Canzoneri section became buried in Metropolitan History.

Up next in Metropolitan History:

Roger Craig, Ralph Kiner, Elio Chacon, and Wes Westrum get all Z'd up.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>OPERATION WRIGHT !

One thing we really need, not just now but at any time, is a healthy David Wright on the field playing baseball. The end of last season and the start of this one has me a bit concerned. I think career wise Wright has a lot left in the tank, but I could be wrong. There are indications that he might be winding down. We have to assume he's past his prime performance years but does that mean he's done? I don't know. I certainly hope not.

DAVID WRIGHT 2015 INJURY TRACKING CHART

So lets take a focused look at David Wrights past injuries, and from here on out Mets Fantasy Cards will track Davids injuries and progress through the long season.


____________PAST INJURIES____________

The first time Wright ever hit the disabled list (D.L.) it was a very scary incident that put him there. On August 15, 2009, Wright suffered a concussion when he was hit in the head with a 93 mph fastball by San Francisco Giants hurler Matt Cain. The Mets third baseman was diagnosed with post-concussion symptoms and was placed on the disabled list.










Dave's home run total dropped to 10, while his RBI total fell to 72, after hitting 33 home runs and 124 RBIs the previous season. After the head shot this was a major source of concern, but David bounced back finishing the 2010 season with a .283 batting average, .354 on-base percentage, 29 home runs, 103 RBIs, 69 walks, and 19 stolen bases. It took a long time before Wright stopped bailing out regularly on curve-balls and far inside pitches after that, but eventually he did.

In 2011 Wright had another rather shocking injury, one that he tried to play though. On May 16, after a sluggish start and undergoing examination by team doctors, it was announced Wright had a stress fracture in his lower back. The injury (caused by a diving tag) forced him to spend over two months on the disabled list. His production numbers in 2011 took a dip even though while on the field Davids stats were still respectable aside from the sub-par batting average. In only 102 games Wright finished the season batting .254, with a .345 on-base percentage, 14 home runs, 61 RBIs, 52 walks, and 13 stolen bases.

2012 April 11, Wright fractured his right pinkie while diving into first base on a pick-off attempt. He only missed three games.

 In 2013 Captain America was shut down near the end of the World Baseball Classic due to soreness in his rib area. This did not effect his MLB season.

  On August 3, 2013, Wright was placed on the 15-day disabled list a day after he strained his right hamstring.

On September hit in the head by an 86 mph changeup. Wright was beaned by Johnny Hellweg with two outs in the third inning of the New York Mets' 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers and had to leave the game.

 David passed all concussion tests and did not have to go on the disabled list.

Wright's 2014 performance declined from previous years. He hit at a .269 clip, his lowest batting average since the 2011 injury shortened his season. Wright's .269/.324/.374 slash line was attributed to a recurring shoulder injury. Early in the season, he sustained a left rotator cuff contusion which slowed his offensive production and hurt his defense. Wright finished the year with a career-low eight home runs and committed 15 errors, tied for most on the team.

_________________________2015 INJURIES______________________



On April 14, 2015, Wright suffered a strained right hamstring while stealing second base. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Wright was batting .333 with one HR and four RBIs in eight games at the time.

While on the D.L. Wright developed lower back pain causing a setback and his time on the D.L. has been extended.

Operation Wright will track the Captains injuries in 2015. 

The ones listed in red are existing injuries, the blue are injuries sustained this season. We had expected David would be back this weekend, but the lower back problem has shut him down while medication does it's part.

DAVID WRIGHT 2015 INJURY TRACKING CHART

as of May 9, 2015

Let's hope that when Wright returns, hopefully by next weekend, that we will not have to see this injury tracking chart again. We can't afford to be without David Wright again this season.

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I'd like to send former Mets player & coach/scout/ organizational guy Al Jackson a BIG get well soon as he recuperates down in Florida from a stroke he suffered last week. As long as I have known the New York Mets Al Jackson has been a member of the organization. He was an original Met who gave his prime years to the team. In the early 60's, on any other team, Al would have been a 20 game winning All Star pitcher. Don't question it!

 These Mets pitching leaders cards don't reflect the kind of pitcher that Jackson was. He pitched on the worst Mets teams from 1962 to 1966. In addition to his 43 wins as a Met, Jackson's franchise record of 10 shutouts was broken by none other than Tom Seaver. 

Two of them (July 27, 1962 and October 2, 1964) were 1-0 wins over Bob Gibson—the Mets' first two victories over the future Hall-of-Famer and the only two times the Mets defeated him between 1962 and 1966. He threw a one-hitter on June 22, 1962 against the Houston Colt .45s, the first in Metroplolitan history. 

After his 1966 season Jackson was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ken Boyer.

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Due to an aggravated groin Dillon Gee will miss at least a start(update:15 day DL). Good thing David Wright has not suffered any groin injuries, because it would be awkward trying to add that kind of detail to Wrights Injury Tracking Chart. 

Pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard will debut for New York on Tuesday night.

MFC will create a Noah card to celebrate the occasion.

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All David Wright & Al Jackson information is from their Wiki pages.

Talking Shop: Project Colorizations / Part 2 -Al Jackson-1962.

Colorizing Al Jacksons 1962 Polo Grounds action shot.
Or when colorization goes bad. And then good :)

I screwed this one up because I was in a rush. The original digital photo was a decent size and of good quality. I applied the color additions directly to the base image.

At some point I got a blotchy look from an effect and kept going. I should have backtracked there but the faces in the crowd looked to be the correct color.

^Using a freehand lasso ( sometimes you can save time by using the "magic wand" to select the area to be colored ) I went to work on Jackson.

^Then I got into each individual in the stands and colorized their clothing, the rails and bunting. Jackson's coming out good. The rails and bunting look very good. The crowd is okay, but not good enough. It looks like it was colorized as opposed to looking "in color".

I turned to the 'ol Blur The Backround Trick.
I cut out the image of Jackson (including the mound & rails to the stands) and made it it's own layer, placing it above the original work.

Now I could do things to the base layer with the crowd that would not effect how Al Jackson looked. To this basic layer I applied a color adjustment (automatic color balance set to BLUE-cooler)and a blur effect (a guassian blur setting). This brought together the disjointed elements of the crowd in the back of Jackson and blended them together, making the background look more realistically "in color".

I merged the layers so the in-focus cut-out layer of Jackson appeared in front of a now blurry crowd. Many times you come up with tricks in graphics out of necessity. I was very happy with how this turned out. Done.

Because of the newly blurred backround this image is now kinda unique unto itself. But that blurry background was not part of my plan.

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CREDITS: Al Jackson picture courtesy of ESPN
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Stay tuned for more in this series on Project Colorizations. Coming up: 1964 All Star Game.

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Coming up next ( I hope because it's going rather slow ) will be the 1973 Mets Fantazy cards ( if not ready in a few days I'll throw something else up while I stall ).
This will include some cards right outta fantazyland.

65 Mets Leaders / 66 Fantazy Cards

_____________________1965 Mets Team Leaders___________________

Ed Kranepool? Really? Congratulations Mr. Kranepool. A .253 average nets you team leader. I don't know if I could have followed the team these barren years. You older Met fans who stuck with the team before 1969, I tip my hat to you all.

Rocky with 19 kaBOOMS in his rookie year. That's the most he ever hit in one season. The Mets waited for the sometime slugger to become a steady slugger. They were very patient with the outfielder, even trying him at first base for a time. Swoboda's .228 average in 1965 was pathetic even by 1965 Mets team leader standards. But the Mets would have been happy if he could have hit 19 HRs every year.

Kool, Charlie Smith at the Sadecki Spot.

Johnny Lewis always has that same expression. Look at him on the "BATTING" card.
Ha! Messin' with ya. It's the same pic, different backgrounds. As a matter of fact, only two of the player images used have their original backgrounds.

Now look at Spahn. That background: field, fence, scoreboard, is from the colorization of Jim Bunnings perfect game. I did that on a whim and now I'm kicking myself for not making his regular '65 fantazy card look that way. I might go back and do that.

I know the scoreboard slideshow was kaput by 1965 but still they managed to get Al Jackson up there one more time for his fantazy card.

1965 Met Fantazy cards: Jackson/Spahn/Berra Kranepool/Mets Rookies

 1965 mfc Al Jackson card

Al Jackson. I didn't know much about Al Jackson. I just figured he was a bad pitcher. I've learned he was a very decent pitcher on some horrible Met clubs. He had four shutouts in 1962 out of only 8 wins. Ten of his 43 Met career wins were shutouts. He also won 13 games in '63 and the Mets only won 51 games that year. The thirteen wins were a team record until some guy named Seaver came along.
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 1965 mfc Warren Spahn 

Warren Spahn had a great career and won 363 games! He also liked to pitch from the fungo circle at Shea any chance he could. I would too. It was a lot closer to the plate.

By the time he got to the Mets he was just a few pitches away from retirement. I always wondered why, if he was made a coach, didn't he stay on and be a pitching coach? Maybe because the Mets didn't afford him a full season in 65, his last. He did go on to manage a minor league team for four years and coached for the Mexico City Tigers (pitching a handful of games there), the Cleveland Indians, California Angels, and for six years, with Japan's Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

Alternate 1965 Warren Spahn Fantazy card shows him leaving town

From WikiPedia:
Following the 1964 season, after 25 years with the Braves, left handed future hall of famer Warren Spahn was sold to the New York Mets. Spahn took on the dual role of pitcher and pitching coach. He won four and lost 12 The Mets put Spahn on waivers on July 15, 1965 and released him on July 22, 1965. He immediately signed with the San Francisco Giants, with whom he finished the season. With the Mets and Giants combined, he won seven games in '65 —his last in the major leagues. His number would be retired by the Braves later that year.

Read all about his whole career > here

Fun Facts: While Spahn wore the number 21 Cleon Jones was wearing number 12. Learn about Mets By The Numbers!
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Yogi Berra, like Casey Stengel, was much more well known for his terrific years with the Yankees. And like Casey he was embraced by Met fans who knew he was past his prime, but respected his accomplishments and were thrilled to see him play up close. Well, for all four games that he played for the Mets. After striking out 3 times in a game on May 9, 1965 Yogi retired. I thought this kinda hasty but Yogi set his own standards. In 1950, in only three shy of 600 at bats, he only struck out twelve times. More about Yogi when he gets his own post, which he will, because Yogi's story isn't over til it's over.

He was so well known and loved by everyone, and there are so many stories and, of course, Yogisms, that I won't even get into them here. Read all about him.

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The seeds were planted some time ago and the first group that was to become the '69 Mets are in place and ready to blossum. Its cool enough that two of those guys actually did share a '65 Topps rookie card ( Ron Swoboda & Tug McGraw), but oh how I wish all four were really on one card.

And how I wish I was at Shea for Willie Mays first appearance there. That is Al Jackson going after the Sey Hey Kid above^. I had never seen the area right behind home plate as it looked when Shea opened.

And damn, look at that TV camera!>
I'm gonna say Willie popped out there.>

Much thanks to Neil Leifer whos amazin' baseball photos, like the Mays here, have thrilled me to no end and I am using without permission. I hope you don't mind Mr Leifer. Read about Neil here.

Thanx to Batmagadanleadoff for the pic of Warren Spahn leaving town and all the great Met photos he shares at the CPF. Also to psacardfacts.com for their priceless hi rez baseball card images.