>>>>>>David Wright Tribute Set- The Wright Stuff

I'm going to make a small set of cards as a tribute to David Wright. I don't know how many cards yet, I'll be making it up as I go along. I hope to introduce it before the end of October. I don't want to rush this because The Captain was someone special and he deserves the best. Stay tuned.

It's going to be tough in 2019, to look out towards third base and not see David there.

But we always have the great Mets memories he gave us.

Wish you the best in all you do Mr. Wright.

mfc Poster-The Dark Knight Rises/ Loney/ Flores/ OPERATION WRIGHT!

We've had 2 solo mfc Matt Harvey Pocket Posters so far.

Below was the first Harvey Pocket Poster  that commemorated opening day. This was posted at the end of March.

The Dark Knight Opens

A few alterations turned this one above into the one below, which was created to show Metropolitan fans support of Matt Harvey through his most recent rough patch. This was posted and shared through facebook 

just last week.

Again I took the same layered save and reworked it. I'm not only a custom card maker, I'm also a scavenger artist. That's because I take stuff and turn it into something else. Sometimes it's stuff off the internet, and sometimes it's stuff that I originally created.

So taking the same works from above and making some more radical changes we now have The Dark Knight Rises Pocket Poster. Hey, I know you'll be reading that phrase all over today, but it has to be "rises". Just too perfect.

The Dark Knight that I scavenged from the new Batman vs. Superman flick was replaced by the great Frank Miller's Batman from The Dark Knight Returns. Not only is Miller's TDK my favorite comic book series of all time, it also solidified the nickname Dark Knight.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES mfc POCKET POSTER

Harvey pitched like good ol' Harvey yesterday. He got past the 5th & 6th inning blues and went 7, allowing only 2 hits while striking out 6. He only walked one while securing the 1-0 win. Has The Dark Knight returned? Too soon to say. But he did rise and show us that he still has it in yesterday's game.

We all know the tale of how Harvey picked up the nickname Dark Knight. Sports Illustrated christened him TDK in 2013 issue in which he graced the cover. How about Batman himself?

Batman was called The Dark Knight 

in the very first BATMAN No.1 as written by Bill Fingers.

Cinematic Sociology: Social Life in Film 

theorizes why Batman is also known as "The Dark Knight":

" Screening the Face says Batman wears an upper-face mask similar to a knight's visor. The book writes that the mask justifies Batman's "status as a Dark Knight, the paradoxical (both dark and knight) lynchpin of the recurring, and hence mythical, Batman narrative".

Miller's "TDK Returns" spoilers below

In his 1986 graphic novel "The Dark Knight Returns",  Frank Miller chose the name for a reason, 

"In this case, 'dark' is not so much referring to the fact that he works at night or that he wears a black suit. Instead, the 'dark' here refers to the soul of the Caped Crusader which may or may not be every bit as tainted as those he captures."

This scene with the Joker from TDKR is one of the most powerful ever contained within the pages of a comic book, or as they soon came to be known after the release of this groundbreaking series, graphic novels.

The nickname had been used before, sparingly. But ever since Frank Miller's TDK books Batman and his dark nickname have always traveled together. That's a pretty extreme change that Miller made to the Batman universe.

Here are some Dark Knight graphics from the past. These were done in 2013 (right before I started this blog) when Matt first came up. He had already acquired the nickname and being a big '66 Batman fan, that was how I first approached it. And calling him Mattman fit the whole deal nicely.

I'm posting these especially for @Gus the Donut Man, although I do not know if he views this blog. Don't matter, he's a '66 Batman fan too. Maybe he'll google Batman someday.

I might not have ever posted this one above from when we were playing the Diamondbacks in '13. I can see I have the upper left Mattman chest symbol wrong. That was from an earlier version of the work, before I came up with the Matt signal. In a rough draft of the very first poster at the top of this page I went with a '66 Batman, but I felt it didn't pack the punch I needed. I wanted that to be a serious Batman.

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METS GET JAMES LONEY!
Let's get Loney an mfc card!
Jame's acquisition was a no brainer. He cost a bag of balls and some such considerations. Always liked Loney on the Dodgers but lost track of him when he left L.A..
He will be an asset.

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I was all for Wilmer Flores taking first base until Duda returns. Well, not enthusiastically all for it, but over the years he has grown on me and I felt he could rise to the occasion. Looks like with Loney arriving he won't have to. I think Flores best position is third base, and he might see a bit of time there as David Wright recovers (more on The Captain's injury at bottom of page). 

I was not a fan of Wilmer. Early on I nicknamed him "Flatfeets". I ridiculed him for his slobbering gait. His shortstop play was erratic as was his hitting. He'd pop one from time to time so I didn't ride him too hard. But I just thought of him as "the guy" playing short until we got a real shortstop.

Here's what I said about him on the mfc Celebrates New Years post:

Wilmer, ankle weights!

Flores was improving in the field and swatting more four baggers and this helped me not dislike him, but I still thought we needed a better player for that position.

"The Crying Game" didn't change that much. Sure, I felt for him and what he went through there, but I still wasn't all in on Flores. I did like him a lot more as a person after that pretty bazaar night because I felt we had something in common. If I was a Mets player and they traded me, I'd have cried too.

But little by little, as it usually happens when a player stays in orange and blue,  I began to become a fan of Flores. Sometimes he did amazing things.

Not long after "The Crying Game" came "The Walkoff Game".

And I became a full time fan of Flores. And it wasn't the walkoff itself that won me over.

It was the way he grabbed his jersey as he approached his teammates waiting for him at home plate, pulling at the scripted Mets insignia across his chest. He was saying to them, as well as to us fans, that he was still a Metropolitan. That clinched it. Because we both have yet another thing in common. We both love the Mets.

 I was waiting on making a 2016 mfc Wilmer Flores regular issue card but I didn't know what for. And then I ran into this photo yesterday and realized why I waited. His gets a blue orange inner border because he is a true Met. If your card flipping that card gets you credit for orange or blue.

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Crap. 

Unfortunately we will have to update David Wright's injury chart as The Captain is suffering from a herniated disc in his neck. I hope we don't lose Wright like last season. And if we do I hope he can return before the seasons end (saying postseason would be a jinx), and if not, even next season. When Davids on the field he is still a vital asset and if he has to hang 'em up early I will be bummed.

The David Wright Injury Chart circa 2015

First inkling of a back injury in 2011.

2015

2016

I will wait a few days to compile more info before I post the updated Wright injury chart

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Last year while waiting for Wright to return I put out some funnies trying to keep it light. Unfortunately this back problem is serious business.

I can't wait until I can post the above graphic again, and I hope David Wright's return is more sooner than later.

So I haven't added the herniated disc to the Wright Injury Chart yet  yet. These .gifs take a bit of doing. When will Wright be back? There's talk of the D.L. but nothing solid yet. Hopefully Wright is back and healthy ASAP.

Let's go Mets!

2016 mfc Captain Clutch walkoff GIFcard! And bad stuff about Matt Harvey :(

I haven't had time to write up the Milwaukee series yet. I was able to get one GIFcard completed. David Wright with the walk off on Saturday! I wish I had thought of Captain Clutch when I was making the card. I like this new design for the GIFcards. I can get more image in this way. You can see I was going in this direction with the Conforto. I should redo the Conforto because that little cut out looks crappy.

Look at that swing! 

So The Captain with the walk off. And the 3 run kaBOOM vs. the Nats! Good stuff! But there's also been bad stuff. Matt Harvey....

 I made a card for "before the game". Ha, what a nut. ;)

In a game we all wanted him to get back on track in he fell off the rails. He looked okay to start but gave up 2 boomers in the fourth and hit that fifth inning wall. This is tough to see. Must be worse to go through it.

We have an eve and a day and a nickname.
He's gotta make a comeback!

After the game Matt left without facing the press. Very bad. Or sad. He always at least owns up after a bad outing.

Jeez, I never expected to feel bad for nightlife lovin' model datin' nude posin' Matt Harvey. How the mighty have fallen. I feel for him. I'm in the Matt Harvey Supporter Group.

From 2013

I think he makes it thru this eventually. His numbers are VERY similar to Strasburg's the year after TJ surgery ( Ronnie and the SNY booth showed that last night). He's going to have to go to Vegas and work this out. It's my feeling that Matt's got to get back to 2013 shape and weight. The business about using extra weight to pitch, save that for when you're older. That will probably happen naturally.

Remember when The Dark Knight could pick and choose where to rehab? Those days are over and this will test his character. We thought we knew what he was made of but we didn't. We will find out now. 

Don't forget we have Wheeler back sometime in July if he's still on schedule.

Ya know, with Duda, sometimes a temporary back ailment is just that. Wrights situation has us spooked. I think we see Lucas back before July and fine.

Wilmer Flores just started rehab, and he had a couple of hits in his game last night. He should be back Friday. Flores could step up and be big. It's a great opportunity here and has risen to the occasion more than once in orange and blue. I have faith in Flores. 

De Aza is taking ground balls at first. I hear that Conforto might. Right away I rooted for Conforto to first but I was in panic mode. I still like the thought of Conforto as our first baseman (and not just temporarily) for a number of reasons but to pull that on him mid-season may be a bit much.

My hopes are that Flores steps up and forces me to make another one of those Mets Magic Cards. And Duda will be back in three weeks tops and this back problem was an isolated incident.

No comment. Except to say I did go on record saying that Muffy was going to come back and bite us on the ass.

New guy Ty Kelly looked out of his element at the plate tonight, overmatched, shaking his head like he was in a nightmare. 3Ks and a ground out to end his first MLB game. He was. He was also facing Steven Strasburg at his 2016 best. He was ripping it up in the minors and I hope he sees better days, and soon. He will get a card.

What's the deal with the other Matt? Was he called up just to bunt and ride the pine?

Eric Campbell whipped a homer. Maybe he gets a little streak going. Even the most average ballplayers sometime's do this. Come on Campy! We could use a hot streak. So could you.

If they get Loney for nothing, fine, I've always liked the player.

Spell correct wants that^ to say "If they get Money for nothing..". 

And our chicks for free?

Matz today for the rubber game.

Lets Go Matz!

  

 And don't be giving up on Matt Harvey!

Did you hear what Ronnie said about Harvey cupping the ball? Did you see the replay? Look at how loosely Matt's holding the baseball in all these images above. There is a difference.