>>>>METS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES-2020

The New York Mets announced that Jon Matlack, Ron Darling and Edgardo Alfonzo will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame on Sunday, May 17 prior to the 1:10 p.m. game at Citi Field.

Al Jackson will be posthumously honored with the Mets Hall of Fame Achievement Award for contributions to the organization.

The three new additions will bring the total membership of the Mets Hall of Fame to 30. 

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The 30 Hall of Fame members in order of the year they were inducted are: 

Joan Payson (1981); Casey Stengel (1981); Gil Hodges (1982); George M. Weiss (1982); Johnny Murphy (1983); William A. Shea (1983); Ralph Kiner (1984); Bob Murphy (1984); Lindsey Nelson (1984); Bud Harrelson (1986); Rusty Staub (1986); Tom Seaver (1988); Jerry Koosman (1989); Ed Kranepool (1990); Cleon Jones (1991); Jerry Grote (1992); Tug McGraw (1993); Mookie Wilson (1996); Keith Hernandez (1997); Gary Carter (2001); Tommie Agee (2002); Frank Cashen (2010); Dwight Gooden (2010); Davey Johnson (2010), Darryl Strawberry (2010), John Franco (2012), Mike Piazza (2013), Jon Matlack (2020), Ron Darling (2020) and Edgardo Alfonzo (2020).

>>Managers

We've already had a couple of managers for 2020. I was looking forward to Beltran giving it a shot and it's a shame he was caught up in that cheating fiasco. 

When I heard of his replacement I said "WHO?". 

So I had to do a little homework.

Here's the scoop:

Rojas played with the Baltimore Orioles (2000), Florida Marlins (2001-02) and Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals (2003-05) minor league systems.

Enters his 14th season with the Mets organization. Luis's first managing gig was with the Gulf Coast Mets in 2011.

He managed Savannah (A) of the South Atlantic League for three seasons from 2012-2014, guiding them to the South Atlantic League championship in 2013 and was named the South Atlantic League Manager of the Year in 2014.

Rojas managed St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League from 2015-16 and led them to a second-half Florida State League South Division title.

Managed Binghamton (AA) during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, leading the Rumble Ponies to a 2017 playoff berth.

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So he has some experience and some success managing. This move will either make the Wilpon's look typically cheap or ridiculously wise. I'm hoping for the latter. 

>>>>The d'Arnaud Collection

A message from my brother:

I agreed that this would more than likely happen because it's just the way the Mets roll.

Actually, it's the way baseball rolls. These types of storybook moments happen all the time.

A pro player in payback mode is the most dangerous type of player there is.

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Lets roll out the MFC

Travis d'Arnaud Collection!

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Remember those cute FLEER stickers.

Travis looks like he's around twelve years old.

 I couldn't find a large quality picture of the field so Travis ends up in the stands. He looks okay with it.

Yep, this is an MFC Premium!

I'm not sure what that means.

Travis wore the uniform numbers 15, 7, & 18 as a Metropolitan.

Currently my personal favorite of all the d'Arnaud customs I have throw together. 

And this one was shopped up just for this blog post. It's not an original, just a doctored version of his Tampa Bay Topps throw back. I feel that if he's going to be in THE LIVING SET, he's got to be portrayed as a NEW YORK MET!

When adding a card back, which I rarely do, the 1971 Topps design is the one I use the most. Why? Only two lines of stats!

The Topps 2020 border design. 

Meh, it's typical of today's "space age" look. 

Might as well write stuff sideways.

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d'Arnaud mfc SEASON SET cards

   

Good luck in all your future endeavors Travis! Thank you for being a Met!

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I lost count as to how many Pete Alonso cards have the Topps Rookie symbol on them. At least 25. 
So what does it mean to be a rookie card these days?
Feel free to comment.

As far as I am concerned Pete Alonso's 2016 "1st BOWMAN"
is his actual, factual rookie card, no other.
And it doesn't even include the Topps Rookie Symbol. Ha!

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Hope the Mets get us something special for Christmas.

Don't laugh. They have come through before.