Powerful stuff
50th Anniversary Signing – 86 Mets (and more)
One of the things I really liked about yesterday’s event was that it really did represent most of the full 50 years of the Mets with players from almost all eras. This morning I posted pics from pre-1986 Mets. Here are the ones I got from 86 and beyond (I only missed out on Bernard Gilkey, George Foster, and Cookie Rojas). Unfortunately Mackey Sasser cancelled and Darryl Strawberry cancelled at the last minute because of illness
50 Years of Amazin’ Baseball – Review & Pictures
With Shannon off for a few days, and Goon doing…..Goonish things….I took it upon myself to head out to CitiField yesterday to check out the 50 Years of Amazin’ Baseball show.
First off I want to make it clear that this was not something run or organized by the Mets but rather by MAB Celebrity Services which run card and autograph shows around the country. These guys are pros at doing this and all-in-all I thought the event was very well run and very organized.
The pros:
- The show was in the Caesar’s Club which was a good sized setting and lent a real air of “Metsiness” to the event
- The players were set up by the large windows (the ones above the rotunda) and player sessions were nicely staggered throughout the day so that it never got too crazy with too many players at a given time
- If you purchased an autograph, you were given a numbered ticket. Numbers were called in staggered groups so as to never really have long lines by each table (except that didn’t work for Seaver)
- Of course there was a memorabilia shop available and a silent auction with some very tempting items (I was almost wooed by a Joe Namath/Tom Seaver autographed picture)
- They did open up 1 concession stand so that people didn’t go hungry
- There were also some nice Q&A sessions with some of the players (I took a few videos which I will post soon)
Now the cons (and really, these are very small, nit-picking things)
- They ONLY opened up 1 concession stand and the line was longer than any I’ve seen at a game.
- There were no water fountains that were accessible. If you wanted water you had to buy a bottle
That’s it – it was a very good event
I got pictures of and/or with almost everyone who was at the show. The only one I could not get was Willie Mays. There was no picture taking of Willie. So on to some of the pictures I did take (and I apologize ahead of time that my sorry face is in most of these):
For this post, let’s start with the pre-86 Mets. I’ll post 86 and beyond Mets later today
Roll over the picture to see who it is and click on it for a bigger view.
You don’t tug on Superman’s cap, you don’t spit into the wind
The Girls of Summer – New York Times
From the Times in 1989.
This topic (ballgirls) came up on twitter yesterday.
I actually have some stories to tell in this area…but those will be part of the ebook I am writing which has the working title “Send the Beer Guy.”
The Mets have had ball girls instead of ball boys since 1982. ”We thought it was a nice idea for the crowd,” said James Plummer, the director of promotion. The women work in pairs, rotating one home stand on, one off. There is no seniority in being a ball girl. Although Miss Rashbaum and Ms. Jackson were ball girls for both the 1988 and 1989 seasons, they had to try out both years for the job, which pays $27.50 a night, before taxes.
…
As part of that family, the women are given Mets uniforms, which they are allowed to keep. (They supply their own mitts.) Their outfit consists of a batting helmet, player’s jersey, pants and a jacket with their first names and their number, 89, the current year, on the back. For the summer, they have a pair of shorts. The shorts were a source of dispute between management and the ball girls this year. The players did not have to wear tight-fitting shorts, why should the ball girls, Miss Rashbaum said. ”We didn’t want to wear the shorts,” she said. ”They’re real tight and high up. I’d rather sweat than wear those shorts. A lot of times I just said I forgot them.”
via ABOUT LONG ISLAND; The Girls of Summer – New York Times.
