David Wright and the inner-secrets of gnomes

There’s a story sweeping the Internet about a Tennessee woman who accidentally dropped her garden gnome, discovering inside a hidden, detailed mystery figure.

She’s speculating that it’s a female form of some kind, perhaps an angel. You can read all about it – and even see a video – here.

The injured gnome, named Pete, now has his own Facebook page. 

He’s also lonely, as the women confessed to smashing all of her other gnomes to see if there was anything inside. There wasn't.

We here at Mets Guy do not endorse gnome carnage of any kind. 

Wanton destruction of gnomes on the off-chance that they harbor some inner- secrets is just wrong. Borrow an MRI machine.

We do know a thing or two about the inner-workings of gnomes.

We have under our roof, the Gnome of Victory and Celebration, who travels the country posing with landmarks, spreading joy and standing as the embodiment of  Mets victories and other good things.

As you also remember, the Gnome faced temporary dismembermentat the hands of a rogue jackalope at Wall Drug in South Dakota. Thanks to Uncle Jeff, Zack and the impressive inventory of Wall Drug, the gnome was reunited with his pieces in time for our visit to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.

He’s had two accidental dismemberments since -- first, after measuring the accumulated snow in the driveway, and, more recently, while bouncing around the car trunk.

Today we obtained a safe trunk travel system, decreasing the odds of future breakage. But inspired by this Tennessee revelation, I decided to take a peek inside the Gnome of Victory and Celebration prior to repairs as the hot glue gun was warming up.

I expected nothing, of course. No startling images popped out in the previous separations. But we were so focused on despair and repair at the time that we never really took a close look. We also know that the battle-scarred Gnome of Victory of Celebration is a very special lawn ornament.

Is there hidden meaning to the two protrusions?

The first inspected part revealed what appear to be two distinctive protrusions of sorts, perhaps representing the Mets’ two world championships. Or, they could represent the Mets’ two World Series defeats. We decided not to look too closely for meaning and hope for better in the other part.

At first, there didn't appear to be anything. But slowly it emerged. A nose, a heroic if not troubled brow, cheeks – the unmistakable likeness of David Wright!

Seriously, take a closer look:

The unmistakable likeness of David Wright.

There he is, the Mets’ captain, right inside the Gnome of Victory and Celebration. Perhaps he serves as the gnome’s inner-voice, a conscience guiding him to embrace all the joys of Mets fandom and not dwelling on the sad times that seem to come and go.

We seem to be in one of those extended challenging times right now. Matt Harvey is on the shelf – and apparently in denial about his needed recovery time. We don’t seem to be scoring any runs. The bullpen seems allergic to saves.

But David Wright knows that good times are not far away. 

Our young pitchers seem to be as good as advertised. Curtis Granderson, shaking off the Yankee taint, is starting to mash the ball. Wilmer Flores has not injured any fans sitting behind first base with errant throws. And we have three players on the roster with little d’s to start their last names – Travis d’Arnaud, Jacob deGrom and Matt den Dekker, which has to be good for something.

David Wright could have fled as a free agent last year, but he chose to stay a Met. He knows that soon there will be victory and triumph.

And, like the Gnome of Victory and Celebration, we need to listen to our inner David Wright, calling for patience, not panic.

The glee of my newfound serenity was interrupted by the aroma of melting glue, and we quickly reassembled the Gnome of Victory. Like all Mets fans, he’s been roughed and has looked better.

Maybe, like the Gnome of Victory and Celebration, there's a little David Wright in all of us.

Mets ornament of the day: David Wright, who is NOT going to the Phillies

Some silly Phillies fans are spreading ugly Twitter rumors that the Mets are going to trade David Wright to their goofy little team.

Silly Phillies fans.

The team would have to throw in Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, that bell they broke and a Pat's King of Steaks stand to go alongside the Shake Shack for us to even begin the conversation.

For one thing, nothing good comes of a trade with Philadelphia. Look at the track record. Over the years we've given them Tug McGraw, Roger McDowell and Lenny Dykstra. And what did we get back? Mac Scarce and Juan Samuel. (I'm not counting John Stearns and Del Unser. Work with me.)

And for another, we've already given the Phillies a pair of division titles. Handed them to the team on a platter.

I know it's better to give than to receive. But it's time the Phillies started sending something useful our way.

One thing they're not getting is my sweet David Wright ornament. It's another Forever Collectibles ornament, which means it looks nothing like David Wright. But it's still pretty cool. And it's not headed to Philadelphia.

Mets ornament of the day: David Wright, Pedro and a soon-to-be-jinxed Santa

The Mets had their annual Christmas party today. This has known to be a jinx to the player wearing the Santa suit, and know to be a very good day when Anna Benson showed up in her now infamous elf costume.

So today we have a Forever Collectibles version of what the day is like, with Mets players David Wright and Pedro Martinez posing with Santa.

Is this a since-departed teammate posing as Santa, or the read deal? We just don't know. He does seem to friendly enough with both players.

This St. Nick is dressed for the occasion, ditching his traditional red coat for his black Mets alternative jersey. And David is ready for action, wearing his glove.

This was the first of a series of “Celebration” ornaments from Forever, though the rest ditched Santa in favor of a third player. Or given the history of bad things happening to Mets who played the role at the party, perhaps everyone just thought it was safer to leave the costume behind.

For year No. 47: Jay and Jesse, fresh starts and happy endings

It's a pitcher's number.

I'm referring to No. 47. And after consulting the magnificent “Mets by the Numbers,” by Jon Springer and Matt Silverman, I know that of the 14 Mets to wear the number, 13 were hurlers.

Some important folks, too. Jay Hook wore No. 47 when he pitched the Mets to their first-ever victory in 1962, over the Pirates. A smart guy, Hook was a Northwestern grad who went to work as an engineer when his playing days were over.

Another was former closer Jesse Orosco, who struck out Marty Barrett to finish off the Boston Red Sox in Game Seven of the 1986 World Series. Jesse also struck out the Astros' Kevin Bass to end the NLCS, and I thought of that moment when I wandered into the Astrodome in 2009. Durable Orosco holds the major league record for appearances by a reliever.

I've been thinking about openings and closings a lot as I approached birthday 47 today. Both can be exciting and scary, too. Like R.A. Dickey's dancing knuckleball against the Marlins today, we're just not always sure where we're headed or the exact path we'll take to get there. I'm trusting God has a plan.

And, should there be a transition this year, I'd rather be like Jesse, rejoicing as he threw his glove to the heavens, and not another Met No. 47 – Tom Glavine, who was famously “disappointed, but not devastated” after puking away the final game of the 2007 season and the team's playoff chances.

The one non-pitcher to wear No. 47 was Super Joe McEwing, who delivered one of my favorite quotes in Mets history.

Back in 2005, a young and aggressive David Wright tried to break up a double play in a tight game against the Braves. Wright slid way out of the baseline to knock down the fielder, and the runner at first was called out. It's the kind of play you never see called against the Yankees, but always against the Mets, especially in tight, important games against the Braves. There was much controversy.

McEwing was a mentor to Wright, and had since been traded to the Royals. But after the game he called him.

“Why were you trying to take out Andruw Jones?” he asked.

Jones, of course, was the Braves' center fielder.

Last looks at Topps' rivals in Mets cards

The folks at Topps must have felt too threatened by the first couple Fleer and Donruss sets, but it didn’t take all that long for the rivals to get better. By the time Upper Deck and Score joined the field, Topps was the choice for loyalists, but not necessarily those who demanded quality above all else.

This is not to say that everything issued by the newcomers was first-rate. But there were some glorious moments of Mets on cardboard, as we wrap up our look at favorite non-Topps Mets.

1990 Donruss Dwight Gooden and Sid Fernandez

The 1990 Donruss set has no business being as good as it is. Splattered paint, bright red borders, the drabbest possible backs, “error cards” and massive over-production is not a recipe for a classic issue. But somehow it works. This is one of my favorite sets.



Donruss filled this with great action cards, like this Dwight Gooden, and nice portraits, like El Sid.
1998 Donruss Don Darling.

Not the best Donruss design, but I like this Darling portrait because we get a great view of the script New York the Mets wore on the road uniforms for only the 1987 season. Am I the only one who likes that uniform?

1998 Studio Dwight Gooden, 2003 Al Leiter and 2004 Mike Piazza







I wasn’t too keen on the idea of a black and white set when Studio made its debut, but some of those portraits are beautiful. And Donruss soon found different ways to showcase the portraits, with backgrounds of lockers, cap logos, patches, stadiums and cityscapes.

2004 Donruss Team Heroes Kaz Matsui


Remember how excited we all were when the Mets signed Matsui? Our own Ichiro! Well, that didn’t turn out as we hoped. But I like this card showing Kaz after his introduction press conference posing in Times Square.

1999 Fleer Turk Wendell



Fleer had some great designs. The 1999 set wasn’t one of them. But I love this portrait of Turk and his tooth and claw necklace. Certainly one of the more colorful Mets, Wendell was actually a pretty good reliever, too.

2001 Fleer Ultra Todd Zeile


Ultra was Fleer’s answer to Topps’ Stadium Club, and was usually a decent set. Everything seems to work in this action shot of Zeile, with the pinstripes, the foul line and lots of Pete Flynn’s manicured grass.

Upper Deck Vintage Tom Seaver


UD tried to tap into the Topps devoted fan base by aping some of the company’s best designs for its retro Vintage sets. This set copies the 1965 design, and it gets points for showing Seaver from the 1983 homecoming season, which can’t be saluted enough!

2001 Upper Deck Legends Tom Seaver


Sometimes UD even used one of its own designs for veteran players. I don’t think I’d seen this nice, relaxed Seaver portrait before this issue.

1992 Upper Deck John Franco


I used to argue that that Mets should retire Franco’s number. Now I’m not so sure, but he should most definitely be in the Mets Hall of Fame.

2001 Upper Deck and 2008 Upper Deck David Wright


Now, I do think David Wright will earn his way on to the wall with Casey, Gil, Tom and Jackie – and someday Mike. This posed portrait is a little odd because he’s wearing a jersey with a 2000 World Series patch, a series he didn’t play in. In fact, he was drafted with the pick the Mets earned for losing Mike Hampton, one of the stars of that postseason


I like that Upper Deck used this photo from the All-Star Game, snapped after Wright hit his home run.

Food in a helmet only one of the great things at Tradition Field

Tradition Field, the Mets’ revamped spring home, is a vast step up from Fort Lauderdale Stadium, and that’s not just because it has our favorite team.

Where Lauderdale is old school and its twilight, Tradition is bright and big. And it’s even a considerable improvement from when it was a concrete mountain rising out the then-nowhere nicknamed “Port St. Lonesome.”

It's probably a little more interesting to tell this story through photos.

There's a Sept. 11 memorial outside the stadium. That's a piece of the World Trade Center connecting the two towers.

We arrived as the gates opened a week ago for the home opener. I peeked through the team store and the rightly named “Cool Stuff” trailer, picking up my blue cap with the official Citi Field inaugural season patch.





OK, the bobbles, the caps, the jerseys and even the Mets Pez dispenser -- I get it. But the stuff Mets fish?

It cost $5 to spin the wheel, and there were a lot of things like pom-poms and seat cushions. But I saw the cracked bats and the grand prize -- a signed jersey. And the grand prize slot was about half the size of the rest of the slots. I spun first, and got an Al Kaline Hartland statue. It's better than the pop-pom. Then Dad spun and scored the big prize! I think Freddie Garcia wore it for photo day.

There was a counter with autographed stuff, all of it way out of my range. But it was fun to get a close look at a Shea base.

One of the renovations was to add a table area near the Tiki Bar long the left field line.

You can't get Carvel ice cream in Michigan. But the Shea Final Season logo helmet lured me in.

You can put a lot of food in a helmet. The helmet taco was easily the meal of the day. My friend first poured in crushed chips then added chopped beef and real cheddar cheese, not that nasty liquid cheese product. Finally it was topped with fresh lettuce, salsa and peppers.



Speaking of Freddi Garcia, Chris Duncan almost hit one off the roof of the berm concession area. I would have liked to have slipped out to the berm to take some photos, but the Mets staff said I'd need to buy a separate ticket.

I think we got to see the Citi Field Opening Day lineup, save for Oliver Perez on the mound.

Nelson Figueroa was the only player to greet fans before the game.

Luis Castillo and David Wright took time to stretch.

Oliver Perez warmed up for his first appearance since signing the big contract.



I liked these older fans with their jerseys. Of course, as a jersey purist, I was horrified by the improper lettering and numbers.

David Wright at the plate. Jose Reyes had a better day, with two home runs, one of them a grand slam.

The Mets won, 9-0!

Searching for Seaver and Starbucks

I hope this new year finds you happy and healthy. We celebrated by heading to downtown Grand Rapids to see the Plain White T’s play outside in sub-20-degree weather and had a blast.

We came back in time for cheese fondue, a warm fire and watching the balls — plural, one in Grand Rapids and the other in Times Square — drop on television.

The waning days 2008 also required some searching, as you’ll see in the first Deezo Friday Five of 2009.

1) I was searching for a shirt to help my sister celebrate her Tom Seaver birthday and came across this slice of glory.

I’ve never seen a Tom Seaver shirt like this, and promptly declared it to be the Greatest Shirt Ever.

The photo was from an eBay listing, and the shirt is a medium, which wouldn’t even fit my son anymore. So I searched and searched online to find a store or site selling it.

None. The only place it would show up was that same eBay posting.

Greg suggested I contact the vendor to see if he has more, or if he could tell me where he got the shirt. Again, a strike out, as the vendor said he had only the medium and didn’t know where got that one.

His listing said the shirt was produced by Majestic, and I scanned the company’s web store, but didn’t see the shirt. Then I fired off an e-mail to the customer service department complete with an attachment showing the design. No word back yet.

So, if anybody has seen this design and knows where I can find one of these beauties, please let me know.

While searching, I came across this orange Seaver shirt that also is really cool, though doesn’t have the retro look of the other design.



2) Speaking of things that are hard to find. Mrs. Mets Guy is a knitter and fell in love with Starbucks’ Christmas decorations, which included shiny red balls with green balls of yarn used to make wreaths.

We’re in Starbucks enough that I know far too much about the baristas and baristos — is that what you call a guy who works there? — and one day I mentioned her appreciation of the wreaths and asked if I could buy one after the holidays.

The manager said he’d be happy to save one for me. And the day after Christmas I was in there and noticed that the wreaths were down, and assumed the manager had one in the back waiting for my all-to-frequent arrival.

Alas, he said he was confronted by a customer as soon as he opened the doors, and she was very insistent. I think he forgot.

But it’s not like there’s only one Starbucks in the area, or even on that street.

So Monday I went to another, noticed the wreath was still there and inquired. The manager said there were a number of people interested, and she made a rule that they would go to the first person who asked for them on New Year’s Day. And they opened at 7 a.m.

So I set the alarm for 6:15 a.m. despite watching the ball drop and staying up late the night before, and was in the Starbucks parking lot by 6:45 sharp.

I jumped out of the car as soon as the manager turned the key. And she said she doesn’t know what happened, but the wreaths were gone. But I was welcome to a free coffee as a token of apology and some of the other decorations.

I walked out disappointed, but with a tall caramel frappuccino and some other ball and yarn decorations.

Then I realized that there were still more Starbucks, and went across town to another, and saw that not only was a wreath in the window, but there were three in the store!

“About the wreaths,” I asked.

“Stop,” the barista said, cutting me off. “They’re already claimed.”

I predict that next year, Starbucks will come up with a scrapbooking motif to continue tapping into the lucrative craft and latte market.



3) Johan Santana can kick Derek F. Jeter’s butt in baseball bocce.

I know this because I got an awesome Wii baseball game for Christmas — MLB Superstars — that has real players and mascots doing everything but play baseball.

Santana, David Wright and Jose Reyes are among the guys playing bocce on a baseball diamond, dodging gophers and lawnmowers.

They also shoot snacks into the stands using those hot dog-shaped guns mascots use. Mr. Met, in fact, is seen roaming through multiple games, sometimes causing trouble, like when he kicks the ball around in baseball golf.

Some of the gaming sites are wailing on the game. They don’t get it.

There are plenty of games where you can play baseball. But most of us obsessive types notice that the sport bleeds into all the other things we do.

If I’m going to play golf — and you can create your own person in the game — of course I’d rather play it with David, Jose and Johan, and I’d rather play it by hitting the ball with a bat and it would be great fun for all of us to gang up on Derek F. Jeter.



4) My in-laws have a suicidal mailbox.

Or, I should say they had a suicidal mailbox.

We visited last weekend, surviving a challenging, five-hour trek through some of the densest fog ever. We pulled up and debated whether we passed the house, backed up a little and felt a big THUD.

Turns out the mailbox somehow hurled itself into the path of my Vue. It’s not like I could have possibly backed up the driveway and into it. Can’t be my fault.

But we went to Lowe’s the next day and happily picked out a new one -- the Mail Master -- and installed it.

I say happily because this could have been worse in two ways.

First, the wooden pole that goes into the ground and supports the box could have broken, which means we’d have to somehow dig out the old one and get cement to set in the rain-soaked ground. No telling if that would have worked, or how long it would have taken.

Then, it could have been the neighbor’s box. If you think it’s hard to explain to a relative how you ran over their mailbox, image doing it to a stranger without them calling the police.



5) Tuned to the MLB Network debut Thursday night.

Have to say there was much fear when the first thing they do is show an old Yankee game, then roll out Phillie big mouth/shortstop Jimmy Rollins for the “Hot Stove” show.

But, despite Rollins, the show was pretty neat. And next week they’re showing the Ken Burns Baseball epic.

That first aired in 1994, the year of the strike. I was covering the All-Star Game FanFest and was invited to a media breakfast to talk about the documentary.

We were seated at round tables, most with a retired player. I was at a table with former Brooklyn Dodger Joe Black and several people who had no business getting a press pass and, based on their indifference, had never heard of Joe Black.

I knew he was the 1952 Rookie of the Year, and had spent eight years in the Negro Leagues before getting a crack at the majors. I think I impressed him when I correctly pronounced the name of his team, the Elite Giants, which sounds like e-LIGHT Giants.

“I think you’re the first white guy to pronounce that the right way,” he said with a smile. He then patiently allowed me to pick his brain, and I listened to all kinds of neat stories about the Jackie Robinson and playing in Brooklyn.

A person who I believed to be a former player walked around the room with a beaming smile, shaking every hand and introducing himself. I had never heard of Buck O’Neil until then.

Of course, by the time Burns’ masterpiece was finished, O’Neil had become baseball’s newest ambassador and a national treasure.