Mets Today

There’s been a lot of hoopla surrounding some guy in San Francisco chasing the number 755 (which means very little, by the way). Something about a “Home Run King”.

For anyone interested in reading about the Home Run Kings, I implore you to read the following books, in this specific order:

1. Sadaharu Oh!: A Zen Way of Baseball

This is a wonderful, insightful book written by the REAL homerun king (858 career homers) — Sadaharu Oh — as well as an overview of Japanese baseball in the 1960s-1970s. After you read this book, you are guaranteed to have a newfound appreciation for Japanese ballplayers, and Oh in particular. The guy was, and remains, a class act — the kind of ballplayer you’d want your kids to look up to and emulate. The only drawback to this book is that it is very difficult to locate and buy. If you follow the above link, it’ll take you to Amazon, where there are about a dozen available. If they’re gone by the time you read this, you may have a better shot obtaining it through a second-hand shop.

2. I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story

This is the autobiography of the American Home Run King, Henry Aaron. Like Oh’s account, this book will open your eyes to a greater respect for the man who would pass Babe Ruth. And if you do as I say and read these books in order, you may find it fascinating that both Aaron and Oh share common traits — specifically, respect and care for others, selflessness, an immense respect for the game of baseball, high moral standards, the way they dealt with racism and prejudice (you didn’t know Oh was half-Chinese? that was a major issue in Japan back then), how each reacted to adversity, and the fact that both are considered class acts and icons of their sport.

3. Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports

You had to know this was coming. Though “Game of Shadows” is a book about several athletes, and focuses on BALCO, there is quite a bit of interesting information regarding Barry Bonds — the guy currently chasing Henry Aaron for the United States homerun record. If you didn’t read this, you should. If after reading this, you think Barry Bonds didn’t use steroids, then hold your breath, because eventually the sand surrounding your head will seep into your lungs and kill you.

I would have suggested Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero, but haven’t read it yet. It’s by Jeff Pearlman, who wrote Bad Guys Won — a book I did read, and found gripping. Somehow I get the feeling that after reading Love Me, Hate Me, I won’t get the same fuzzy feeling about Bonds that I did after the previously mentioned autobiographies by Aaron and Oh.

Not much Mets news with the day off, so today’s post is self-serving and blatantly commercialized.

You may or may not realize that publishing a blog costs money, and to help defray the costs, MetsToday has implemented a few revenue streams to keep the site live. Hopefully these aren’t too intrusive, and in fact what I try to do is make the commercialization useful in some way to a Mets fan.

For example, I’ve been asked to review — for a small fee — a website called Authentic Sports Collectibles (www.authenticsportscollectibles.com). And unless you comment / email with strong objections, I’ll continue to sprinkle in sponsored posts once in a while to keep the server fees paid (please let me know your opinion, either way).

Oh, if you have something of benefit to Mets fans, and would like to have your product or service reviewed on MetsToday, follow this link: Get Reviewed by this blog at ReviewMe!

Review: Authentic Sports Collectibles

Other than some old baseball cards, I’m not much into collectibles — partially because I don’t have the space and mostly because I don’t have the money. However, after looking at this particular site, I’m coming close to pulling out my credit card and making some purchases.

Authentic Sports Collectibles has a fine selection of current Mets memorabilia, mixed in with a few very cool older items. For example, they have both a baseball and a bat autographed by the 1986 Mets, and some jerseys signed by old heroes such as Tom Seaver, Gary Carter, Darryl Strawberry, and Howard Johnson.

For the most part, though, the site has photos and jerseys autographed by current Mets, so it’s a good place to check out if you’re more into today’s team and/or you want to buy a gift for a young fan. They have a good selection of items signed by Aaron Heilman, John Maine, Billy Wagner, Jose Valentin, Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez, Paul LoDuca and others.

The site is easy to navigate — just type in “Mets” into the search box or select them from the drop-down box on the home page — so you can find what you’re interested in, in seconds. Thumbnails open up into large-size images so you get a good look at what you’re buying. Everything I checked out comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, and they deal with highly respected suppliers such as Steiner Sports and Upper Deck. They offer a fair 15-day return policy, and are based locally — in Thornwood, NY.

Follow the banner below to visit their site, and let me know how your experience goes.