There’s all kinds of goofy going on with this card… subtly goofy, but goofy nonetheless. There’s your typical Spring Training stuff… a windbreaker worn under the jersey, Tug posing in front of some trees which could just as easily be your local town park with the handball court just out of frame.
Two other things I noticed; first off, as if it isn’t obvious enough, Tug and the world around him are tilted at an angle. This is kind of funny given how many cards in the 1970’s were cropped so that the player is more-or-less upright but the background is at some crazy angle.
The other thing I noticed is that the Tug’s glove says HAMMER on it in big letters, so he apparently borrowed John Milner’s glove for the photo shoot.
This card is a semi-recent acquisition (i.e. within the past year); I’m 13 cards away from completing the set, but naturally one of those 13 is the Schmidt/Cey/Hilton rookie. I’ve always liked the 1973 set, even though the design is far from inspired. I guess maybe because it’s the set from the year before I started collecting, so it’s something that’s almost-but-not-quite part of my childhood.
——
As long as it’s Mets Monday, I’d just like to throw my two cents in on the situation with the Binghamton Mets. The very abbreviated version of this story is that an Ottawa newspaper has reported that a group has bought the B-Mets and will move them to Ottawa for 2013.
There’s been gnashing of teeth from certain parts of the Mets fanbase, so let me make this clear: If this story is true, then the accurate statement would be that a group has purchased the Eastern League franchise in Binghamton, which currently has an affiliation with the Mets. That affiliation expires after the season, so I would bet a stack of “Golden Greats” inserts that the Mets’ AA team will not be in Ottawa next year, but in some other AA city.
From a strictly geographical standpoint – and there’s a lot more that goes into making an affiliation desirable, but I’ll focus on the “where” part for now – the Mets’ best-case scenario might be the New Britain Rock Cats, located near Hartford, CT. It doesn’t look like there will be any other available teams in what could be considered “Mets Territory”. Trenton is signed with the Yankees through 2014; the second-closest available option is Harrisburg, PA. This is all assuming that the Mets would be able to pick and chose from the available teams, which wouldn’t likely be the case. Being a pessimistic Mets fan, I’ll also point out that if the Mets lose this game of musical chairs, they could end up with a AA team in the Texas League… and then Ottawa wouldn’t seem like such a bad option.
The Shlabotnik Report 
It wouldn’t be the first time the Mets had a Double-A team in the Texas League. :-)
I hope they can work out an affiliation with some Eastern League team because I enjoy seeing the Mets’ Double-A players come to Trenton once or twice a year… but it really doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. How many guys jump straight from Double-A to the majors anyway?
I do feel bad for the B-Mets fans in Binghamton who might be losing their team.
Shame on me for forgetting the Jackson Mets! I do think these days teams prefer to have their affiliates closer, even if the players rarely or never need to go from that city to Queens. I guess it promotes the Mets brand. I also get to see the B-Mets once a year, so I’d be slightly disappointed if I they were no longer in the Eastern League.
From what I’ve been reading, Binghamton has a lease that guarantees there’ll be a team, but doesn’t guarantee it’s a AA team. The conjecture is that the A-ball Batavia Muckdogs would get purchased and take the B-Mets place.