General Forum

  I am going to a minor league game soon,  Binghamton Rumble Ponies, yes Rumble Ponies (used to be the BMets) vs Trenton Thunder.   Doc Gooden will be signing autos that night.   I doubt if I will wait in the long line for his signature.   But if you were going to get a Gooden card signed, which would be your choice? Base set only or small set.   No inserts.

Yes, that is a good one.   And yes, stupid name for the BMets.   I like the 1989 Bowman #376 if it didn't already have a facsimile auto on it.

Of the cards I have, I would consider:

1985 Topps #620

1986 Topps #250

1988 Fleer #135

1990 Bowman #126 - this one doesn't have a facsimile auto and might be an alternate choice to the 1989 Bowman #376

1990 Bowman Art Inserts

1992 Topps #725

1997 Upper Deck #120 - shows him celebrating his no-hitter, so should probably use a silver Sharpie

I think most of his Allen & Ginter and Gypsy Queen base cards would look good, too.

I would personally choose the 1997 Upper Deck despite it being a Yankees card.  If I needed a Mets card signed, then I would choose the 1988 Fleer or the 1992 Topps.  I think an auto would show nicely on either.  If I wanted another Mets card signed, then I would choose one of his Gypsy Queen base cards.

Not sure which card I would choose, but I would like to share a similar story.  Went to a West Michigan Whitecaps game last summer with the girlfriend (Detroit Tigers Low A). Mickey Lolich was signing that night.  Even though we got in right as the gates opened, we waited in line for at least two hours, moving forward maybe 20 feet.  At that point I said oh well and went to watch the game, as it was already in the second inning and that's what I was there for anyway.  By the end of the eighth inning, he was still signing and the line was almost gone, but still...there were people that I recognized that had been standing around us two and a half hours earlier.  

With that being said, I don't blame you for not waiting in line for the signature; it's almost more trouble than its worth and there will be a baseball game going on, after all! 

P.S. - Rumble Ponies is a pretty good ones.  Some of my other favorites are Mudcats, RubberDucks, Wood Ducks, and Yard Goats.

Yes, most minor leagues, gates open at 6:00.   Signings usually start at 7 and end at 8.  And yes, the line is long at 6:03.   Best bet is to leave the stadium, get your handstamped to reenter and catch the signer on the way to his limo.  My cousin wanted Whitey Ford's auto for some friends but he no way would he wait in that line.   I took him outside after the signing ended and we caugh Whitey getting into his limo.   He was good enough to sign there too.   A real classy gentleman.    I've only gotten 2 autos at the park, one was my idol Joe Pepitone (idol after Yogi retired, of course)  and Ken Daneyko,  of course.

I know you said no inserts, but I think metscardboard's list included the perfect card for getting signed: 1990 Bowman Art Inserts. I have that card and as soon as I saw it in his list I thought that was a perfect card to get signed. The card is light in all colors and a black Sharpie would stand out as well against the blue uniform as it would against the white background. It isn't a picture of him (only a drawing), but it also isn't glossy and the AU would take really well to the cardboard.

As for minor league team names, Rumble Ponies is a bit ridiculous to me. The Carolina Mudcats are pretty close to my home but I've never been to one of their games. I still wish the Greensboro Bats (where Derek Jeter played in the early-mid 1990's) had never changed their name. Bats sounds so much better than Grasshoppers. Bats was as in the object, not the animal. My most local MiLB team has always went with the parent teams' names (Burlington Indians and then the Burlington Royals). To my knowledge, no former MLB player has ever had a signing there, even though Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome started there after being drafted by Cleveland (along with a few other players that made it to the majors).

RE: Minor League Baseball Team Names

Having been to several B-Mets games, I wound up on their e-mail mailing list (I guess from buying tix online). I saw all the e-mails about the name is changing, the name is changing, etc. Then when the name was announced, I thought it was a ridiculous name. Then my son (13 yrs old at the time) explained it to me. See, Binghamton is also called the "Carousel capital of the world". We visited a park there with a carousel that was being refurbished. He told me that a "Rumble Pony" is another name for a carousel horse. Now, the name makes perfect sense to me.

Another thing about MiLB team names is they seem to be getting more "independent" names, and from some of the things I've seen, even in the NY-Penn League (short-season Class A, denoted in baseball reference as A-), there were teams that switched affiliation and moved. Now, the Rumble Ponies doesn't make sense to move to say Albany, but what's stopping the Batavia Muckdogs from going from the Phillies to the Marlins or moving from Batavia to (hypothetically) Buffalo or Pittsfield, MA? Pittsfield Muckdogs still works. If they change affiliation, Muckdogs still works. From what I read, affiliations are only 2-year contracts. So, rather than having to potentially re-brand every 2 years, get an independent name and if the parent club changes, no big deal - you still have your local following who knows you as the same name you've had for over 20 years (or more). We had that happen right here in my backyard - the Hudson Valley Renegades, changed their name when they moved from Erie for their first season here in 1994. The Texas Rangers were their parent club. Then, when it was announced that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were going to be an expansion team, the Renegades became a blended team, about 50/50 Rangers/Devil Rays. After 2 seasons like that, the Rangers announced they were going to pull out and let Tampa take sole control of the team here. Still called the Renegades, they continued on as a Rays team (and Tampa has kept renewing them ever since). But, it was a good thing for them that they weren't the Rangers. as they would have had to completely re-brand after 4 seasons, if they didn't do it after 2 (when they became a mixed affiliate).

Long story short - the independent names give the MiLB freedom to be anyone's affiliate and not have to locally re-brand. It's really a smart business strategy.

Aw  Yard Goats.  A shuntting engine, not a real goat.  And they get to play home at HOME this year

wtg Hartford