50 Years in Cards: 1962

It being the Mets 50th Anniversary season, I wanted to try something out  here. I've talked in the past about how I am an avid collector of Mets Baseball cards, so to commemorate 50 years of the Mets, I'm going to pick one card from every year of the Mets existence and post it here. It's going to be mostly an arbitrary selection, but I do have some guidelines. 1) This will only consist of Base issue Topps cards, since that's the only issue constant through all 50 years of the Mets. Perhaps, later on, I'll expand out into other brands. 2) Unless it's a particularly exceptional case, I'm not going to double up on players. So I won't throw up 5 different cards of Darryl Strawberry, etc. So, enjoy #1, from 1962.

What is it: 1962 Topps #29, Casey Stengel

What makes it Interesting: Well, it's Casey Stengel. That's pretty interesting in and of itself. The 1962 set featured 21 Mets cards, although Stengel is the most representative of the bunch. Because the Mets hadn't previously existed, most of the Mets cards from the '62 set don't actually show the players in Mets uniforms (the high number series, a staple of Topps' early years, were released later in the season and did feature Mets players in Mets uniforms, among them Al Jackson and Ed Bouchee). Rather, they're show in close headshots with no hat, or in the case of Stengel, it's most likely a Yankee uniform and cap with the logo airbrushed out.

The '62 Mets were bad on a legendary on a scale that doesn't need further explanation. Stengel and his unique personality were what made them so loveable.

Card Back: