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Drive in Style

batmagadanleadoff Mar 09 2015 11:27 PM

Sotheby’s is auctioning something else on April 1 that is more portable and probably more fun to own than tall stadium letters: a Mets bullpen cart that used to deliver relievers to the pitching mound at Shea Stadium. For $20,000 to $30,000 — the price range estimated by Sotheby’s — a fan with money to burn can fantasize about being Tug McGraw. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/sport ... adium.html

cooby Mar 10 2015 03:30 AM Re: Drive in Style

Or Bud Harrelson. I'll bet they could get more $$$ than that.

Lefty Specialist Mar 10 2015 06:19 AM Re: Drive in Style

Buying one of these is on my bucket list.

Frayed Knot Mar 10 2015 06:23 AM Re: Drive in Style

Sigh ... if only it were street legal.

G-Fafif Mar 19 2015 01:58 PM Re: Drive in Style

Some info is about to come to light that will make this thread explode.

batmagadanleadoff Mar 19 2015 02:06 PM Re: Drive in Style

Bitter Bill Price is buying the Mets buggy?

G-Fafif Mar 19 2015 02:19 PM Re: Drive in Style

I'd be aqua green with envy.

Edgy MD Mar 19 2015 02:36 PM Re: Drive in Style

I was thinking Metfairy was bidding.

themetfairy Mar 19 2015 02:47 PM Re: Drive in Style

Nah - I'm electing to go broke on MK's education instead.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 19 2015 03:22 PM Re: Drive in Style

G-Fafif wrote: Some info is about to come to light that will make this thread explode. Winning bidder also gets a Manufacturers Hanover Anycar?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 19 2015 03:40 PM Re: Drive in Style Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 19 2015 03:54 PM

long live avi

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 19 2015 03:52 PM Re: Drive in Style

G-Fafif wrote: Some info is about to come to light that will make this thread explode. Oh should have guessed. Seller's name rhymes with Jed + Freff Nilpon.

G-Fafif Mar 19 2015 05:11 PM Re: Drive in Style

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Some info is about to come to light that will make this thread explode. Oh should have guessed. Seller's name rhymes with Jed + Freff Nilpon. They'd only sell off something fans hold dear that they already have in their possession -- like the hopes and dreams of a half-decade or possibly more. But they wouldn't lift a finger to buy something fans hold dear... Besides a lefty reliever, I mean.

G-Fafif Mar 19 2015 07:35 PM Re: Drive in Style

Q&A with the cart guy (I'm one of the Q'ers), who reveals Wilpon & Co. haven't returned his inquiries vis-vis "you guys want it back?" Very cool details on how the cart rolled from Doubleday to this guy & what it's been doing since. http://metspolice.com/2015/03/19/how-th ... t-it-back/

batmagadanleadoff Mar 19 2015 08:15 PM Re: Drive in Style

G-Fafif wrote: Q&A with the cart guy (I'm one of the Q'ers), who reveals Wilpon & Co. haven't returned his inquiries vis-vis "you guys want it back?" Very cool details on how the cart rolled from Doubleday to this guy & what it's been doing since. http://metspolice.com/2015/03/19/how-th ... t-it-back/ If I posted this information when I started this thread, you might've asked him about it: About 10 or 11 years ago, I remember seeing the Mets bullpen cart being offered on eBay. The "Buy it Now" price was either $200K or a quarter million dollars, although the seller stated that the selling price was negotiable. I remember that the seller indicated that he was in possession of the cart and that it was at his house on Long Island. Pictures showed the bullpen cart outdoors at what appeared to be the seller's nice-sized and very grassy backyard.

batmagadanleadoff Mar 19 2015 08:29 PM Re: Drive in Style

Q&A with the cart guy (I'm one of the Q'ers), who reveals Wilpon & Co. haven't returned his inquiries vis-vis "you guys want it back?" Very cool details on how the cart rolled from Doubleday to this guy & what it's been doing since. http://metspolice.com/2015/03/19/how-th ... t-it-back/ If I posted this information when I started this thread, you might've asked him about it: About 10 or 11 years ago, I remember seeing the Mets bullpen cart being offered on eBay. The "Buy it Now" price was either $200K or a quarter million dollars, although the seller stated that the selling price was negotiable. I remember that the seller indicated that he was in possession of the cart and that it was at his house on Long Island. Pictures showed the bullpen cart outdoors at what appeared to be the seller's nice-sized and very grassy backyard. ___________ Sean O’Shea: What happened to the old hat? Shannon Shark: or is that the same/old hat? Same old hat. They re-painted to logo before I got it – so more than 15 years ago. You can see that up close. Same old cloth hat? Because the cart Franco used to drive in Tug had a hard hat. Does "Jamie" own the hard hat car? Is the hard hat car the original cart with the cloth cap replaced? Or is the hard hat car a new car that was never used by the Mets during their bullpen cart era? I'm confused. OE: I doubt that the Mets had a brand new cart built just so that Franco could drive Tug around for 2 minutes in 2003. The Mets probably borrowed cart guy's cart. And in 2003, the cart had a hard plastic cap, not the original cloth cap.

G-Fafif Mar 19 2015 08:59 PM Re: Drive in Style

Might be worthy of a followup. I didn't lead the inquiry (I was just invited to send in some Q's), but I'll see about contacting him.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 19 2015 09:37 PM Re: Drive in Style

This whole business is gross. Let's not let this guy off the hook for bleeding some other vain asshole for $30K. That the Mets aren't going to pay Sotheby's memorabilia auction prices for a golf cart they don't need or want anymore isn't a crime, or a surprise. You can't watch them chop Shea into tiny pieces to feed their own memorabilia riches then act surprised this doesn't happen. Couldn't the guy do right by everyone and loan it to the museum before selling it?

G-Fafif Mar 19 2015 10:02 PM Re: Drive in Style

That, too, is a reasonable question. If anybody else wants to throw a few more in the pot, I'll forward them. (Maybe he'd be willing to come here for himself and do his own direct answering.)

batmagadanleadoff Mar 19 2015 10:08 PM Re: Drive in Style

What's this business about cart guy having to get to Doubleday's within 30 minutes to close the deal? What if cart guy agreed over the phone, then got stuck in traffic or got a flat tire or something and was delayed? Delayed enough that he arrived at Doubleday's at precisely the same time as the other potential buyer got there? I can't believe Doubleday would make such a kooky arrangement. I suppose that once cart guy promised to show up to buy the cart, Doubleday could have called off the first potential buyer to avoid that kooky scenario imagined above. But then there'd be no need for cart guy to have to get to Doubleday within half an hour.

batmagadanleadoff Mar 19 2015 10:10 PM Re: Drive in Style

How could cart guy loan it to the Mets when they won't even return his calls/emails?

batmagadanleadoff Mar 19 2015 10:14 PM Re: Drive in Style

Fuck the Wilpons. Like they need to be loaned out something that might go for tens and tens and tens of thousands of dollars. I bet that Jeff Wilpon and his wife and kids couldn't last two weeks on $50,000.00

batmagadanleadoff Mar 19 2015 10:19 PM Re: Drive in Style

Besides, if the Wilpons got the cart on loan, they'd probably strip it and sell the parts out the back door, then claim the cart was stolen. More entitlements. Let 'em buy the damn cart. Haven't they gotten enough free billion dollar lands from the city? They need a free golf cart, too?

batmagadanleadoff Mar 19 2015 10:24 PM Re: Drive in Style Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 19 2015 10:25 PM

"Got any ideas on how we could get to keep that bullpen car without paying for it? Make yourself useful, son." [fimg=788]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRFYg0z6-HWHghy4JGyCwaJ5FCicaefsmK33qxft2H0SHQF2tKh[/fimg]

G-Fafif Mar 19 2015 10:25 PM Re: Drive in Style

We don't necessarily know whether his intention was sell to the Mets, give to the Mets, temporarily loan to the Mets or permanently loan to the Mets. Personally, I'd love to see it in the Bullpen Plaza, where there is currently nothing (plus it probably has a homing device that wouldn't stop sounding its alarm until it got back where it spiritually belongs). Folks would take pix with it and the TV cameras would pick it up every time a reliever got loose and merriment would abound and Bobby Grich's small heart would grow three sizes that day. Or something like that.

batmagadanleadoff Mar 19 2015 10:29 PM Re: Drive in Style

G-Fafif wrote: We don't necessarily know whether his intention was sell to the Mets, give to the Mets, temporarily loan to the Mets or permanently loan to the Mets. Personally, I'd love to see it in the Bullpen Plaza, where .... Me too. But I'm not gonna get on cart guy's case like it's on him to make that happen. Because if it's supposed to be cart guy's fault when that cart sells at auction, then just the same, you can blame the new buyer for not gifting the thing to the Mets two days after he takes possession of it from cart guy.

G-Fafif Mar 19 2015 10:44 PM Re: Drive in Style

I've been told (not about this specifically) that the Mets will and have bid for particular items, including some that have been displayed in their HOF. Maybe not something as physically big, but then again, how many things like this come rolling along. I want to give both sides a little benefit of the doubt. Yes, the Mets were pillagers and pirates of their own history in 2008 and negligent about spotlighting their heritage in 2009, but they've stepped up their game since (they couldn't step it down). I don't know Cart Guy's circumstances, but if I had something to sell that might net me five figures, I'd consider all offers. If I was the Sultan of Frances Lewis Blvd., I might be reflexively giving of my largesse, but I'm not and I don't know that Cart Guy is. It is a beautiful object. It was such a lift to see Tug getting a lift in it all those years removed from when he and his peers would use it for business trips. It's one of those things, like the original Apple, that you just know would make people light up with recognition and wonder in its (almost) native habitat.

cooby Mar 20 2015 10:09 AM Re: Drive in Style

Personally, I wish they still used it.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 20 2015 11:36 AM Re: Drive in Style

The Mets will. They just need to see 6 or 8 other teams do it first.

dgwphotography Mar 20 2015 12:27 PM Re: Drive in Style

Fred would have bought it if it had a white 'B' on the hat....

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 20 2015 01:30 PM Re: Drive in Style

Don't buy it. Retrofit an electric golf cart with the vintage trimmings, and say you're aiming to take the "LEED" in bullpen transportation. Trot it out on the nearest home game to Earth Day, and invite schoolkids to show off their enviro-projects. Guess how many interns it took me to come up with that?

batmagadanleadoff Mar 20 2015 02:11 PM Re: Drive in Style

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Don't buy it. Retrofit an electric golf cart with the vintage trimmings, and say you're aiming to take the "LEED" in bullpen transportation. Trot it out on the nearest home game to Earth Day, and invite schoolkids to show off their enviro-projects. Guess how many interns it took me to come up with that? Nothing wrong with that idea. It's done all the time. Just past the Shea Stadium entrance to the Diamond Club, the Mets had a Willie Mays NY Giants jersey on display. The jersey wasn't an original one. It was a Mitchell & Ness jersey with the M&N tags removed so that it wouldn't look so obviously fake. The Mets weren't trying to deceive anybody either. The corresponding signage indicated that the jersey was a replica. Art museums commonly display copies instead of the original artwork. I wouldn't mind seeing a replica cart at Citi made to look as close to the original as possible.

G-Fafif Mar 22 2015 03:39 PM Re: Drive in Style

More pix and a bit of a followup from MetsPolice. http://metspolice.com/2015/03/22/i-talk ... s-awesome/

batmagadanleadoff Mar 23 2015 07:32 PM Re: Drive in Style

It's on. Which means that the Wilpons aren't interested enough in acquiring the cart for display in their stadium. Unless they want the cart but don't wanna pay for it. Even though whatever the cart ultimately sells for is lunch money to the owners. Or they believe that they can get it at auction for less than it was offered to them. [fimg=1000]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7611/16885641076_f399889bdc_o.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=1000]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8696/16885641066_278f11253f_o.jpg[/fimg] http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-YORK-METS-B ... 2a4d77c985 My guess is that the Mets first used a baseball cap bullpen cart in 1971, because that style cart first appeared in a World Series in '71.

batmagadanleadoff Mar 23 2015 07:48 PM Re: Drive in Style

batmagadanleadoff wrote: It's on. Which means that the Wilpons aren't interested enough in acquiring the cart for display in their stadium. Unless they want the cart but don't wanna pay for it. Even though whatever the cart ultimately sells for is lunch money to the owners. Or they believe that they can get it at auction for less than it was offered to them. Personally, this issue of the owners apparent disinterest or ambivalence in acquiring the cart doesn't stoke my passions much, one way or the other. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to comment on their indifference to the Mets history. I'm surprised that Sotheby's would incorrectly date the cart to 1967. If true, the cart would've appeared in the 1969 WS. I doubt that any team was using that cap style cart in '67.

Edgy MD Apr 01 2015 08:14 PM Re: Drive in Style

Went for 90,000 according to ebay. Sotheby's says $112,500. Probably a premium the house puts on it. I can build my own for about $2,000.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 02 2015 07:39 AM Re: Drive in Style

Make of this what you want but while the Mets thingy appreciated sixfold the old YANKEE STADIUM letters also up for auction did not sell.

Edgy MD Apr 02 2015 07:51 AM Re: Drive in Style

batmagadanleadoff wrote: What's this business about cart guy having to get to Doubleday's within 30 minutes to close the deal? What if cart guy agreed over the phone, then got stuck in traffic or got a flat tire or something and was delayed? Delayed enough that he arrived at Doubleday's at precisely the same time as the other potential buyer got there? I can't believe Doubleday would make such a kooky arrangement. I suppose that once cart guy promised to show up to buy the cart, Doubleday could have called off the first potential buyer to avoid that kooky scenario imagined above. But then there'd be no need for cart guy to have to get to Doubleday within half an hour. The story seems to go was that Doubleday was selling the cart through an intermediary — the garage where it was being stored. The intermediary found a would-be buyer and then recalled that the current owner had made regular inquiries through the years. He called the current owner and said that he could get it if he matched the price and showed up first. Not a particularly honorable way to operate, but not that different from the standard way New York auto mechanic garages work, in my experience. I wouldn't be surprised if he the agreement included a tax-free transaction if he paid in cash. John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Make of this what you want but while the Mets thingy appreciated sixfold the old YANKEE STADIUM letters also up for auction did not sell. Yeah, things may be getting weird in the next couple of years.

Frayed Knot Apr 02 2015 07:56 AM Re: Drive in Style

The thing about those YSII letters is that Reggie Jackson is the guy who bought them in the sell-a-thon when they (finally got around to) dismantling the stadium and now wants to sell them. no telling what ol' Reg wanted them for, and it's possible that he's dumping them now after he found out that he didn't get the right combination of letters to spell out REGGIE in ten foot high neon blue letters in his bedroom