Mack's Apples - 11-2-17 - Jackie Robinson, Topps, Red Sox, Michael Conforto, R.A. Dickey

Good morning.

Jackie Robinson $591K Baseball Cap Breaks Babe Ruth Auction Record –

Also in the Lelands auction, Jackie Robinson’s final warmup jacket from 1956 changed hands for $159,441.60. He gave the jacket to a tenant in the same Brooklyn building where they lived after one of his relatives was involved in a fatal car crash. The recipient was the consignor’s godfather.

“One of the true Holy Grails of the sports collecting hobby, the cap has had only two owners since the Robinson Family,” said Lelands. Made before the advent of batting helmets, the custom wool cap that he wore in his rookie year, 1947, and in the following season shielded him from violent opponents.

 Topps adds daily cardboard photos to baseball card empire –

In an era when selfies and social media posts have become keepsakes, Topps, the venerable custodian of the fine art of baseball cards, has found a way to capture the moment quickly and in tangible fashion for fans who still long for handheld memories.

Topps is in its second season producing Topps Now, a daily cardboard photo gallery of the season's highlights. Employees confer daily to determine which moments are worth commemorating, and their choices are composed and sent to the printer the next day.

Red Sox new coaching staff will follow the way of baseball link -

                   

  The manager has a comfort zone with coaches and they generally must be a known and not an unknown. The baseball philosophy of the manager will be filtered to the coaches.  Cora is baseball smart and survival depends on coaches who know what to do with their delegated role. Cora is supposed to be a “natural leader to guide their clubhouse” according to owner John Henry. Part of that equation is to have eyes and ears of the clubhouse which is also a function of the coaching staff. That is the way of baseball.

 Michael Conforto has just scratched surface of MLB success –

           

2015: 9 home-runs, 26 RBIs, 17 walks, .335 OBP and .270 batting average

2016: 12 home-runs, 42 RBIs, 36 walks, .310 OBP and .220 batting average

2017: 27 home-runs, 68 RBIs, 57 walks, .382 OBP and .279 batting average

What you need to understand is that Conforto was able to improve his batting average and on-base percentage with 69 more at-bats in 2017 than he had in 2016. If you’ve been around the game of baseball for any amount of time, you’ll quickly realize that time works against averages, especially in hitting.

Should The Mets Bring Back  R.A. Dickey -

If R.A. chooses to hang around for one more season, think that’s great. He’s easily one of my favorite Mets players in the past 10 years. But when you break up with someone it’s important to know when to move on, and whether or not you should take them back. In this case, let’s all keep our memories of Dickey happy ones. I wish him all the best, just not back here in New York.