no. 115 - donn clendenon

Who is the man: Donn Clendenon had wrapped up the second of his three years with the Mets when this card came out. He produced one of his best seasons in 1970, hitting 22 home runs and knocking in 97 in 121 games.

Can ya dig it: This is one of the first 1971 cards I ever saw. It was a huge score to my 13-year-old way of thinking when I landed it in a trade (this card is an upgrade of the card I landed when I was 13). It was an early favorite of mine.

Right on: I don't know what Clendenon has in his right hand, but it must be valuable enough that it's causing him to hold his bat by the elbow and brace himself against the batting cage like he's going to fall over.

You see this cat Clendenon is a bad mother: The last player to join the 1969 Miracle Mets, Clendenon was the MVP of the 1969 World Series, socking three home runs and batting .357 against the Orioles.

Shut your mouth: Orioles star Frank Robinson said to the Mets before the '69 Series, "no hard feelings, but you guys can't beat us," to which Clendenon responded by saying his team would "kick your ass, maybe in four straight games." Good call, Donn.

No one understands him but his woman: Clendenon was drafted by the Expos in the expansion draft and then traded to the Astros in the deal that brought Rusty Staub to Montreal. Clendenon, who had taken a job at a pen company, announced his retirement from baseball. The Astros tried to void the trade, but Montreal refused to give up Staub. In a meeting between baseball officials and Clendenon, Clendenon was accused of being paid to retire by a third party and there were threats that the Astros would buy the pen company and fire Clendenon. But in the end, the Astros received player and monetary compensation from the Expos and Clendenon stayed with Montreal and continued playing.

(A word about the back): The record for RBIs in a season for the Mets is now 124, shared by Mike Piazza and David Wright.