Zero-Year Cards, Part 28

2002 Topps #326 Jason Bay RC (Expos)

The first weekend of the baseball season is in the books.

I'm happy that baseball is back, and that's really all that matters. But in terms of my personal connection to the game, it wasn't a good weekend at all.

The Cubs managed to lose the first two games of the season in typical Cubs fashion, with Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol pretty much single-handedly blowing both games. I don't have much faith in the Cubs at all this year, but it's still hard to watch your favorite teams lose a game like that, much less two.

Not to mention that my fantasy team has hit a collective .159 thus far in 2012. But there's a long way to go.

There's been a few surprises as well.

For one, both the Yankees and Red Sox are 0-3, and the Mets are 3-0.

I'll say that again. The New York Mets are 3-0, after sweeping the Braves.

It's been a struggle for the Mets in recent years. They lost their best player in Jose Reyes to the Marlins, and David Wright struggled mightily last year. 

Perhaps the biggest disappointment Mets fans have had to endure has been the constant struggles of big free agent pickup Jason Bay.

He's hit just 18 homers in his first two years in the "Big Apple", dealing with concussion symptoms from an injury he suffered in 2010.

It's already been a pretty long road for Bay in his career. He had rookie cards that featured him on three different teams in '02, which has to be some sort of record.

The Expos originally nabbed him in the 22nd round of the 2000 draft. He was then dealt to the Mets in March of '02, but never played a game with the Mets during his first stint in New York, as he was dealt to the Padres at the trading deadline of that same year.

He'd play in three games with the Padres in '03 before being dealt to the Pirates in the Brian Giles deal. He won the NL Rookie of the Year award in '04 and became the slugger that the Mets expected to get when they signed him prior to the 2010 season.

Needless to say, I'm interested to see what kind of numbers Bay puts up this year. I've always liked him, and I hated to read about his recent struggles. 

With Bay, as with all of baseball, only time will tell.