Who is this? Sergio Ferrer, an infielder for the New York Mets in 1978 and 1979

What is this? A signed card from the 1991 Wiz Mets stadium giveaway set

Where’d I get it? I got the autograph through a private signing conducted by a SportsCollectors.Net member

How much did it cost? $6

Sergio Ferrer was apparently the Wilson Valdez of the late 70s.

Ferrer was primarily a shortstop, but he also played second and third base for the Mets. During his two years in New York, Ferrer appeared in 69 games, but he only had 40 at-bats and recorded just 7 hits. Still, a fair number of Mets fans remember Sergio.

Harvey Meiselman’s 2010 sports address lists are now on sale at SportsAddressLists.com.

If you want to collect autographs of retired baseball players through the mail, I cannot recommend his list enough. While you can find some addresses online, I think it’s worthwhile to buy the list so you are not limited by the addresses that you can find.

If you’re just interested in active players, you don’t need this list. While it includes their addresses, you will generally get a better response if you write to them at the ballpark during the season.

But if you want to try to get your cards from the junk wax era signed, it’s definitely a good use of $35.

New York Post columnist Kevin Kernan recently spoke to Edgardo Alfonzo, who wants to retire as a New York Met.

“My dream is to retire with the Mets colors,” Alfonzo said. “That’s my dream. That’s what I’m praying for, maybe it will happen, maybe not, but dreams sometimes come true, you know.”

I don’t know if Alfonzo can still play at the Major League level. It didn’t really seem all that likely to me when I saw him play for the Long Island Ducks in 2007 and 2008. But he was part of the Nipon Professional Baseball champion Yomiuiri Giants this year, so maybe he can.

But what does it cost to give him an invitation to spring training next year and let the chips fall where they may?

C’mon, Omar. Just do it.

According to Mike Silva’s New York Baseball Digest, the Mets will hold a press conference Tuesday to name Wally Backman as the manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones for 2010.

Backman, a fan favorite from the 1986 champs, went into coaching after he retired. He was named the Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year in 2004, and was named manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks for a very brief period of time that offsesason.

Off-field issues prompted the D-backs to go in a different direction, so Backman wound up managing in independent baseball. After spending the last three years with the South Georgia Peanuts and the Joliet Jackhammers, Backman will be back in the Mets’ fold.

I’ll have to make sure I get out to Brooklyn at least once next year to see him.

In other news, Brian Costa of the Newark Star-Ledger reports that the Mets are re-doing the CitiField bullpens so that both teams will be able to see the field.

I don’t normally highlight Yankees auctions, but I’m making an exception this time.

The Trenton Thunder’s clubhouse manager has collected a variety of interesting items from recent Trenton Thunder players and is auctioning them off to raise money for the Domestic Violence Project.

Bid on game-used catching equipment from super-prospect Jesus Montero, game-used caps from Joba Chamberlain, Mike Dunn or George Kontos, or game-used spikes worn by Phil Hughes.

The one item that tempts me is a 2009 Trenton Thunder team set that includes an autographed Montero card. (As you can see, I was not able to get mine signed at the ballpark this year.)

It seems like Pedro Feliciano pitched in every game for the Mets this year. This picture is from the Mets’ April 26th loss to the Washington Nationals. Feliciano pitched a scoreless eighth inning and struck out two, but by that point it didn’t really matter any more. After Oliver Perez and Casey Fossum combined to allow four runs in the fifth, the Mets were trailing 8-1 and they weren’t coming back.

Have you ever wanted to own an original New York Mets jersey?

Next month, Grey Flannel Auctions will give you the chance to win this one, worn by catcher Joe Ginsburg in 1962, Chico Fernandez in 1963 and Jesse Gonder in 1964.

Granted, none of those players are household names — but maybe that’s a good thing. Bidding starts at $1,000.

Check out the auction listing for more info.

I think this would be a nice item for somebody’s collection, but it’s way out of my league.

Tonight at 7:30 p.m., SNY will debut “Mets Yearbook,” a half-hour show featuring Mets highlight films made between 1962-1988. A lot of this footage hasn’t been seen in years, so it should be fun to see some “new” material.

Tonight’s show features the 1971 material, said to include footage of an old-timers’ day game with Satchel Paige pitching.

Read more about the show at Newsday and The Mets Police, and tune in tonight if you can. It sounds like it should be fun.

Dinged Corners is predicting that sticker autographs will finally die out in 2012.

I confess, I don’t quite understand the hatred for sticker autographs. They’re just a challenge for the card designers. Sometimes they can be incorporated in really nice designs, like last year’s Stadium Club Beam Team inserts. Most of the time, they don’t work out so well.

But I’ll blame that on the card designers. After all, there are a quite a few clunkers in the on-card autograph designs as well. (Google “Signature Rookies” sometime.)

But none of my favorite autographs came out of packs.

2009 Long Island Ducks Gary Carter

When I was growing up, Gary Carter was my favorite baseball player. I have at least a half-dozen cards that he’s signed, but they were all purchases. Except for this one. I got to meet Carter this year when he was managing the Long Island Ducks, and he signed this card in person for me. I also got to talk with him a little bit, and he turned out to be every bit as nice as I hoped that he would be.

1969 Topps Bud Harrelson

When I was in high school, my dad gave me a handful of older baseball cards to add to my collection. One of them was this 1969 Topps Bud Harrelson card, which I got signed at an early 1990s card show. (My memory is a little fuzzy on the details, but I think Harrelson’s autograph was free with admission.)

I’ll have to scan my third favorite autographed card later. It’s a 1987 Little Falls Mets team set Terry Bross card. It makes the list because it’s the first one I ever got signed. My team set had two copies of his card, so for some reason I decided to mail it to him and ask him to sign it. He did, and my autograph collection had begun.

This is a day to remember that there are more important things than baseball.

ESPN published an interview with Ralph Kiner Monday, touching on his World War II experience.

He said, “I never felt like I was missing out on anything because I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. For all of us ballplayers in the service, our duty to our country was always more important than playing baseball.”

Thank you to all those that have served and those that are currently serving.