I will admit I am a lapsed baseball fan. When I was a kid, I was all about the New York Mets. It was the era of Strawberry, Gooden, Dykstra and my favorite, Gary Carter. This is the team that did the unthinkable in 1986 by winning the World Series. These guys became instant superstars with their faces all over baseball cards and merchandise. I had so much of this merchandise in my youth and I have come to realize as I enjoy more and more vintage items how cool so much of it is.

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There was my satin Starter brand jacket. It was blue with the NY symbol on the left chest. I had home and away jerseys that I wore too often. The blow-up bat was a particular favorite as was the Starting Lineup (in)action figures. I had one sort of oddball item for my bedroom. It was a 2 ft tall metal trash can. I didn't know what had ever happened to it and truth be told I hadn't even thought about it for the better part of 30 years. Until one day last year....

I was at a big flea market at an old airfield called Stormville in downstate New York. I used to frequent this place when I was in my teens, and it was great source of records and cool items. This particular time, I made a drive from Ohio just to hit this old staple of mine. And sure enough, I saw something familiar. A vendor was using that old Mets trash can as a holder for posters. I immediately was swept up by a nostalgic wave for this item I barely remembered owning. It was a little beat up, but as it was metal, that only added to the charm. I asked the guy how much he wanted, but he wasn't willing to sell. I was crestfallen and I began to put search alerts on Ebay to get my hands on one.

Fast forward a year and a half (and one cross country move) later to a trip to Mohawk Antique Mall this weekend. I had been told good things about this particular establishment and decided it was finally time to check it out. It is 2 floors of pure vintage greatness. I saw old magazines, creepy Santas, tools, glassware and so much more. That is a story for another time.

When i rounded a corner to a basement looking area, I saw something that seemed to be glowing, calling out to me like it knew I was going to take it home. There, on top of other shelves of stuff that wasn't at all like it, was my metal New York Mets trash can. There were people by it at the time so I had to hide my jubilation as i waited patiently. They moved on and I swooped in. After checking the price and seeing that it was well within what I was willing to drop, and noticing a 20% off sign in the booth, I knew this thing was mine.

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It still needs some cleaning, but to me, it is absolutely beautiful as is. It was a great time to be a fan and hey, I needed a trash can anyway. 2 birds right there.

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