Five Random Cubs Cards

I thought this would be interesting.

I have all of my Cubs cards cataloged on a spreadsheet. There are a total of 5,264 cards from Aardsma to Zuleta. I used a random number generator to spit out five numbers and then matched those numbers to the cards in those rows on the spreadsheet.

Here are the five random Cubs cards in the order the number generator gave them to me.

Topps 1973 # 81, Whitey Lockman.



This is Whitey's first Cubs card, as he took over as manager of the team in July of 1972. He passed away recently and I had this post on him. The biggest thing about this card isn't Whitey Lockman, but Coach Ernie Banks. In my mind, this is the last real card for Ernie Banks.

Bowman 1991 #421, Heathcliff Slocomb.



A typical Bowman card from the era, with a posed shot. Slocumb had yet to make a major league appearance.

Upper Deck 2006 #623, Geovany Soto.



This is Soto's first Upper Deck card. It looks like they got him at a spring training game since there is no name on the back of his jersey. At this point in his career, he had played in one big league game and made an out in his only at bat.

Fleer 1984 #486, Larry Bowa.



Bowa was the shortstop for the 1984 NL Eastern Division Champion Cubs!! (and the NLCS 2-0 games lead-blowing team...I hate Steve Garvey). Two things catch my eye on this card: First, the Cubs logo on his jersey is almost a direct match on top of the card's Cubs logo. Second, why is Larry throwing a ball with a glove on his throwing hand?

Pacific 1998 #254, Brooks Kieschnick.



The patch on his sleeve tells me this picture was taken in 1997. It is this patch,



commemorating the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's MLB debut. In 1998 Kieschnick was still seen as a decent prospect, but as it usually is with the Cubs, he didn't pan out. He later tried to reinvent himself as a pitcher, a reverse Rick Ankiel, and did make it briefly back to the bigs with the Brewers.


A very random selection, I must say. Five different players, five different seasons, five different products. I wonder if that will happen every time? We will find out next Monday!