Five Random Cubs Cards

I have 5,274 Cubs cards from 13 different brands. A random number generator picked five of them. Here they are in the order selected.



Topps 1966 #204 Cubs Team Card This is the first team card selected. The 1966 team was Leo Durocher’s first. When hired, he stated, “This is not an 8th place team.” Leo was right, the team finished 1966 in 10th place, dead last, with a record of 59-103.

But there was some reason for optimism. During the season pitcher Fergie Jenkins and outfielder Adolfo Philips were acquired from the Phillies. Rookies Bill Hands, Ken Holtzman, and Randy Hundley made major contributions. Their future all star infield of Santo, Kessinger, Beckert, and Banks was in place. And so the groundwork for the exciting team of the late ‘60’s was in place and ready to explode in 1967 as they left the cellar and finished third.



Bowman 2005 #102 Aramis Ramirez This card is from one of many years of black Bowman cards. The picture has an old-school look to it, with the posed swing and the bat seeming to come out at us. Ramirez put up his usual good numbers in 2005, hitting .302 with 31 home runs and 92 RBI’s.



Upper Deck 1991 #334 Derreck May May was the Cubs #1 draft choice in the 1986 draft. Son of former big leaguer Dave May, Derreck was projected to be a star Cubs outfielder for many years. He appeared in 17 games in 1990 and it was hoped that 1991 would be his breakout season. But he spent all of 1991 at AAA Iowa and was called up to the Cubs in September. He got into 15 games and hit .227.



Stadium Club 1998 #176 Lance Johnson. This card has a nice picture of the ball coming off of the bat. One-Dog played for both the Cubs and the Sox. I’ll have to do a North Side – South Side feature on him sometime soon. He played in only 85 games in 1998, spending most of the first half of the season on the DL with an injured hand.



Fleer Ultra 2003 #110 Moises Alou. The photo on this card is really dark, with much of Alou’s face in shadows. Moises had a good season for the Cubs in 2003, helping lead the Cubs to the NL Central title. But his most memorable moment of the season is the foul ball he couldn’t catch in game six of the NLCS. I don’t fault Bartman, but place some blame on Alou for his child-like tantrum. As soon as he flipped out, I knew the Cubs were in trouble. You could sense the tenseness on the field and it seemed like the team lost its confidence. Yuk, those are some really bad memories.