It looks like the Cubs have finally been sold. Now it's up to the Ricketts family to do what..
Charles Weeghman...1916 - 1921...5 years of failure
the Wrigley family.... 1921 - 1981...60 years of failure
and the Tribune company...1981 - 2009...28 years of failure
couldn't do...
bring a world championship to the north side!!
I would assume that when you spend $900,000,000 on something, you would like it to be successful.
In this post I was lamenting the fact that so many Cub cards in Upper Deck Series II featured the same or nearly identical pictures as in Series I.
Well, I've picked up the Cubs team set from O-Pee-Chee and the lazy bums at Upper Deck are at it again.
Check this out:
Ryan Theriot, Upper Deck I & II
Ryan Theriot, O-Pee-Chee. I guess they really like to see him slide.
Rich Harden, Upper Deck I & II
Rich Harden, O-Pee-Chee. Same away stadium, same wind up, just cropped a little tighter.
Ted Lilly, Upper Deck I & II
Ted Lilly, O-Pee-Chee. It's the same early spring game - brown ivy in all three cards.
And a couple of the card feature pictures from the same studio shoot as in Series II
Milton Bradley, Series II
Milton Bradley, O-Pee-Chee
Kevin Gregg, Series II
Kevin Gregg, O-Pee-Chee
Hey, Upper Deck, if you're going to put out a different line, then use different shots!
There are 12 Cubs in the Goudey set from 2008. Only seven of the twelve were active players, while five cards were of Cubs stars from the past.
I'll start with the active players
Kosuke Fukudome: all the hype in early 2008 led Upper Deck to put Kosuke in the set.
Rich Hill: No longer able to throw strikes, the Cubs dealt him to the Orioles, where Hill continues to have the same trouble.
Derrek Lee: A nice pose of the Cubs first baseman
Aramis Ramirez: Boy do we need him healthy!
Alfonso Soriano: He rated two cards, the regular and a black and white card. I'm still waiting for him to earn his salary this year.
Carlos Zambrano: Z glaring in before a pitch.
And now, the cards of Cubs greats from the past.
Ernie Banks: Let's Play Two...Let's give Ernie two cards. Mr. Cub rates a regular card and a Sports Royalty card. Both look very nice.
Andre Dawson: The Hawk gets a Sports Royalty card in Cubbie blue. The card highlights his MVP season in 1987, when he won the award while the team finished last.
Ryne Sandberg: Ryno's card makes mention of his overlooked 1990 season. His MVP season of 1984 is well-known, but in 1990 he hit 40 home runs, drove in 100 runs, and hit .306. Not too shabby.
Billy Williams: My favorite Cub of all time rates a card in the set. A quiet man who just went about his business, Billy was overshadowed by many of the other NL sluggers of his era. It's nice to see him get a little recognition.
What a boring page! No Airbrush, No past, present, or future Cubs, no Hall of Famers, and only 3 hatless players.
#151 - Clay Dalrymple After 9 years with the Phillies, Dalrymple is traded to Baltimore in the off-season. Topps thinks so much of this player, and because they want their cards as accurate as possible (sarcasm now turned off), two versions of Clay's card are made. Topps really had to dig deep into the files to find a hatless picture, because the one they chose was taken at the Polo Grounds. Why didn't they just take the airbrush to the photo on the first card?
#152 - Tommie Sisk Sisk was traded by the Pirates to the Padres just before the start of the 1969 season, on March 28. He made 53 appearances and had a horrible record on a horrible team, going 2-13 with a 4.78 ERA. He was traded to the White Sox the next spring and was out of the majors by June, 1970.
I'm starting to notice a trend with many pitchers, who because of expansion, were just barely hanging on. It seems like there have been several who had their careers extended, and the ended in 1969-1970.
#153 - Ed Brinkman Here is something shocking: In 1968, Brinkman hit under .200 for the second straight year. In 1969, he raised his average up to .266 , hit 2 home runs and and drove in 66 runs. That was good enough to finish 20th in the AL MVP voting. How bad was the AL that only 19 players were deemed more valuable that Ed Brinkman?
#154 - Jim Britton Jim looks like he had a rough night last night. He was 7-5 for the Braves in 1969 shuttling between the rotation and the bullpen.
#155 - Pete Ward These are the uniforms that the White Sox wore in the Civil Rights game on June 20. His career was in freefall and 1969 was his last season with the Sox. He was out of baseball after 1970.
#156 - Astro Rookies The Astros were 0-2. Gilson made 15 big league appearances in 1968 but never returned to the majors. McFadden got into 62 games with the Astros over three seasons and hit ..215. His photo looks more like a mugshot than a baseball card!
#157 - Bob Rodgers Rodgers was one of the last original Angels still with the team in 1969. He played in only 18 games and was released at the end of the season. He would later manage the Halos for parts of four seasons
#158 - Joe Gibbon In the year of the pitcher, 1968, Joe led the Giants with a 1.58 ERA. 1969 was not the year of Joe Gibbon as he was traded to the Pirates mid-season.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 10
Hatless - 38
Airbrush - 32
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 27
#147 - Leo Durocher Here is the man that many feel is responsible for the collapse of the 1969 Cubs, who went from an eight game lead on August 19 to finishing the season in second place, eight games out of first. Leo gets the blame for running the same starting lineup out there every day, and the theory is that the day games at Wrigley wore the team out. Banks, Santo, Kessinger, Hundley and Santo all played over 150 games. Beckert ("only" 131 games) would have too if not for an injury. That's a lot of games!
But Leo also had a very thin bench, leaving him little choice but to run his starters out there day after day. I can't blame him for that.
What I can blame Leo for is abandoning the team mid season for a few games to visit his stepson at summer camp. Yep, you read that right. The team manager left a game in the third inning, lied about it (he claimed an upset stomach), and went to Camp Ojibwa in Wisconsin to see his young stepson. When this was discovered, he was almost fired.
Later in life, Durocher stated that the biggest disappointment of his career was his failure to win the pennant in 1969. You may have disappointed yourself Leo, but you also disappointed millions of fans too, including me.
142 - Woody Woodward The Reds acquired Woody from the Braves during the 1968 season, which explains why he is hatless and wearing a Braves jersey. He is your run of the mill good glove, no stick shortstop.
#143 - Joe Nossek Airbrushed Joe is wearing a KC A's hat. His big league career was just about done as he made it into only 22 games in 1969 and one more in 1970. Nossek would go on to a long career as a coach, including 17 years on the south side with the Sox.
#144 - Bob Hendley This is a decent pose of the Mets pitcher at Shea. His last major league appearance was with the Mets in 1967. He had arm surgery in 1968 and never made it back to the majors. Hendley is most famous for a game he pitched while with the Cubs in 1965, a one hitter against the Dodgers. Unfortunately, his mound opponent Sandy Koufax decided to toss a perfect game that day and Hendley took the loss. Here is more on that game, the last time the Cubs have been no-hit.
#145 - Max Alvis After four seasons as the Indians starting third baseman, Max's career was in decline. He played in only 66 games in 1969 and was out of baseball after 1970.
#146 - Jim Perry Up until this point, Jim was a spot starter. 1969 was his breakout season as he won 20 games while losing only 6 for the division winning Twins.
#147 - Leo Durocher The Cubs skipper gets his own post tomorrow
#148 - Lee Stange This card gives you a nice view of Fenway Park prior to all the recent renovations and additions. Look at how empty the roof is. It looks nothing like that today.
#149 - Ollie Brown Ollie is wearing a Giants jersey and hat. He was one of the leading Padres sluggers in their early years.
#150 - Denny McLain Where are your glasses Denny? McLain was just coming off the greatest pitching season in recent history, as he was the last 30 game winner, going 31-6 for the World Champion Tigers. He was both the AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 10
Hatless - 35
Airbrush - 32
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 27
30-Year-Old Cardboard has been celebrating Billy WIlliams Day all day today with several great posts. If you haven't checked them out yet, you should. Since Billy is my all-time favorite Cub, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon.
This is what the Cubs scorecard looked like in 1969. They had a similar looking card in 1962 when the Mets and Astros joined the league, and they repeated the format with the addition of the Expos and Padres. The card also shows everyone the new divisions for 1969.
And here is the inside, with the scoring for game 2 on June 29, 1969 - BIlly Williams Day. Billy had a great game as the Cubs blew out the Cardinals 12-2, giving them the sweep. He went 4-5 with a single, a double, and two triples. I wonder if he thought about trying to stretch the second triple into an inside the park HR for the cycle. I'm sure he was swinging for the fences in his final at bat, when he struck out. It was a great day for a great player.
I got the scorecard off of Ebay a couple years ago. I wish I was among the 41,000 who attended, but since I was only 7, and living in the southwest suburbs in a family of Sox fans, there was no way I would be going to Wrigley Field.
I also have the Billy Williams Day button, which I purchased off of Ebay. The strange thing about the button is that it looks to be in perfect condition for something that is 40 years old. You can also almost always find them on Ebay. Right now there are eight available. How did so many of these buttons survive for 40 years in such great shape? Any chance they are fakes?? Well, I guess it doesn't matter much to me since it was only $3, but it does make me wonder.
And finally, here is a ball I picked up, signed by the Hall of Famer.
Why do I have one card of Rick Reuschel and 12 Pirates?
Because just a little more than 35 years ago, on June 20, 1974, Cubs starter Rick Reuschel threw a twelve hit shutout against the Pirates. Hard to believe, right? The Pirates had twelve hits but failed to score a single run. The Cubs managed only six hits against Doc Ellis and John Morlan, but two of the six were home runs and they won the game 3-0.
Big Daddy never once had a 1-2-3 inning. There were runners on base every inning. Of the twelve Pittsburgh hits, four came with two outs, so that helped. The Bucs also hit into two double plays. And Reuschel walked none and struck out seven. There were 12 Pirates left on base and they were 0-10 with runners in scoring position. When he had to bear down, Reuschel got the job done.
The Pirates cards shown are those who had hits, and if a player had more than one hit, his card is shown as many times as he had hits.
I've been going back and forth for a while whether to work on putting together Goudey Cubs sets. I wasn't too familiar with the product until I read some of the other blogs talking about it. Well, I finally gave in and said, what the heck...go for it.
With only three years of releases, this wasn't too tough to complete. I started with the 2009 cards. Getting the base set was easy, there were plenty of those available.
Here are the seven regular print cards from the base set:
Kosuke Fukudome
RIch Harden
Derrek Lee
Aramis Ramirez
Alfonson Soriano
Geovany Soto
Carlos Zambrano
There were two short print cards of Cubs greats, Ryne Sandberg and Ron Santo.
Two Cubs were a part of the Sports Royalty subset, Ernie Banks and Ryne Sandberg.
And finally, there were four Cubs in the Heads Up subset, Ernie Banks, Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, and Derrek Lee.
That's a total of 15 Cubs cards from 2009. It took a little luck and a lot of Buy it Now, but I'm glad I put the set together. I'll show you 2007 and 2008 in the next week or so.
The trip yesterday afternoon to Comerica Park didn't exactly worked out like I hoped.
First, the weather did not cooperate. The forecast was calling for a high of 85, which was cooler than it has been the past few days, a welcome relief. Well, they were wrong. It was very hot and very uncomfortable. The temperature at the start of the game was 93 with a clear sky and little wind. And Comerica offers no shade. We were cooking in the first row of the upper deck.
Here is the view from our seat. Note to anyone going to Comerica, don't sit in the Row A of the 300 level unless you like moving your head up to avoid the plexiglass.
Second, the Cubs lost and got swept by the Tigers. The game got off to a good start, with Michigan alum Jake Fox hitting his first career home run in the first inning, staking Ted Lilly to a 3-0 lead. But Ted couldn't hold it, giving up a couple long balls himself. The Cubs ended up losing 6-5, just before big storms roared through.
We ended up leaving the game after 7 innings. Little Wrigley Wax did not like the heat or the seat location (too close to the edge) and with the Cubs down (and I too was pretty uncomfortable) we left early for the air-conditioned comfort of the car and then the hotel.
Here are a few other looks at the park.
We're off to see the Cubs play today!
And this is where we will be sitting.
I live about half way between Chicago and Detroit (it's a little more than 2 hours to each) and this year, since the Cubs were playing the Tigers, we decided to head to Comerica. This is my second trip to the Tiger's park. In 2001 I saw the Cubs fall to the Tigers, though Sammy Sosa hit two home runs. The park was about 50/50 Cubs fans and Tigers fans.
I've seen the Cubs play in several out of town ballparks, and there has always been a huge contingent of Cubs fans. In 2004 I was in Denver and the Cubs beat the Rockies with about half the crowd in Cubbie blue. I was surprised that there were so many Cubs fans that far west, but I think that is an effect of WGN.
In 2006 I went to Miller Park to see the Cubs and Brewers. Much to the dismay of Brewers fans, Cubs fans have referred to Miller Park as "Wrigley Field North." There hasn't been a lot of love shared between Cubs and Brewers fans, but everyone seemed to behave decently the night we were there.
My best out of town experience was in September 2007 in Cincinnati. It was the last weekend of the regular season and the Cubs were on the verge of clinching the division title. Coming into the Friday night game the Cubs magic number was two. The crowd was probably 2/3 Cubs fan. It was amazing to be in another team's park yet feel like you were at Wrigley Field. And the Reds fans were none to appreciative of that. But hey, we were spending money in their park that they could use to improve their team. Aside from the game action, the loudest roars from the crowd were when updates on the scoreboard showed the second place Brewers were losing. When the Cubs won their game, they celebrated as they clinched at least a tie. We watched back at the hotel as the Brewers lost and the Cubs won the division. Saturday's game was more like the Iowa Cubs vs. the Reds, with all the regulars given the night off. But there was still a large and loud Cubs crowd at the game as the Cubs won.
Last year, we went to Pittsburgh for spring break (isn't that the place you think of for spring break?) and saw two Cubs/Pirates games. The crowd(?) at each game was about 9,000 total, with nearly half Cubs fans. The Cubs won both games and we all went home happy.
I'm hoping for more fun today at Comerica and hope for a happy ride home after the game.
This is a pretty non-descript page, thought one third of the players ended up with the Cubs.
#133 - Johnny Callison A nice look at the veteran outfielder. After the 1969 season he was traded to the Cubs for Oscar Gamble. His career was fading by then and lasted only two mediocre seasons in Chicago before being sent to the Yankees
#134 - Jim Weaver I never heard of this guy. He made only 14 appearances for the Angels in 1968, but Topps deemed him card-worthy. The back of his card says he was optioned to the minors in November 1968 and he never pitched in the big leagues again.
#135 - Tommy Davis The speedy outfielder was taken by the Pilots from the White Sox. A two-time All-Star with the Dodgers, the end of his career saw him bounce around with several teams including two stints with the Cubs. His last nine seasons were spent with eight different teams.
#136 - Cardinal Rookies Huntz was a utility infielder while Torrez put together a solid 18 year pitching career including a 20 win season in 1975.
#137 - Wally Bunker Is that a giant can of Budweiser behind his left shoulder, or what exactly is that? Bunker is shown in an Orioles uniform last worn in 1965. He won 19 games with the Orioles in 1964, but arm trouble caused the Birds to let him go in the expansion draft. He was a very respectable 12-11 for the Royals in 1969.
#138 - John Bateman The hatless Expos backstop was taken from the Astros. After part-time duty in 1969, he was Montreal's starting catcher in 1970-1971.
#139 - Andy Kosco A real oddity, this is the first of two Dodger cards in a row. That happened very rarely in a Topps set, usually (as is the case here) because of a trade. The Dodgers picked him up in a trade with the Yankees during the off-season.
#140 - Jim Lefebvre The NL Rookie of the Year in 1965, by 1969 his career was in decline because of injuries. Jim managed the Cubs in 1992 and 1993 and had exactly a .500 record (162-162). I'm not sure why he was fired after the '93 season, because a .500 Cubs team in that era was about as good as you were going to get.
#141 - Bill Dillman Here is another unknown pitcher. He pitched for the Orioles in 1967 but spent the entire 1968 season in the minors. Why did Topps then go ahead and give him a card? He resurfaced in the majors briefly for the Expos in 1970 before his big league career ended.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 9
Hatless - 34
Airbrush - 30
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 25
#124 - Hank Bauer The A's skipper looks really sweaty. He is shown in an Orioles uniform, a team he led to the World Series in 1966 and then fired midway through the 1968 season.
#125 - Ray Sadecki The young Giants lefty is smiling at Shea. He was coming of a league leading 18 losses in 1968, which is nothing to smile about. He came the the Giants from the Cardinals in 1966 straight up for Orlando Cepeda
#126 - Dick Tracewski The Tigers utility infielder is shown at Yankee Stadium. 1969 would be his last year in the majors. A guy in the right place at the right time, he played for two pennant winner with the Dodgers and one with the Tigers.
#127 - Kevin Collins Collins broke in with the Mets as a highly touted 18-year-old in 1965. He was never able to hit much and was traded early in the 1969 season to the Expos for Donn Clendenon. He has a Worlds Fair patch on his sleeve, meaning the picture was snapped in either 1964 or 1965.
#128 - Tommie Aaron If you wanted to sum up Tommie Aaron's career with one word, that word would be "nepotism." How else can you explain a career .229 hitter sticking around for 7 seasons and playing for only one team (the same team his brother Hank was on!).
#129 - Bill McCool What a Cool name, McCool. Bill was an All-Star with the Reds in 1966, but had fallen enough to be left exposed in the expansion draft and was grabbed up by the Padres. He was 3-5 in 1969, was traded in the off season and was out of the majors by July of 1970.
#130- Carl Yastrzemski It looks like Yaz is making solid contact with a giant red ball.
#131 - Chris Cannizzaro This picture of Cannizzaro was taken at the Polo Grounds in 1962 or 1963 when he was with the Mets. You can add him to a long list of veteran catchers who passed through Wrigley Field to replace the injured Randy Hundley as he spent part of 1971 with the Cubs.
#132 - Dave Baldwin Not one of the acting Baldwin brothers, Dave is in the stretch at Yankee Stadium.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 9
Hatless - 32
Airbrush - 28
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 22
The 2009 Topps Series Two Cubs recently arrived. There were 9 Cubs cards in the second series, making a total of 19 Cubs from Topps this year.
Usually I show the cards by number or in alphabetical order, but today I'm going in order of performance this season (according to my very subjective opinion).
Ted Lilly Ted has been fantastic this season. In fact, Ted has been great the entire time he has been with the Cubs (less the NLDS game against the Diamondbacks in 2007).
Aramis Ramirez He was having his usual huge season when he dislocated his shoulder. The Cubs were three over .500 when he got hurt and three under since the injury. We need him back ASAP!
Lou Piniella Lou has somehow managed to keep the team close to the top despite a huge drop off in run production.
Alfonso Soriano He is hitting home runs, but not getting on base or driving in runs. Someone asked him how many times he struck out chasing bad pitches today and Alfonso gave his answer in sign language.
Ryan Theriot The Riot is hitting ok, but I hold my breath every time a ball is hit to short. I'm just not convinced that he has the glove needed at shortstop.
Mike Fontenot The other half of the LSU duo has been playing third in place of Aramis Ramirez.
I knew Aramis Ramirez. Aramis Ramirez was a friend of mine. Mr. Fontenot, you are no Aramis Ramirez (with apologies to Lloyd Bentsen).
Milton Bradley We get better play and more fun from one of his board games that from the man. I'm afraid this signing is another one that seemed ok in the offseason but turned out to be a bust.
David Patton A Rule 5 draftee who would go back to the Rockies if the Cubs want to remove him from the 25 man roster. He's only been in 15 games and has an ERA over 5. I say "Colorado, here we come!"
Aaron Heilman Maybe the Rockies would take him too, because I don't want him, his 2-3 record, and his 4.34 ERA with the Cubs anymore.
I have 5,300 Cubs cards from 13 different brands. A random number generator picked five of them. Here they are in the order selected.
The random number generator was very cruel today, bringing up two cards from the ill-fated 2003 season. Ouch!
Topps 1969 #268 Don Kessinger A nice close-up of a smiling Don Kessinger at Shea Stadium. Later in the 1969 season there would be very little reason for the Cubs to smile. Kess hit .273 as the lead-off man and was an All Star for the second time in a five consecutive season run.
Fleer 1995 #428 Eddie Zambrano There have been two Zambranos that have played for the Cubs. This is the unknown, no good Zambrano. Eddie hit .259 in 67 games for the Cubs in 1994 and figured he must have a future with the team. He didn't and never played in the major leagues again. Sorry, Eddie.
Topps 1985 #589 Bobby Dernier One half of the "Daily Double" at the top of the order, with Ryne Sandberg as #2. Bobby had a tough time matching his 1984 stats, and saw his 1985 average drop 25 points. That is not good news for a lead-off man.
Bowman 2003 #106 Moises Alou This is the second time that a Moises Alou card from 2003 has been selected. This is what I said last time. I've got nothing to add.
Topps 2003 #635 Cubs Team More cruelty from the number generator, as I have to reflect on the failure of this team in the 2003 NLCS. Up 3 game to 1, with your top two started ready to go, and you can't finish the deal. That was my worst time as a Cubs fan since 1984, when another 2 game playoff lead was blown. Oh well, there's always next year (and next year, and next year,....).
The 1908 Cubs featured four Hall of Fame players, Tinker, Evers, Chance, and Brown. I've already shown you cards of them. The player I have left, the outfielders and catcher, are probably the least known of the team. I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable Cubs fan and these six are names I barely recognize.
Johnny Kling was the team's catcher. He spent 11 years with the Cubs. In 1908 he hit .276. He took the 1909 season off as he won the Pocket Billiards World Championship and spent the year playing billiards. He returned to baseball in 1910.
The outfielders were probably the weakest link on the team, with Frank Schulte's .236 average being the highest. But then again, when you start for a team that wins three pennants and two World Series in a row, you can't be that bad. All three were of German descent and were known for yelling plays to each other in German.
Frank "Wildfire" Schulte was the team's left fielder. Although he hit only .236 during the regular season, he was huge in the World Series, batting .389.
Jimmy Slagle, center fielder, was known for his strong arm (27 assists in 1905) and his speed (he stole 6 bases in the 1907 World Series, a record that stood until Lou Brock broke it in 1968). His hitting fell off so much that he was released by the Cubs in August, 1908.
RIght field was patrolled by Jimmy Sheckard. Sheckard came to the Cubs from the Dodgers in 1906 in exchange for four players. He missed 40 games during the '08 season when a bottle of amonia exploded and damaged his eyes. His hitting fell off due to the accident and he hit only .231.
Two bench players saw significant playing time.
Solly Hofman took over in the outfield when Jimmy Slagle was released.
Del Howard played 80 games in the outfield, picking up the slack for Slagle and Sheckard.
And the final card in the set, the team card.
It was fun creating cards for the World Champion Chicago Cubs. My source for the original black and white photos was the Chicago Daily News photographs archives. There are a ton of pictures of players from almost every team in there. Search for a team and see what you find. If you are a fan of a team that played before 1930, you may find enough players to create a set of cards of your own.
#115 - Bill Hands A nice looking shot of the Cubs righty at Shea Stadium.
Bill was the #2 starter on the team and had his best season in 1969, going 20-14 with a 2.49 ERA. He and Fergie Jenkins made a pretty decent 1-2 punch.
Hands came to the Cubs along with battery-mate Randy Hundley from the Giants before the 1966 season. It was a pretty good trade for the Cubs. He spent 1966 and 1967 shuttling between the bullpen and the rotation before becoming a starter for good in 1968. He won 16, 20, and 18 games in the next three years and logged over 800 innings over those seasons.
All that work probably took a toll on his arm as he went into a decline starting in 1971, going 12-18. He rebounded in 1972 with an 11-8 record and then the Cubs traded him to the Twins after the season. The Cubs must have known his arm was shot, as he posted no more than 7 wins in a season before retiring after the 1975 season.
Topps put out this beauty of Bill Hands in 1973, after he was traded to the Twins. Don't you just love the the airbrush job? He sure does look like a Twin, but when did they put ivy in at Metropolitan Stadium??
The 2000 Cubs will not go down in history as one of the better Cubs teams. In fact, it may have been one of the worst. The 1998 team won the wild card, but in 1999 the North Siders went south and manager Jim Riggleman was fired. Don Baylor was hired as the new skipper and it was an optimistic spring. But the team was just as bad under Baylor as it was with Riggleman, finishing in 6th place with a 65-97 record and two fewer wins than in 1999.
The only thing notable about this team is that there were a whopping 51 players who made an appearance for the Cubs that season, setting the club record. When you have that many players pass through the clubhouse, you know it will not be a very successful year.
I dug through my Cubs sets and found cards of 41 of the players pictured in a Cubs uniform, and 30 of those cards are from 2000. I also found cards of nine of the rest in various Topps complete sets I've got. The only player of the 51 I had no card of was Mike Mahoney, so I borrowed a picture from Beckett for him.
So take a look, nine at a time, at the 51 players of the 2000 Cubs:
Rick Aguilera, Shane Andrews, Jamie Arnold, Tarrik Brock, Brant Brown, Roosevelt Brown, Damon Buford, Scott Downs, and Kyle Farnsworth
Daniel Garibay, Joe Girardi, Ross Gload, Raul Gonzalez, Mark Grace, Willie Greene, Mark Guthrie, Ricky Gutierrez, and Felix Heredia
Glenallen Hill, Jeff Huson, Matt Karchner, Jon Lieber, Cole Liniak, Andrew Lorraine, Oswaldo Mairena, Dave Martinez, and Mike Mahoney
Gary Matthews, Chad Meyers, Joey Nation, Jose Nieves, Phil Norton, Will Ohman, Augie Ojeda, Corey Patterson, and Ruben Quevedo
Steve Rain, Jeff Reed, Henry Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Jerry Spradlin, Kevin Tapani, Ismael Valdez, Todd VanPoppel, and Rondell White
Brian Williams, Kerry Wood, Tim Worrell, Danny Young, Eric Young, and Julio Zuleta
When the season was over, some major housecleaning took place. As best as I can figure, only 16 of the 51 played for the Cubs in 2001. And today, only 5 of the 51 are still active major leaguers: Kyle Farnsworth, Gary Matthews, Will Ohman, Augie Ojeda, and Kerry Wood.
New millennium, same results. 2000 was one of many forgettable years for the Chicago Cubs.
Well, its only been 100 years since that could be said, but, you know, any team could have a bad century.
I don't know if I will ever be able to put my hands on cards that belong to the world champion Chicago Cubs, so I went ahead and created my own.
Using the 2009 Topps design as the template, here is the starting infield of the 1908 World Champion Chicago Cubs. Three of the four are well known and in the Hall of Fame. It was this poem by New York Evening Mail columnist Franklin Adams that immortalized them:
These are the saddest of possible words:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double –
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
First Baseman and team manager, the Peerless Leader, Frank Chance.
Second Baseman Johnny Evers (pronounced EEEvers, with a long E)
Shortstop Joe Tinker
And the forgotten man of the group, the starting third baseman with a less than poetic name, Harry Steinfeldt.
This is the first time I have ever used colorizing software, so please excuse the crudeness of the color. I plan to add more players to the 1908 set, so I hope to also improve my colorization technique along the way.
...part two of the Upper Deck Series 2 Cubs
#571 - Reed Johnson I really like Reed Johnson. He plays hard and seems to do the little things right. Plus, he wears stirrups!
#575 - Ted Lilly Ted's having another good year for the Cubs. It's nice to have a decent lefty in the rotation.
#572 - Carlos Marmol When he is good, he is very, very good. But when he isn't, look out. He will never be the Cubs closer unless he can find some consistency. I hope he finds it soon.
#567 - Sean Marshall It looks like Marshall will be our lefty out of the bullpen. With Cotts gone, we need Sean to give the Cubs a decent LOOGY.
#568 - Alfonso Soriano The good news: 14 home runs. The bad news: 27 RBI's (although as a leadoff man, I guess he doesn't have as many RBI opportunities) and a .237 average. You've got to pick things up, Mr. $17 Million.
#970 - Geovany Soto Rookie of the Year I only have two sad words for Soto: Sophomore Jinx. (Please figure things out now, Geo!)
#577 - Ryan Theriot Decent hitting, but a liability in the field. This is one position where I'd like to see an upgrade.
#576 - Carlos Zambrano One trip to the DL and one trip to the suspended list already. I'm still waing for Zambrano to have that break out, dominating starter season. If you'd like to do it this year, Carlos, by all means be my guest. His start against the Astros on Wednesday was a good start.
There are 17 Cubs cards in Upper Deck series 2. I already posted about the duplicate card problem with the set. But I'd still like to show off all the cards. Because there are so many, I'll split this into two posts.
Team Checklist Kevin Gregg. I thought the checklists were reserved for the team's superstars. In series one, Soriano was on the checklist. So why Kevin Gregg? This guy has not exactly been a lights out closer this season. Could we have Kerry Wood back, please?
#564 - Milton Bradley I actually like the intensity he brings. But he sure hasn't been producing like we expected. I hope this doesn't turn into another Jacque Jones, where we overpay for an outfielder just as he passes his prime.
#569 - Neal Cotts This bum was shipped to Iowa and hopefully never returns. Good riddance!
#578 - Ryan Dempster Dempster continues to be a solid starter. I never dreamed he would do so well in this role, after the years in the bullpen. But he really worked himself into starter condition and is doing great. Good for you, Ryan!
#565 - Mike Fontenot He has struggled at the plate this year and is now our regular third baseman until Ramirez comes back off the DL. Hopefully the consistent playing time will help him get his swing back.
#570 Kosuke Fukudome Kosuke has settled in nicely as a centerfielder. I'm concerned about his average, which just like last season, started out great, and then trickled down the rest of the season.
#573 - Chad Gaudin He didn't even make the team out of spring training, getting released on April 5. He's with the Padres now and not exactly tearing it up there, either. He did start once against the Cubs and gave up four runs in four innings.
#574 - Rich Harden He made his first trip to the DL, but up to that point had been pitching well. Just keep your fingers crossed that he can stay healthy the rest of the season.
#566 - Micah Hoffpauir If only the Cubs were in the American League. Hoffpauir would be the perfect DH. Good stick, no glove. Every time he plays in the outfield, you just pray the ball never comes his way.
Tomorrow I'll have the other eight cards from series 2.
The Airbrushes continue their rally and have their first lead, 25-23. We also have an error card and one of baseball's all time best.
#98 - Dave Giusti Poor Dave Giusti was going to be airbrushed no matter what. . He was a very hot commodity in the winter of 68-69 as he was first traded by the Astros (meaning he would have been airbrushed) to the Cardinals (new team - airbrushed), drafted by the Padres from the Cardinals and then traded by San Diego back to the Redbirds. He finished his career with the Cubs in 1977. When Bruce Sutter was hurt, Giusti was acquired for bullpen help. He didn't help much with an ERA of 6.04
#99 - Twins Rookies error card The error on this card is in the upper left hand corner, as you can see the black outline above the blue Twins circle. In the corrected card, the black line was removed. This card features the rookie card of one of the most misspelled names in baseball, Graig Nettle, not Craig Nettles.
#99 - Twins Rookies corrected card The black line in the upper left is gone.
#100 - Hank Aaron A really nice looking card of the home run king, non-steroid version. Hank's home run total after the 1968 season was 510 and I doubt that in 1969 anyone thought he would end up passing the Babe.
#101 - Darryl Patterson A Tiger pitcher without glasses! Note how ugly the grass looks at this spring training field. There's no way players would allow a field like that today.
#102 - Jim Davenport The Giant's third baseman takes a hack at Shea Stadium.
#103 - Roger Repoz Roger is shown here in Fenway Park with the Green Monster in the background.
104 - Steve Blass Blass looks like he is squinting, like he can't find home plate. Four years later, in 1973 he inexplicably lost his control, walking 84 hitters in 88 innings and that ended his big league career. He made one comeback appearance in 1974, a game against the Cubs in which he walked 7 in five innings. That was his last major league game. Today, when a pitcher loses his control, he has "Steve Blass disease."
105 - Rick Monday Another airbrushed KC Athletics hat. Monday came to the Cubs in 1972 for pitcher Ken Holtzman. He had some decent seasons in Chicago, though his most famous Cub moment didn't involve his bat or glove. It was his saving an American flag from protesters who had come onto the Dodger Stadium field to burn the flag that got Monday the most attention. I remember him being a guest on the Phil Donahue Show (which was recorded at the WGN studio in Chicago) and being the grand marshall at some 4th of July parades.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 8
Hatless - 23
Airbrush - 25
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 18
A whopping 5 airbrushed cards on this page and the Airbrushes have tied up the Hatless 23-23. Two Topps All-Star rookies are also featured on the page.
#89 - Russ Gibson Back-up backstop Gibson in the typical catchers pose at Yankee Stadium. You should have turned you helmet around and really looked like a catcher, Russ.
#90 - Jerry Koosman - The first All-Star rookie on the page, I like his name, but otherwise, he is a Met and I have nothing else to say about him.
#91 - Al Dark Dark spent 1 1/2 years nears the end of his career with the Cubs. He's shown in a Giants uniform, a team he managed from 1961-1964.
#92 - Jack Billingham The Expos drafted Billingham from the Dodgers, which explains the blue airbrushed hat.
#93 - Joe Foy Slugger Joe Foy was taken by the Royals from the Red Sox, as you can tell by the red piping on the jersey and pants.
#94 - Hank Aguirre A very happy Hank Aguirre is pictured in a Tigers uniform, with the very top of the "D" on the jersey visible. He was released by the Dodgers in December, 1968 and signed by the Cubs in spring training, 1969. He made 41 appearances out of the bullpen for the Cubs and posted a 1-0 record. In 1970 he was 3-0 in 17 games, but had a high ERA of 4.50 and was released in July. With that, his big league career was over. He later served as a pitching coach with the Cubs in the mid-'70's.
#95 - Johnny Bench Bench's rookie card is one of the more valuable cards in the set. My guess is that the picture was taken in spring training 1967.
#96 - Denver Lemaster I always remembered him as Denny Lemaster, not Denver. Most of his cards prior to 1969 list him as Denver and from 1970 on he is Denny. He's got an airbrushed Braves hat on.
#97 - Buddy Bradford The Sox outfielder is taking a cut a Payne Park in Sarasota.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 7
Hatless - 23
Airbrush - 23
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 16
Yes, there are things more important in life than baseball...
On April 1, Ryan Dempster's wife Jennifer gave birth to a daughter, Riley. Doctors soon notified the Dempsters that Riley suffers from a rare disease, DiGeorge syndrome, which prevents her from swallowing and digesting food. Dempster asked the papers to keep Riley's condition private, and they respected his wishes. Today for the first time he spoke publicly about it in an interview in the Chicago Tribune. You can read the article here. It's amazing that he had kept things together on the field so well as he deals with such a heavy burden. He says in the article that he saw her only five days in the first month of her life.
I've really come to appreciate Ryan Dempster the past few season for what he does both on and off the field. Today's news raises my appreciation of him even higher.
Please keep Riley and the entire Dempster family in your prayers.
As I was writing yesterday's post on my newest Cubs scorecard, this phrase kept going through my head, "Attention, Attention please! Have you scorecards and pencils ready and I will give you the correct lineup for today's game." Let me tell you where that phrase comes from....
The name of Bob Shepherd is familiar to many baseball fans, especially New Yorkers, as the voice of Yankee Stadium. He served as the PA announcer from 1951 - 2007, which is a pretty long run. A recording of Shepherd's voice still announces Derek Jeter each time he comes to the plate.
The name of Pat Pieper may not be as familiar to many of you, but long time Cubs fans would recognize it immediately. Pieper served as the Wrigley Field PA announcer for an amazing run of 59 years!
Pieper's association with the Cubs started in 1904, when he became a popcorn vendor at the Cubs old park, the West Side Park. In 1916 the team moved into what would become known as Wrigley Field. At the time of the move, Pieper found out that the old PA man had quit and asked for an audition. The team liked what they heard and Pat got the job. He held the job until his death after the 1974 season. For their first 59 seasons at Wrigley Field, only one man was the public address announcer!
I find it amazing that the man who announced the lineups the day Babe Ruth hit his "called shot" in the 1932 was still announcing games when I attended games at Wrigley Field (and no, I am not that old!) in the early '70's.
For the first 15 years of his PA career, Pieper used a megaphone. He would go along the foul lines and announce the lineups.
You can see Pat Pieper in the background of this picture with his megaphone
Here is the same picture, cropped and enlarged, to show Pieper.
In 1932 the Cubs installed an electric amplification system and Pieper's megaphone was retired. Strangely, he was not stationed in the press box, but instead sat along the brick wall near home plate with his microphone. He also had the job of giving baseball to the umpire when more were needed.
Here he is, with mic and scorecard in hand, seated along the brick wall
He was finally moved up to the pressbox in 1970 and worked from there his last five seasons.
Pat Pieper had a few trademark calls. His most famous was prior to the start of the game when he would say, "Attention, Attention please! Have you scorecards and pencils ready and I will give you the correct lineup for today's game." His phrasing of the word "Attention" sounded more like "Tention" and as kids, that how we would imitate it, "Tention, Tention please!"
When giving the lineups, Pieper would say the the players name and number, but never the word "number" He would say "14 Ernie Banks" not "Number 14, Ernie Banks." And if you really think about it, he is right. Saying the word "number" follower by "14" would be redundant. Of course 14 is a number, its not a letter or anythings else.
His other memorable call was just before the start of the game. Pieper would loudly announce "Play Ball" and then the Wrigley crowd would cheer and the game would begin. It's like the game couldn't start until Pat said so. And unfortunately, on many occasions the cheer for Pat's "Play Ball!" would be the only thing to cheer for all day!
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