Sunday, May 16, 2010

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 7,104 Cubs cards from 30 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

Today, I have a first....and also a second. For the first time ever, the random number generator selected a card that was previously picked. For the '70s, it selected the 1972 Cubs Rookie card, that I already looked at here. And then, for the '80's, it grabbed the 1984 Dickie Noles card, which was picked early here. I figured with over 7,000 different Cubs, I'd be pretty safe from duplicates. And until today, I was. And then, two duplicates on the same day. I wonder what the odds of that are, and if I should buy a lottery ticket today, too!

Once I saw that I had duplicates, I went back to the number generator to get different cards, so you have five new ones to see today.



1950's / 1960's - Topps 1969 #20 Ernie Banks This is the only Ernie Banks card I had as a kid. It was given to me in the early '70s'. Otherwise, I had never even seen a card of Mr. Cub. I always wondered if Topps issued cards regionally, making Cubs card more scarce in the Chicago area, and therefore getting kids to buy more cards? Anyone else have problems finding your local team's stars? This card also features the same picture used on the 1968 card. You wonder why Topps didn't have more pictures on file of a veteran star like Ernie Banks?



1970's - Topps 1972 #364 Johnny Callison
This card shows us the veteran outfielder in front of the batting cage at Candlestick Park. I tried to blow up the card to figure out who the batter in the cage was, but the picture wasn't clear enough. Callison didn't even play for the Cubs in 1972. He was traded on January 20 to the Yankees for the infamous "player to be named later." It wasn't until May that the Cubs named one, pitcher Jack Aker.



1980's - Topps Traded 1985 #35T Ray Fontenot
The Cubs picked Fontenot up from the Yankees during the off season. He spent the 1985 season alternating between the starting rotation and the bullpen. At one point during the year the Cubs had their entire rotation on the disabled list. Guys like Fontenot filled in, and didn't do a very good job. He was 6-10 with a 4.36 ERA. I thought of him as Fonte-NOT.



1990's - Bowman 1992 #647 Mike Morgan
He joined the Cubs as a free agent for the 1992 season and was 16-8. A nice pick up, right? Wrong! He tanked in both '93 and '94, with records of 10-15 and 2-10.



2000's - Goudey 2009 4 in 1 #16 Ryne Sandberg
This card features one Hall of Famer with three current players. This is one of two 4 in 1 cards that Sandberg appeared on.

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