Five Random Cubs Cards

But first, one random Bears card. I've got 15 Bears cards from one brand. I picked this one out!



GO BEARS!!! SMACK THE PACK!

Now, on to our regularly scheduled program.

I've got 8,453 Cubs cards from 48 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.



1950s / 1960s: 1969 Topps #422 Don Kessinger All Star This card has Don Kessinger in front and some random Pirate third baseman in the background. That is how you can tell this card is from series 4. The All Star cards were split between series 4 and series 5. In series 4, the background picture was a generic player while in series 5 it featured the actual All Star. Kessinger was a six-time All Star, with 1968 being his first year on the team. He wasn't much with the bat, but he was very smooth in the field. I can recall many a double play going Kessinger to Beckert to Banks.



1970s: 1972 Topps #512 Paul Popovich When Kessinger needed a rare day off, it was Paul Popovich who took over. Popo was the Cubs utility infielder and one of my favorite Cubs when I was growing up because we share the same first name! The 1972 season was probably his worst. He appeared in only 58 games and hit an anemic .194. He spent some time on the DL for an ulcer, and then in late August pulled a hamstring that kept him on the shelf for the rest of the season.



1980s: 1989 Donruss #393 Frank DiPino The left-handed reliever didn't even pitch for the Cubs in 1989. He was 2-3 with a 4.98 ERA in 1988 and the Cubs let him go as a free agent. He hooked up with the Cardinals and had a career year. He was a perfect 9-0 and his ERA was 2.45.



1990s: 1990 Score Traded #94 Shawn Boskie This would be a rookie card for Boskie, who started 25 games for the Cubs in 1990. He was decent enough, going 5-6 with a respectable ERA of 3.69.



2000s: 2002 Topps T206 #450 Mordecai Brown This is Topps' version of....



....this , which I wrote about a couple weeks ago.