However, Topps put a wrinkle in that plan. There are no Cubs in any of the regular inserts. They are shut out of Clubhouse Collection, Then and Now, New Age Performers, and Flashback. This is the first year they have ever been completely shut out.
There are some number dual relic and autograph cards, but the price has kept me from chasing those over the years, and I wasn't going to start this year.
But I still wanted one insert card. This one:
It is from the '62 Mint subset. The card has a genuine 1962 quarter, which is a silver quarter worth about $6.00 on its own. The card features Ernie Banks' 300th career home run. The description says that his 300th was one of his most dramatic, a game winning homer.
The homer was hit in the bottom of the 10th inning against Houston on April 18, 1962, the Cubs eighth game of the season. They had lost the first seven (including a three-game sweep by the expansion Colt 45's), so this gave the Cubs their first win of the year. There was a total of 3,318 people at Wrigley Field that day. It seems to me that maybe Topps was overplaying the importance of the homer. I just don't see how an early season home run at an empty ballpark is "dramatic."
And as long as I'm picking on Topps, allow me another. If you look carefully at the picture of Ernie, you'll notice that the jersey is a pullover, not a button jersey. It also looks like a spring training ballpark. The first season the Cubs would be wearing a pullover jersey at spring training was 1973. That would be 11 seasons after the year the card commemorates! Ernie wasn't even active in 1973; he was a coach. If Topps could find a quarter from 1962, why not grab a picture of Ernie from 1962, too!
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