Your 2013 Chicago Cubs Starting Lineup

I thought about posting this on Opening Day, then thought better of it.  After all, Opening Day for the Cubs is April 1, and after looking over their lineup, you may have thought that I was just posting some sort of April Fools Joke.

But no, this is actually the real thing.

So here we go, the second year in the Theo rebuild.

OUTFIELD--not pretty at all!

Alfonso Soriano, left field.  He had a surprisingly decent year last season after a really slow start.   Can we expect as good a year this year?  I doubt it.

David DeJesus, center field.  Solid but unspectacular numbers last season, DeJesus is a place holder in center until something better comes along.

Nate Schierholtz, right field.  A career .270 hitter with little power, a guy that's never been a starter for an entire season...that's our right fielder.  Boy, I wish I could say that this was just an April Fools joke.


INFIELD--add Baez in a year, and this could be a solid group for years to come.

Luis Valbuena, third base.  He's filling in for an injured Ian Stewart, who's holding a place until Javier Baez is ready

Starlin Castro, shortstop.  Time for him to really grow up and play to his potential.  He's not a 20-year-old anymore, so that excuse won't cut it any longer.  If he gets his head into the game, we're set.

 

Darwin Barney, second base.  Remain steady with the glove, get the average up a bit, and we are set at second base for the next several seasons.  Barney is the real second baseman, but he won't start on opening day after hurting his knee on Saturday.  Brent Lillibridge will fill in.

Anthony Rizzo, first base.  Please live up to all the hype from the early part of your time with the Cubs!

BATTERY---The Cubs are very thin with starting pitching.

Jeff Samardzija, pitcher.  He is now the ace of the staff.  I don't know what else to say.

Welington Castillo, catcher.  Beef takes over as the starting catcher.  I'm not convinced that he is up to the task.  I hope he proves me wrong.

So, are you fans of other teams scared, intimidated, or otherwise afraid to take on this group?

I didn't think so.

Eagle-Eyes Quest #2---Relics

Thanks to you eagle-eyed readers, my list of certified Cubs autographs grew from 76 to 100...and I think--I hope--that I'm finished.

That means its time to shift from autographs to relics.  I'm using the same rule I did with the autographs....a relic card for each Cub player that had one issued during a season that they played for the Cubs.

When I started this project, I already had 46 different players.  After successfully adding several autographs from COMC, I went back and did the same thing with the relics.  I searched for Cubs, and then checked the box to filter for relics.  Then I compared the year of the relics with the years the player was on the Cubs, and then checked if the player was among the 46 that I already had.

I came up with eight more card to add.  I really thought that there would be a lot more of these, since there were 100 players on the autograph checklist.  I guess since its easier to slap a sticker on a card, there are more autograph cards made.

Here are my eight new additions, with some big names and some relative unknowns...

Beltran was with the Cubs in 2002 and 2004; this card is from 2002

Cruz never lived up to his promise during his years with the Cubs, 2001-2003.  This Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects card is from 2001

It was cheaper to get this dual auto/relic card of Cashner that to get a plain relic card.  The card is from his only season with the Cubs, 2011.  He was traded after the season to the Padres in the Anthony Rizzo deal.

This was the only relic I could find of Jason Dubois, who is, by far, the lesser of the three on the card. It kills me that I have to refer to a card with Andre Dawson on it as the  Dubois card.  This is a 2005 release, which was Dubois' second season with the Cubs.

Mark Grace's time with the Cubs was coming to an end just as relic cards were starting to arrive.  If I read Beckett correctly, this is the only relic from when he was active with the Cubs. I'm happy to have this /1000 card from 2000, his final season in Chicago.

Here's another case where the dual auto/relic card was cheaper than the plain relic.  Pie was a big flop during his two years with the Cubs (2007-2008).  This card is from 2008

Juan Pierre spent only the 2006 season with the Cubs, so this is the only relic card that shows him as a Cub.

Todd Wellemeyer, despite what this 2004 card says, was not a future gem.  He was very mediocre during his time with the Cubs from 2003-2005

Here is my complete list of 55 Cubs with relics from a season with the Cubs.   Look it over all you eagle-eyed readers and tell me who I'm missing...

Moises Alou	Rich Harden	Carlos Pena
Darwin Barney	Brendan Harris	Felix Pie
Francis Beltran	Kevin Hart	Juan Pierre
Damon Buford	Bobby Hill	Mark Prior
Marlon Byrd	Rich Hill	Aramis Ramirez
Andrew Cashner	Todd Hundley	Anthony Rizzo
Starlin Castro	Jacque Jones	Jeff Samardzija
Hee Seop Choi	Eric Karros	Alfonso Soriano
Tyler Colvin	David Kelton	Sammy Sosa
Juan Cruz	Bryan LaHair	Geovany Soto
Ryan Dempster	Derrek Lee	Ryan Theriot
Blake DeWitt	Ted Lilly	Darryle Ward
Jason Dubois	Kenny Lofton	Todd Wellemeyer
Jim Edmonds	Greg Maddux	Randy Wells
Mike Fontenot	Carlos Marmol	Rondell White
Kosuke Fukudome	Sean Marshall*	Jerome Williams
Nomar Garciaparra	Fred McGriff	Kerry Wood
Matt Garza	Corey Patterson	Carlos Zambrano
Mark Grace *Missing from collection

The one player that I'm missing is one that I will probably never get.  According to Beckett, the only relic cards for Sean Marshall while with the Cubs were issued in 2008 by Upper Deck as part of the Ballpark Collection.  My best possibility is an unnumbered Jersey/Autograph card.  The other three are button, laundry tag, or MLB logo cards, numbered to either 4 or 5. I don't think I'll see any of those.

2013 Topps Stickers Cubs

The Topps Stickers seem to be flying under the radar.  With Heritage and Opening Day just out, and Gypsy Queen coming soon, the stickers seem to be forgotten.

After a ten year run from 1981 - 1990, the stickers were put to rest for 21 years.  They came back in 2011, making this year's set the third of the recent reincarnation.

There are nine Cubs on the 315 sticker checklist, plus the team logo.

Something new this year is the inclusion of a team legend...a retired player.  Topps didn't stray too far from the usual by including...

....Ernie Banks as the Cubs' legend.  Topps does get some extra credit by using an older version of the team logo on the sticker, a version used by the Cubs in the '60s and '70s.

The other eight stickers feature current players with the current logo...

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

The only thing I don't like is that the pictures all seem to be washed out.  They seem faded, not sharp.  The previous two years had nice sharp pictures.  Don't know why they went to the faded look.

Finally, there is the team logo card.  These are always shared with another team.  Over the past two years, the Cubs shared with...

 

...the Padres  and Phillies.  This year, though, Topps made a bad choice, by putting the Cubs on the same sticker as...

...the White Sox.  Boo!  Now my binder is contaminated!

Really New and Really Old Billy Williams Items

I've adding something old and something new to my Billy Williams collection (and I guess they're blue too, but nothing borrowed!)


Here's the new item....

...Billy's first appearance on a Heritage card.  As of now, only four of these /15 cards (#3, 8, 9, and 15) have shown up on Ebay.  Three have been sold and two more are waiting as BINs.  I knew I wanted one and I knew that they were going to be hard to get, so I probably paid more than I normally would for a card.  Sometimes, you gotta bite the bullet, especially for your all-time favorite player.

My only complaint....the picture is from either 1970 or 1971, not 1964.  But, at least he finally made Heritage.  It will be interesting to see if Topps starts phasing Ernie out of Heritage (they didn't this year) and start including more Billy and maybe even throw in a Ron Santo card or two.

On to something old....something 50 years old...

....this Billy Williams coin from the 1963 Salada tea/ Junket dessert set.  Its fascinating to me that a tea company would include baseball items as a premium.  Maybe Salada was trying to expand its market.  But I picture baseball fans as guys pounding Buds, not sipping Salada tea.

These are very similar to the coins that Topps would put out the following season.  Do you think Topps stole the idea or did the coin manufacturer come to Topps?

Here is what the back of the coin looks like...

....with the Salada and Junket names prominently featured, and a few player stats on the bottom.

Ernie Banks was also on the '63 Salada checklist, and I'm waiting to pick one up at a decent price.

2013 Opening Day Cubs Inserts

These came a little quicker than I thought they would...yea!  I'll have more about that later.

Topps has been adding more insert sets to Opening Day over the past couple years, and four Cubs cards were included...

...Two Cubs are having some Ballpark Fun.

Darwin Barney got a shower from Matt Garza on May 30, 2012.  Barney hit a walk off homer against the Padres...

....which he also is celebrating here.

Alfonso Soriano's bath came on April 24, 2012, when he singled home the winning run in the 10th inning against the Cardinals.  Before the bath, there was a...

....Superstar Celebration at home plate.  My question---if Soriano is a superstar worthy of a card in two different insert sets, why was he left out of the base set??

The final Cub insert shows Starlin Castro...

....playing hard against the White Sox on June 18, 2012.

Now, a little more about the purchase and delivery of the cards.  I got these from Justcommons.com  If you're wondering what they sell, well...you're not trying very hard then, are you!

The site doesn't have as wide a selection as Sportlots, but everything they have is from a single shipper, which means a huge savings compared to Sportlots.  The prices are a little better too, with commons going for only 15¢ compared to the 18¢ at Sportlots. Also, shipping was only $2, and its free if your order exceeds $10.

Shipping was quick, and the cards arrived safely.  If you're looking to fill a team or complete set, you may want to see what they've got.

2013 Opening Day Cubs

Opening Day has been a Topps staple since 1998 (though skipped in 2009).  It's billed as the kid friendly version of the base set.  The cards lack the foil printing, making them less expensive. Personally, I'd like to see the base set skip the hard-to-read foil printing.

This year's Opening Day checklist is made up of 220 players.  Divide that among 30 teams and you should average seven or eight players per team.  The Cubs got half of that---four.  But at least that's better than last year, when only three Cubs make the list.  Progress, I suppose.

The cards are all identical to the base card with one slight exception...the rookie cup on Rizzo's card was moved up to accommodate the Opening Day logo.

  

  

Four Cubs were included in the insert sets, and I should have those cards in hand within the next couple days.  I'll get those posted as soon as the cards arrive.


For you  team collectors, here is the 2013 Opening Day checklist, broken down by team:

Angels	Josh Hamilton	56
Angels	Tommy Hanson	36
Angels	Howie Kendrick	26
Angels	Albert Pujols	38
Angels	Mike Trout	27
Angels	Mark Trumbo	77
Angels	Jered Weaver	32
Angels	Vernon Wells	99
Angels	C.J. Wilson	149
Astros	Jose Altuve	164
Astros	Matt Dominguez	4
Athletics	Grant Balfour	49
Athletics	Yoenis Cespedes	137
Athletics	Bartolo Colon	125
Athletics	Coco Crisp	188
Athletics	Tommy Milone	24
Athletics	Jarrod Parker	142
Athletics	Josh Reddick	124
Athletics	Jemile Weeks	18
Blue Jays	Jose Bautista	207
Blue Jays	Mark Buehrle	9
Blue Jays	R.A. Dickey	213
Blue Jays	Edwin Encarnacion	88
Blue Jays	Drew Hutchison	61
Blue Jays	Josh Johnson	135
Blue Jays	Brett Lawrie	220
Blue Jays	Jose Reyes	131
Blue Jays	Ricky Romero	2
Braves	Freddie Freeman	182
Braves	Jason Heyward	180
Braves	Tim Hudson	195
Braves	Craig Kimbrel	199
Braves	Kris Medlen	216
Braves	Dan Uggla	161
Braves	Justin Upton	93
Braves	B.J. Upton	115
Brewers	Norichika Aoki	116
Brewers	John Axford	17
Brewers	Ryan Braun	8
Brewers	Yovani Gallardo	21
Brewers	Corey Hart	110
Brewers	Aramis Ramirez	92
Brewers	Jean Segura	111
Brewers	Rickie Weeks	194
Cardinals	Carlos Beltran	13
Cardinals	Chris Carpenter	190
Cardinals	Allen Craig	211
Cardinals	David Freese	132
Cardinals	Matt Holliday	144
Cardinals	Shelby Miller	72
Cardinals	Yadier Molina	141
Cardinals	Jason Motte	202
Cardinals	Adam Wainwright	91
Cubs	Darwin Barney	55
Cubs	Starlin Castro	54
Cubs	Anthony Rizzo	80
Cubs	Jeff Samardzija	85
Diamondbacks	Heath Bell	39
Diamondbacks	Trevor Cahill	75
Diamondbacks	Paul Goldschmidt	98
Diamondbacks	Aaron Hill	122
Diamondbacks	Daniel Hudson	203
Diamondbacks	Ian Kennedy	136
Diamondbacks	Jason Kubel	62
Diamondbacks	Wade Miley	179
Diamondbacks	Miguel Montero	168
Diamondbacks	Gerardo Parra	34
Diamondbacks	J.J. Putz	158
Diamondbacks	Tyler Skaggs	140
Dodgers	Josh Beckett	192
Dodgers	Carl Crawford	60
Dodgers	Andre Ethier	153
Dodgers	Adrian Gonzalez	87
Dodgers	Zack Greinke	46
Dodgers	Matt Kemp	100
Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw	45
Dodgers	Brandon League	86
Dodgers	Hanley Ramirez	11
Giants	Madison Bumgarner	157
Giants	Matt Cain	97
Giants	Brandon Crawford	155
Giants	Tim Lincecum	104
Giants	Angel Pagan	119
Giants	Hunter Pence	108
Giants	Buster Posey	1
Giants	Sergio Romo	129
Giants	Pablo Sandoval	212
Giants	Marco Scutaro	67
Giants	Ryan Vogelsong	73
Giants	Brian Wilson	152
Giants	Barry Zito	68
Indians	Trevor Bauer	106
Indians	Jason Kipnis	74
Indians	Justin Masterson	64
Indians	Carlos Santana	82
Indians	Drew Stubbs	89
Indians	Nick Swisher	90
Mariners	Felix Hernandez	22
Mariners	Hisashi Iwakuma	78
Mariners	Jesus Montero	16
Mariners	Kendrys Morales	174
Mariners	Kyle Seager	196
Marlins	Adeiny Hechavarria	101
Marlins	Logan Morrison	23
Marlins	Giancarlo Stanton	145
Mets	Ike Davis	48
Mets	Matt Harvey	59
Mets	Daniel Murphy	95
Mets	Jonathon Niese	63
Mets	Johan Santana	160
Mets	David Wright	6
Nationals	Tyler Clippard	166
Nationals	Ian Desmond	109
Nationals	Danny Espinosa	70
Nationals	Gio Gonzalez	44
Nationals	Bryce Harper	50
Nationals	Denard Span	184
Nationals	Drew Storen	209
Nationals	Stephen Strasburg	170
Nationals	Jayson Werth	30
Nationals	Ryan Zimmerman	147
Nationals	Jordan Zimmermann	96
Orioles	Dylan Bundy	52
Orioles	Chris Davis	58
Orioles	Jim Johnson	15
Orioles	Adam Jones	76
Orioles	Manny Machado	172
Orioles	Nick Markakis	121
Padres	Yonder Alonso	84
Padres	Chase Headley	130
Padres	Cameron Maybin	134
Padres	Carlos Quentin	40
Padres	Huston Street	187
Padres	Will Venable	65
Padres	Edinson Volquez	127
Phillies	Roy Halladay	162
Phillies	Cole Hamels	206
Phillies	Ryan Howard	198
Phillies	Cliff Lee	57
Phillies	Jonathan Papelbon	25
Phillies	Jimmy Rollins	208
Phillies	Carlos Ruiz	217
Phillies	Chase Utley	112
Phillies	Michael Young	117
Pirates	Pedro Alvarez	43
Pirates	A.J. Burnett	128
Pirates	Starling Marte	167
Pirates	Andrew McCutchen	102
Pirates	James McDonald	105
Rangers	Elvis Andrus	51
Rangers	Adrian Beltre	7
Rangers	Lance Berkman	107
Rangers	Nelson Cruz	154
Rangers	Yu Darvish	165
Rangers	Neftali Feliz	181
Rangers	Ian Kinsler	214
Rangers	Mike Olt	114
Rangers	Jurickson Profar	37
Rays	Alex Cobb	146
Rays	Jeremy Hellickson	31
Rays	Desmond Jennings	103
Rays	Evan Longoria	200
Rays	David Price	218
Rays	Fernando Rodney	183
Rays	Ben Zobrist	178
Red Sox	Jacoby Ellsbury	20
Red Sox	Jon Lester	42
Red Sox	Will Middlebrooks	210
Red Sox	David Ortiz	143
Red Sox	Dustin Pedroia	41
Red Sox	Jarrod Saltalamacchia	171
Reds	Bronson Arroyo	29
Reds	Jay Bruce	204
Reds	Aroldis Chapman	12
Reds	ShinSoo Choo	66
Reds	Zack Cozart	173
Reds	Johnny Cueto	191
Reds	Todd Frazier	126
Reds	Mat Latos	10
Reds	Brandon Phillips	175
Reds	Joey Votto	19
Rockies	Tyler Colvin	79
Rockies	Carlos Gonzalez	113
Rockies	Wilin Rosario	83
Rockies	Troy Tulowitzki	219
Royals	Billy Butler	133
Royals	Alex Gordon	193
Royals	Eric Hosmer	5
Royals	Mike Moustakas	159
Royals	Ervin Santana	201
Royals	James Shields	94
Tigers	Miguel Cabrera	81
Tigers	Prince Fielder	28
Tigers	Doug Fister	205
Tigers	Torii Hunter	151
Tigers	Austin Jackson	189
Tigers	Victor Martinez	71
Tigers	Jhonny Peralta	197
Tigers	Max Scherzer	118
Tigers	Justin Verlander	35
Twins	Joe Mauer	138
Twins	Justin Morneau	163
Twins	Trevor Plouffe	33
Twins	Josh Willingham	14
White Sox	John Danks	123
White Sox	Adam Dunn	156
White Sox	Paul Konerko	186
White Sox	Jake Peavy	47
White Sox	Addison Reed	53
White Sox	Alex Rios	148
White Sox	Chris Sale	177
Yankees	Robinson Cano	169
Yankees	Brett Gardner	69
Yankees	Curtis Granderson	185
Yankees	Derek Jeter	150
Yankees	Ivan Nova	215
Yankees	Mariano Rivera	176
Yankees	Alex Rodriguez	120
Yankees	CC Sabathia	3
Yankees	Mark Teixeira	139

The Mayor of Wrigley Field

Who is the Mayor of Wrigley Field?

Nope, not Harry Caray; he was the Mayor of Rush Street

Not Ernie Banks either--he's Mr. Cub.

The Mayor of Wrigley Field is this guy,

Hank Sauer, the latest addition to my autograph collection.  His signature is on a 1988 Pacific Legends of Baseball card.

So class, raise you hand if you know who Hank Sauer is...and I see that not too many hands are going up.

I've got to admit, that for a guy known as The Mayor of Wrigley Field, I didn't know much about him either.

Growing up in a house full of Sox fans didn't give me much of a chance to hear about Cubs players from earlier times.  The only knowledge  I had of Sauer was from this card I got in 1975...

....and it shocked me that a Cub other than Ernie Banks had won the MVP award.  In my world, Cubs history began with Ernie Banks.  I had never heard of Hank Sauer or the fact that he was the NL's MVP in 1952.  But in those pre-internet days, I couldn't just google up a bunch of information on him.

I didn't actually learn much more about him until I got back into collecting in 2008.  One of my early goals was to get all the Cubs team sets back to 1961 (the year I was born) and then one card from each of the prior years.  I decided to get as many Hank Sauer cards as I could since he was the best player on the team before Ernie arrived. ( I later decided to go ahead and get the complete team sets back to 1951).

I got this card first, since I knew of it from the '75 MVP card.  In his MVP season, he hit a league-leading 37 home runs and knocked in a league-leading 121 runs.  He became the first player to win the MVP on a second division team (the Cubs finished fifth that year).  That was his third straight season of 30+ homers and he would top that again in 1954.

Sauer was a tobacco chewer, and the fans in the bleachers would toss packages of chew his way whenever he hit a home run.  It was that type of popularity with the fans that earned him the nickname "The Mayor of Wrigley Field."

He only spent 7 seasons with the Cubs and the teams were generally pretty bad, so that may explain his lack of recognition.  But for a time, he was the face of the Cubs and his is a signature that deserves a place in my collection.

If you want to read more about Hank Sauer, there are a couple of nice articles here and here.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 11,263 Cubs cards from 77 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.  

1950s / 1960s: 1959 Topps #538 Chick King  I must confess that this is one Cub that I knew absolutely nothing about.  I checked both the '58 and '59 roster books and he wasn't included in either.  Baseballreference told me why he was missing...he played in only 8 games for the '58 Cubs and 12 for the team in 1959 before being sent to the Cardinals in a mid-May trade.  I wonder why Topps included him in the '59 set after playing in only 8 games for the Cubs the year before?

1970s: 1978 Kelloggs #44 Steve Ontiveros  Ontiveros hit a career high .299 in 1977, good enough for Kelloggs to make him one of three Cubs in the '78 set.  He got off to a horrible start in 1978, hitting .145 in April and .178 in May.  He finally snapped out of it in June, with a .376 average.  His season came to an end in July when he dislocated his shoulder for a second time .  Surgery put him on the shelf the rest of the campaign.

1980s: 1981 Topps #17 Bill Buckner  Billy Buck had a really good year in the strike-shortened 1981 season.  He hit .312 (his third .300+ season in four years), led the league in doubles (35), was second in hits (131), third in RBIs (75) , and fifth in average.  He was named to the NL All Star team for the only time in his career and was 0-1.

1990s: 1993 Bowman #524 Rick Wilkins  Rick Wilkins had one of the best seasons ever by a Cubs catcher in 1993.  He hit .303 with 30 homers and 73 RBIs.  He became one of only seven catchers in MLB history to hit over .300 with 30+ homers.  Not only was he a stud with the bat, but he led NL catchers with a .421 caught-stealing percentage and was second in fielding with a .996 average.  He would never again come even close to matching this season.

2000s: 2002 Fleer Tradition #7 Jon Lieber  Lieber payed the price for a 20 win season in 2001 by blowing out his elbow in 2002.  He was 6-8 before being shut down in early August.  Tommy John surgery followed had he missed the entire 2003 season.