Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 11,300 Cubs cards from 78 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.  

1950s / 1960s: 1963 Fleer #31 Glen Hobbie  The RNG picked a rare on to start with today.  This card is from Fleer's attempt to enter the baseball card market.  To get around Topps' agreement with the players, they put a cookie in each pack instead of gum.  It didn't fool Topps or the courts, and only one series was released before Fleer was forced to shut down.  Hobbie was one of two Cubs in the set.  He didn't do much better than Fleer in '63, going 7-10 with a 3.92 ERA.

1970s: 1970 Milton Bradley Ernie Banks This card comes from the Ernie Banks player collection....I don't have the complete team set from teh 1970 MB game.  The highlight of the 1970 season for Mr. Cub came on May 12, when he hit career homer #500.  Other than that, he was on his last wobbly legs.

1980s: 1987 Team Issued Rick Sutcliffe  This set was give away at Wrigley Field on July 29, 1987.  Sutcliffe led the NL in wins in 1987 with 18, the first Cub to lead the league since Jenkins did in 1972.  He also just missed out on the Cy Young, coming up two points short.  It was a nice comeback season, as he won more games in '87 than he did in the previous two seasons combined.  

1990s: 1992 Studio #15 Greg Maddux  The 1992 season was bittersweet, as Maddux won his first Cy Young Award, and then left the team after the season.  He won 20 games, had an ERA of only 2.18, and notched 199 strikeouts.  He also won the Gold Glove Award for the third consecutive season.  Letting him go.....why???????

2000s: 2004 Upper Deck #167 Sammy Sosa  This is from Sammy's final season with the Cubs.  Injuries limited him to 126 games and he hit 35 homers, his lowest total since 1994.  He asked to sit out the final game of the season and then left the ballpark while the game was being played.  He was traded to the Orioles after the season.