Four New Relics Part 1

My rule for my Cubs relics collection is this:

If a relic card was issued for a player during a season he played with the Cubs (and he's shown as a Cub), then I want a card for that player.

I just need one card for the player, not each relic card...I really don't need a dozen different Marlon Byrd relics in my collection.

A month or so ago, a post that showed my Julio Zuleta jersey card declared the card as the last in my relic collection.  Last because there probably won't be too many last names that will follow Zuleta alphabetically.

But also last because I thought I had them all.  I searched ebay and Checkoutmycards for relic cards of all the Cubs that played on the team starting with 1998...about the time relics were first made.  I made a checklist based on my search and started picking up cards.  The Zuleta was the last one on the checklist.

My checklist was wrong.

A couple weeks ago my daily browsing of ebay Cubs cards brought me to a seller that had a boatload of Cubs relics for sale.  As I looked through his listings, I found cards of four players that weren't on my checklist.  I searched ebay for other copies of the four and also went to COMC to see it there were duplicated of the four.

The searches turned up nothing.  This was the first time I had seen any of the four anywhere.  The good news is that none of the four players were big names, which I hoped would keep the prices down.  I set the sniper for all four and waited.

Two of the four auctions saw me as the only bidder.  The other two weren't exactly bidding wars, and I was able to grab all four for about three bucks apiece.  I was pleased.

I'm going to show one a card a day over the next four days.

Here's today's...

....a 2001* Private Stock Game Used Gear bat card of the immortal Jose Nieves.

I told you these guys weren't Murderers Row!

The card says that the Cubs want Jose to be a part of the infield of the future.

The card was wrong.

Jose was traded to the Angels at the end of spring training, 2001. In parts of three seasons with the Cubs, he hit .229 in 380 at bats.  He had a very mediocre present with the Cubs leading to no future.

You may have noticed an inconsistancy with the card and my relic rule.  I listed the card as a 2001 card and Jose never played a game for the Cubs in 2001.  According to my rule the card shouldn't be in my collection.

But you also may have noticed that I included a * after the 2001.  Here's why: the actual copyright on the card is 2000...a season that Jose played with the Cubs.  Pacific calls the card 2001 Private Stock but copyrights the card as 2000.  I consider the card a 2000 card, so its in.

I make the rules....I get to interpret them however I want!