2004 Topps Total Cubs

By 2004, the SS Total had sprung a leak.  The cards were again on cheaper cardboard.  But a bigger sign of trouble was the set size.  Total slipped from 990 cards to 880.  Leave it to Topps to take away 110 players from a set that is supposed to be a Total set.  Total was going down!

The number of Cubs shrunk too, dropping from 35 to 28.   Topps did a good thing by reducing the number of prospects; the Cubs went from ten to three (I'm assuming this was a general trend and not a comment of the Cubs farm system).

Take a peak at the three prospects.  You should recognize one name...

...Adam Greenberg--the 21st century's Moonlight Graham.

Of the 25 remaining cards, every single one of the 25 players spent time with the 2004 Cubs.  So at least Total got that part right.

Let me start by showing a bunch of players that were new to the Cubs in 2004.  You should notice something each of the pictures have in common...

...the tan background.  It looks like Topps went with shots taken on photo day at spring training instead of going the photoshop route.  While I applaud the ditching of the fake pictures, the backgrounds are pretty boring.

Here are the rest of the cards.

The SS Total was in trouble.  Does anyone see an iceberg?