Friday, June 27, 2014

Champion Cubs!!

Yes, you read the title correctly.  Today I've got some Champion Cubs!

No, the cards are not from 1908.

And no, I haven't been over-indulging in some Old Style.

What, then, do I have?


Donruss Champions.

It's been a long time since I've added a new brand to my collection.  Honestly, I think I'm maxing out.  But that doesn't mean that I'll not add.  I still do a daily Ebay search for Cubs team sets.  And every now and then I find something  that I hadn't seen before.  That was the case with Donruss Champions.

Donruss issued the set twice, in 2003 and 2005.  Today I'll have the 2003 cards...tomorrow 2005.

There are 300 cards in the set. Donruss numbered the cards by team city.  The Anahiem Angels come first, the Toronto Blue Jays are near the end, and then 25 assorted rookies finish the set.  

Though called "Champions,"  the players really aren't Champions of anything.  Instead, Donruss gave each card a category like rookie, prospect, rising star, or listed some sort of accomplishment.  

The base Cubs cards are numbers 45-55.  There should be eleven cards, but #47 didn't end up a Cub.  The card belongs to Fred McGriff, who played for the Cubs in 2002, but was not re-signed for 2003.  He ended up with the Dodgers and his card shows him in a Cubs uniform but on the bottom says "signed by the Dodgers on 12/2/02.


Here are the ten Cubs, starting with the "Rookies."

 

Up next, the Rising Stars...

 

One Cub was a Prospect (but really, he wasn't, though the Cubs were able to trade him for Aramis Ramirez)...


We got one Cub from the past.


The rest were current players with some sort of recognition

 

 

Finally, two Cubs were among the 25 rookies at the end of the set.

 

And there you have the 2003 Champion Cubs.  Too bad the real Cubs couldn't seal the deal in 2003...still smarting over that one!

Tomorrow I'll have the  2005 Champion Cubs.












2 comments:

  1. I'm willing to bet there are a lot of Cubs sets you haven't found yet. ... 2005 Champions is brutal.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That Sandberg card is one I've never seen before and one that I definitely must track down!

    ReplyDelete