In 2005 Topps released a new set called Rookie Cup. The cards highlighted the rookie season of the players and featured both active and retired stars. There were 150 cards in the base set plus ten more autographed prospects cards.
Five Cubs were included in the base set plus one more in the autographed section.
The five were a decent selection....
The Cub in the autograph section is....
....Mark Pawelek. He was the Cubs first round selection in the 2005 draft. Topps figured a first round selection would end up being a rookie star in a couple years, but Topps was wrong. Pawelek never rose above A ball and was out of baseball by 2010.
Of the five base Cubs, four had cards with the real Topps rookie cup (or trophy).
Sandberg had a decent rookie seasons, but there was a good reason why his card had no rookie cup.....no cards had the cup during his rookie season. Topps didn't use the cup from 1979 -1986. (I had a post in 2011 that traced the history of the rookie cup...
click here.)
One final thought....the cup used on the cards in the 2005 set was the cup Topps used in 2005. I think the cards would have looked better if they used the cup/trophy from the player's rookie season...
What do you think?
The design of those cards is great. I think you're right about the trophies, though.
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