Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 12,813 Cubs cards from 97 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1965 Topps #436 Don Elston This is the veteran Elson's final Topps card.  Topps had a spot for him, but the Cubs didn't.  He was released at the end of spring training in 1965 and never played in another big league game.

1980s: 1989 Topps Traded #126 Curt Wilkerson The Cubs acquired Wilkerson in the trade with the Rangers that brought Mitch Williams in exchange for Rafael Palmiero.  He was a utility guy for the '89 Cubs, playing in 77 games and hitting .244.  He was much better as a pinch hitter, going 11 for 28, good for a .393 average, second best among National League pinch hitters.

1990s: 1991 Team Issued #45 Paul Assenmacher  The Cubs gave this set of cards away on August 14.  They fell to the Expos 2-0 in front of a crowd of 34,817 fans.  Greg Maddux started and took the loss in a game that took only 2 hours and 14 minutes.

2000s: 2003 T205 #51 Sammy Sosa Head Duck Version  This is the one of two versions of the card.  The 2003 T205 set had multiple cards of several players.  Mark Prior was the other Cub with a variation card.  In case your curious...

 

....this is what both of Sammy's cards look like. The other version is known as the head left version.

2010s: 2010 National Chicle #174 Marlon Byrd This card comes from Topps' one and only National Chicle set.  The artwork on these didn't impress me and I'm guessing plenty of others felt the same way since the set didn't return the next year.