Five Totally Not Random Cubs Cards

Instead of letting the random number generator pick five cards for me, I did the selecting myself.  I've got four real Cubs cards and one homemade card (because I couldn't find any of the last guy as a Cub).

All five players have a connection to one another.  Try to guess what it is.

 
Donruss 1986 #510 Steve Engel  Raise you hand if you've heard of this guy....  I don't see any hands up.  In 1985 the entire Cubs starting rotation was on the disabled list at the same time.  Guys like Steve Engel got a chance to show their stuff.  It wasn't pretty.  He pitched in 11 games, eight as a starter.  His record was 1-5 with an ERA of 5.57.

Fleer 1981 #300 Jim Tracy.  Fleer arranged the cards in their sets first by team, then by players last name.  That is why Tracy got card #300, a number that Topps would have given only to superstars.    Tracy's very mediocre career wouldn't have ever gotten him a card ending in a 5, let alone a 00.

Victory 2001 #331 Rick Aguilera He made the Victory 2001 set, but had no victories in 2001.  After finishing the 2000 season with a record of 1-2 and and ERA of 4.91 the Cubs passed on him when he became a free agent.  So did every other MLB team.

Shakey's Pizza 1976 #36 King Kelly  How about that...a Hall of Famer! The card shows him wearing a Boston uniform, but the best years of his career were with the Cubs (actually it was the White Stockings then).  Slide, Kelly, Slide!

Fake 1949ish Bowman Loyd Christopher No, this is not Rev. Jim from Taxi or Doc from Back to the Future...that's Christopher Lloyd. This is Loyd Christopher, an outfielder that played on the pennant winning Cubs of 1945.  Well, kinda....he made it into one game, on May 30.  He played in the 8th and 9th inning and didn't get a plate appearance.

And what is the connection between these four lousy Cubs and one Hall of Famer?

Happy New Years Eve!

They were all born on December 31.

I'm Johnny Callison!

The 'ol blog turns Johnny Callison today!

Johnny Callison was with the Cubs in 1970 and 1971 and he is the first player that I can remember that wore #6.

Six years ago I had my first post....here it is if you weren't around back in 2008.

There have been 2191 days and 2248 posts since then and I'm still here.

I'm not planning to go away any time soon either.

Thanks for reading, whether you've been around for all six years, or just six days, or anything in between.  I hope you'll keep coming back...there will be something new each day.

A total of 43 Cubs have worn number 6. I've got cards of 34 of them. The names in bold are the players that I'm missing.

Charlie Grimm (player and Manager)(1932)
Frank Demaree (1933, 1935-36))
Chuck Klein (1934)
Stan Hack (player and m)(1937-47, 1954-56)
Dewey Williams (1946)
Jeff Cross (1948)
Bill Serena (1949-53)
Frankie Gustine (1949)
Wayne Terwilliger (1949)
Fred Richards (1951)
Jack Littrell (1957)
Chuck Tanner (1958)
Earl Averill (1959-60)
Jim McKnight (1960)
Dick Bertell (1960-65. 1967)
Ed Bailey(1965)
Johnny Stephenson(1967-68)
Randy Bobb(1968-69)
Johnny Callison (1970-71)
Pete Reiser (c) (1972)
J. C. Martin (c) (1974)
Tim Hosley (1975-76)
Barney Schultz (1977)
Larry Cox (1978)
Ted Sizemore (1979)
Mike O'Berry (1980)
Les Moss (c) (1981)
Keith Moreland (1982-87)
Joe Altobelli (c And M)(1988-91)
Rey Sanchez (1992)
Willie Wilson (1993-94)
Mike Hubbard (1995-97)
Glenallen Hill (1998-2000)
Ross Gload (2000)
Ron Coomer (2001)
Darren Lewis (2002)
Ramon Martinez (2003-04)
Sonny Jackson(c) (2005-06)
Alan Trammell(c) (2007)
Micah Hoffpauir(2008-10)
Bryan LaHair(2011-12)
Alberto Gonzales (2013)
Ryan Sweeney (2013-14)

The Inserts Are Arriving 8

Not a big shipment today, but some of my new favorites...they're at the end.

First, a card from the 1987 set,

 ...Glossy Rookie Rafael Palmeiro.

Ryno is next...

...from the 1993 Black Gold insert.

OK, now that I have those out of the way, on to the new favorites.

 

 

 

These come from the 2004 insert, 100th Anniversary of the Fall Classic.  A card was made for each World Series and it features a scorecard cover from that year.  This is a pretty cool looking set. 

You might be a bit surprised to know that I have to get a total of ten of these.  Yes, the Cubs have been in the World Series ten time.... 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945.   They were a pretty dominant franchise for the first forty years of the 20th century, at least as far as winning the pennant goes.  

Winning the series?  Well...

And since 1945, well....

Cards From Reader Tim

Tim, a dedicated reader of the blog, recently sent me some cards he was purging from his collection.  He was very generous!

 

First up are these three of Mr. Cub.  Though they look identical, there are differences among all three.  The card on the top left is the base card of Donruss Classics from 2002.  The card next to it is the Timeless Tributes parallel, which is /100.  The third card is the same as the base except it has an imprint on it that shows it was given away at the 2002 National.  Only five of these were handed out; this is 3/5.

 

 

 

 

He also included several cards for the Ryno collection, including the OPC version of his rookie card, and a few I'd never seen before.  

Hope about a Fergie autograph!

A few more assorted Cubs were in the package, too.

Thanks Tim for the great gift.

And in case you missed it from an earlier post, Tim is on the hunt for any and all Billy Williams 2014 Topps Tribute cards. Keep your eyes open for any and let him know if you find one.

Another Barney Home Run Celebration

I've been able to cherry-pick more Barneys for my player collection.  This time it is a 2013 black mini...

...which is a /5 card.

This completes my mini rainbow, with the base card, gold (/62), pink (/25), and black (/5).  There is a 1/1 platinum card and the four printing plates, but I'm not too concerned about getting them.

My 2013 Barney Topps collection is up to 22 cards

The Inserts Are Arriving 7...The Mother Lode

This is the package from Checkoutmycards.  I used COMC to knock off a big chunk of my 2000s insert needs, and did it when they were offering free shipping.  Though the card prices might have been a little higher that Sportlots, I'm sure I came out ahead by not having to pay any shipping costs.

There are 55 cards, two from the late '90s and all the rest from the 2000's.  With this many cards to post, I'm going to skip my usual witty banter and just show the cards.... you're welcome!

OK...just one thing: Of the 55 cards 35 are of three players, Sammy Sosa, Ernie Banks, and Alfonso Soriano.