1995 Rockford Cubbies

 The Cubs moved their class A affiliate from Peoria to Rockford for the 1995 season.  The franchise have previously been with the Expos and Royals.  The team was renamed the Cubbies.  It made sense bringing the prospects a bit closer to Chicago.  They remained in Rockford through the 1998 season.  After that they moved to a brand new facility in Lansing, Michigan.

I lived in northwest suburban Chicago during the Cubbies era.  The travel distance from our house to Rockford was twice as far as going to Wrigley, but the travel time was almost the same, especially if you were going during rush hour.  Tickets for the Cubbies were also a fraction of what is cost to see the big boys.  

So we saw the Cubbies play several times.  It was always a good time.  We got a foul ball at one of the games and had several players sign it.  We also saw Jimmy Piersall, who was serving as a roving outfield instructor for the Cubs and got him to sign.

I saw a team set from the inaugural Cubbies season of 1995 on Ebay and went ahead and picked it up.  The 32-card set includes 26 players, the manager, three coaches, the GM, and the mascot.

As you look the cards over, you won't find many familiar names in the bunch.  Just four of the 26 players made it to the majors and none had a career of any significance.  I'll look at those four tomorrow.