Sunday, January 7, 2024

Five Random Cubs Cards

 I've got 21,519 Cubs cards from 316 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.


1900s - 1970s: 1952 Bowman Frank Baumholtz How do you know that this is a Frank Baumholtz card?  Because you can read his autograph.  How do you know that this card is not a modern card?  Because you can read his autograph!


1980s: 1985 Fleer Stickers #89 Rick Sutcliffe  Almost every one of my 1985 Fleer Stickers is miscut like this one.  They looks fine in the binder page but horrible when you scan them.


1990s: 1995 Conlon #1376 Billy Jurges  And why was he a particularly sharp ballplayer?  Here's what it says on the back.  "Billy Jurges was a particularly sharp ball player. When there was a man on first base and there was a single to center or right-center, naturally you're set to go to third base. Well, Jurges would take a position right next to second base, so when you rounded second you couldn't make that quick turn and cut the bag the way you're supposed to. You'd have to take a couple of extra steps to get around Jurges, which made it just a little bit harder for you to get to third. So I got to thinking about that, and I told myself the next time that happens I'm going to hit second base and then run right into him. Well, the next time that play came up, that's what I did. Ran flush into Jurges. Naturally I fell down and rolled around, and the umpire gave me third base. After that, Billy would just decoy me and then back off at the last second. But he was a smart shortstop. He knew a lot of ways to beat you on the field that didn't show up in the box score. 
-----Elbie Fletcher "


2000s: 2004 Fleer #173 Moises Alou It struck me as odd that towards the end of their run, Fleer had some years with a Heritage-like Fleer Tradition set but no base set.


2010s: 2012 Allen and Ginter Relic #RT Ryan Theriot  Ahhh... the good old days when even Ryan Theriot would have a mini-framed relic in Ginter.

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