Here are more of the inserts that I said I wasn't going to buy.
The 60 Years of Topps would have been much better if it wasn't already done last year. There were six Cubs last year. This year there are only four. A plus is that they are four different players; last year the six Cubs were Ernie Banks three times, Ryne Sandberg twice, and Lou Brock. I'm much happier with four different players. Last year I got both versions of the card; this year I'm skipping the original back cards since...well, I've got the originals, so why bother with a reprint!
Up first is a 1955 Ernie Banks. The '55 card was Ernie's second Topps issue.
Next is 1977 Bruce Sutter. That was Sutter's breakout season. With his work as a closer, the Cubs were flying high in 1977, and on June 30 they had an 8 1/2 game lead in the NL East. But Sutter got hurt in mid-July and by early August the Cubs were in second place.
Here is something very funny on the back: the card says, "White made its return as the predominant design color (framing elegant photography), in the 660 card set of 1977." Elegant photography??? Yea, that is something Topps was really known for in the '70s! Ha!!
The third Cub is a real odd choice, 1987 Dennis Eckersley. By this time in his career, Eck was a drunk and just about finished. In fact, he didn't even play for the Cubs in 1987 (he was traded to the A's just before the season began), which makes the selection of this card even stranger. The back of the 60 YOT card mentions that for the first time since 1972, the front of the card didn't list a players position, and then says that it was ironic since that was the season Eckersley was moved to the bullpen.
Wouldn't it have been better to use this card and say that he was moved to the A's?
The final Cubs player is a young Greg Maddux. This 1988 card was Maddux's first appearance in a Topps base set. The back touts the 3-D effect of the card because of the way the team name was obscured by parts of the player.
And just for kicks, here are the originals (on the left) side by side with the reprints. Its been mentioned on other blogs that the typeset is slightly different on the reprints. You can see that for yourself here.
I hoped these would have been here sooner, but I guess I shouldn't be so impatient. I was the only bidder for a complete Cubs team set, including the SPs, on a auction that ended March 13. My hope was that I'd have the cards within a week. Unfortunately the seller didn't even ship them until Saturday, March 19. So while the rest of you were showing off all your new Heritage cards, I was only an interested observer. But today I'm an active participant!
The Cubs set included 12 base cards and three short-prints. One Cub was also on a rookie card, but I had to pick that card up separately. If I have any complaint about Heritage, it would be the background in the pictures. It looks like they put a fake spring training background on most of these. I wish they would show the ballparks instead. One of my favorite things to do with cards is to decide where the picture was taken. But for the past few years, Heritage has denied me that fun.
I'll start with the faces that you haven't seen yet, the three rookie cards in the set.
Darwin Barney, who may see some playing time at second this season
Wellington Castillo, this is one of the three short-prints. Beef may take Koyie Hill's back-up job.
Casey Coleman, with a white star instead of a yellow one. In the 1962 set, Cubs rookie Ken Hubbs also had a white star. My guess is that Topps is duplicating that. Does anyone know the reason for the different colored stars in 1962?
Up next are the two photoshopped ex-Rays
Matt Garza, though if Topps was really going for a 1962 look, they would have left the hat a plain blue and not added the C.
Carlos Pena
Starlin Castro has the big classic Topps Rookie trophy. In the 1962 set, there were two Cubs with the trophy, pitcher Jack Curtis and Billy Williams
This card of Marlon Byrd is the only "action" type shot; all the rest were posed ala 1962.
Here is the SP rookie card, with Cubs pitcher Andrew Cashner top and center.
And below are all the rest; these are old familiar Cubs faces.
Two Cubs schedules recently arrived at Wrigley Wax World Headquarters. They become the bookends to my schedules collection which now runs from 1963 - 2011.
This becomes the oldest schedule in my collection. The 1963 season opened on April 9th and finished up on September 29. Over the six month season, the Cubs were scheduled to play on only seven Mondays. All the rest were off-days. How was that managed? There were 13 doubleheaders scheduled! And if you wanted to see the Cubs at Wrigley a box seat would set you back $3.00 (but only $2.00 for children 14 and under).
Here is the other addition, the 2011 Cubs schedule, direct from Wrigley Field. It features the Ron Santo memorial patch that the Cubs will be wearing this season. I emailed the team two weeks ago and received back several schedules and a hand-written note from the Cubs Ambassadors, saying they hoped that I would see the Cubs at Wrigley. I guess that means they are having trouble selling tickets.
The Cubs open the season on April 1, eight days later than in 1963. This season ends a day earlier than 1963. As far as Monday off-days, this year there are only five, unlike the 17 in 1963. The schedule also shows a total of ZERO doubleheaders. Finally, if you want to see a game at Wrigley, speak to a loan officer first. The Cubs have five different levels of game pricing. For the marquee games, that $3 box seat from 1963 will set you back $112. For you math lovers, that is an increase of 3633%. I wonder what the inflation rate has been since 1963? Probably not that high.
The teacher in me would let the inflation rate question go unanswered. I went here and found that the rate since April, 1963 is 622%. The Cubs are more than five times above that. That could be one reason why the Ambassadors hoped to see me at Wrigley this year, since maybe they are starting to price themselves out of the market.
