Backing Up the Truck: Fergie Jenkins

The 1973 Chicago Cubs finished the season with a record of 77-84. That left them in fifth place. It was the first time since 1966 that they finished under .500. It was the end of the line for the 1969 Cubs.

After the season, the dumping began. First to go was Fergie Jenkins. His 1973 was a disaster. He failed to win 20 game, ending his consecutive streak at six years. Fergie also has an ugly episode at Wrigley Field where he was booed by the fans as walked to the dugout after being pulled from a game. He didn’t take kindly to the booing and to the work of the home plate umpire. He tossed some bats towards the field. His time as a Cub would soon be over.

 

The Cubs didn’t wait long to dump Fergie. On October 25, 1973, he was traded to the Rangers for second baseman Vic Harris and young third baseman Bill Madlock.

Why would the Cubs trade for a second and third baseman when they had Glenn Beckert and Ron Santo?

Because they were backing up the truck. Two more former All Stars would be gone soon, too.

2016 Bowman Prospects Cubs

You would think that with Bryant, Soler, Baez, Schwarber, and Russell coming up over the past couple years that the Cubs system would be depleted.

You would be wrong, at least according to Bowman.

Just like the major league team, the prospect Cubs received eight of the 150 Bowman prospects slots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2016 Bowman Cubs

We'll take a little from the the 1969 Cubs and turn out attention to the 2016 team.  After all, this year's Cubs are off to a great start, an even better start that the '69 Cubs.  Of course, starts aren't as important as finishes---and I'm hoping this year ends better than 1969!

The Bowman formula has been pretty consistent the past several years.  You have a base set of 150 current players and 150 prospects cards, with the prospects in both paper and chrome versions.

Today I'll take a look at the current players.

One advantage of a winning team is more cards.  Four years ago when the Cubs were really bad they landed just three spots on the Bowman checklist.  The 2014 checklist also had just three Cubs.

This year, following a 97 win season, the Bowman powers that be granted the Cubs eight slots on the checklist.  All the names you'd expect are generally there...Arrieta, Bryant, Heyward, Lester, Rizzo, Schwarber, and Soler.  The most notable absentee would be Addison Russell.  The most notable head-scratcher is Carl Edwards.

Topps has gone crazy all-in on Edwards.

The Cubs have not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Backing Up the Truck: Bill Hands

The next '69 Cub to go was pitcher Bill Hands.  He was traded to the Twins on November 30, 1972.  The Cubs sent Hands and two other pitchers north in exchange for Dave LaRoche.

Hands was the second '69 starter moved, with Ken Holtzman being traded the year before.  Hands was expendable because he was pitched out.  He averaged nearly 250 innings over the past five season and the workload took a toll on his arm.  

The trade also led to one of the funkiest airbrush jobs of all-time.

Sure, I believe that he is a Twin.  That ivy on the wall, the bleachers,  I can ignore them.

Yikes

Speaking of yikes, Dave LaRoche didn't fair much better

The card is just as ugly as his time with the Cubs....a 5.17 ERA over two seasons.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 14,194 Cubs cards from 108 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1976 Topps #101 Pete LaCock  Alright, get your mind out of the gutter. Forget about his last name.  That wasn't what made him famous.  It wasn't his unspectacular year with the 1976 Cubs either (.221 average over 106 games, 8 HRs, and 28 RBIs).  It was his dad, Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall.... I'll take Paul Lynde for the block, Peter.

1980s: 1982 Donruss #225 Jody Davis  Jody became the Cubs #1 catcher in late April and put up solid numbers for the year.... hitting .261 with 12 home runs and 52 RBIs.  

1990s: 1990 Score #646 Kevin Blankenship  The Cubs picked up this guy in a trade with the Braves for the guy in the card above, Jody Davis.  He pitched in three games in late May/early June and did lousy.  The time before and after were spent in AAA.

2000s: 2008 Masterpieces #96 Ernie Banks Frames Black  This black parallel is in my Ernie Banks collection.  Masterpieces is one of my favorite modern sets and definitely my favorite Upper Deck product.

2010s: 2012 Topps Mini #348 Alfonso Soriano  The 2012 season was his last full year with the Cubs.  He put up pretty decent numbers, with 32 HRs and 108 RBIs.   The RBIs number was a career-high.  And he cost the Cubs a mere $18 million.  What a deal!

Ernie's One Game Return

I learned something new while I was doing some research for the Leo Durocher post:

Ernie Banks played in one game for the 1972 Cubs.

He retired after the 1971 season and became the Cubs first base coach for the 1972 season. He was 41 years old and his playing days were behind him.

But for one night, he took to the field as a player.

It was on August 14, 1972.

The opponent?

The White Sox.

Yes, the cross-town White Sox.  Keep in mind that this was years before inter-league play.

But each season, the two Chicago teams got together for the Cubs-Sox Boys Benefit Game.  A crowd of 38,000 fans were at Comiskey Park for the exhibition.  Ernie entered the game defensively as the Cubs first baseman in the bottom of the seventh inning and received a one-minute standing ovation.

He came to the plate in the ninth inning to another loud ovation.

Then he struck out.

The fans rose and cheered him one last time.

The irony is that Ernie's final at-bat in Chicago took place on the south side.

Backing Up the Truck: Leo Durocher

It's ironic that the man who talked about backing up the truck was one of the first to go.

Leo Durocher came to the Cubs in 1966 and was a lightening rod for controversy from the moment he came to Chicago.  As the team improved and got very popular, Durocher was seen as the savior.

But when the team went through some bumpy times, Leo looked more like a jerk.

A few examples...
During the midst of the pennant drive in 1969, he took a couple days off the visit his wife's son at a camp in Wisconsin.  He also lied about it.

He and Ron Santo nearly came to blows in the clubhouse when Durocher accused Santo of demanding a Ron Santo Day.

By 1971 the negative rumbles coming from the players regarding Leo were getting louder and louder.  And the response of Cubs management?

This ad that ran in early September, 1971 in all four Chicago papers.  Wrigley was backing Leo and slamming the players.  The team went 10-14 after the ad came out.  It didn't exactly inspire them.  It probably had the opposite effect.

As the 1972 season began, the team was aging and it wouldn't have too many pennant runs left.  At the All-Star break they were 46-44.  Management finally had had enough of Leo and he was fired.

His dismissal was front page news.

Leo's record as Cubs manager was 535-526, a .504 percentage.  He managed four teams over his career and his Cubs percentage was the lowest of the four.  It turned out to be a pretty disappointing run.