The 1989 edition of Sportflics saw the most Cubs cards to date, with 13. Every card has the same three-picture format of a portrait and then two consecutive action shots. The player and team names were in a variety of color combinations and the colors changed along with the picture.
This year's Chrome set is the 29th edition.
You'd think that after nearly 30 years, the technology would have advanced enough that the cards wouldn't be curled. This is a stack of nine cards that arrived from Sportlots. New cards, yet bowed like a bridge. Maybe Topps is waiting until the 30th anniversary to release the flat version of Chrome cards.
The big news with 2024 Chrome is the increased set size. It has been in the 200 - 255 range over the past several years, but this year's set has 300 cards. Eleven of those 300 curled cards belong to the Cubs.
I've got 21,863 Cubs cards from 317 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.
2010s: 2018 Kris Bryant Highlights #3 How crazy is it that Topps put out an insert set of 30 cards featuring highlights of a guy with three years MLB experience. He averaged 152 games over those first three seasons. which were the peak of his career. In the following seven years he's averaged just 83 games a season.
The cereal giant's Canadian subsidiary had a three year run of stickers or cards from 1985 through 1987. MSA was the producer and lacked an MLB license, so all the logos have been removed.
The 1988 version of Sportflics used the same basic formula as in the past. The cards have either a head shot and two action pictures or three action pictures. There are eight Cubs cards and six of the eight have the headshot.
One new feature of the design is the inclusion of player's name, number, and position. The lettering changes colors too. On the Cubs cards it goes from blue to white.
The 49th Cub player of the 2024 season took the field yesterday.
Third baseman Isaac Paredes was their big splash at the trade deadline. His arrival cost the team Christopher Morel. While Morel's enthusiasm will be missed, his .200 average and mediocre defense won't be missed at all. Of course, Morel has hit a home run in his first two games with the Rays while Paredes was 0-4 in his debut on Tuesday.
It is a homecoming for Paredes, who was originally signed by the Cubs as an amateur free agent in 2015. He was traded to the Tigers in 2017 and later moved to the Rays in a 2022 swap.
Pitcher Nate Pearson was acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays on Saturday, costing the Cubs two low-level prospects. He made his Cubs debut Monday against the Reds and it was an interesting beginning.
He came in for the bottom of the seventh as the Cubs trailed the Reds 6-0. The inning was pretty easy for him, 1-2-3. He came back in the eight and got another out before giving up a home run to Jeimer Candelario.
His next pitch was a 96 mph fastball that hit Tyler Stephenson in the helmet. It was scary, but the helmet did what it was supposed to do and an angry Stephenson went to first base. The umps then got together and tossed Pearson, ending his first Cubs appearance.
My opinion is that the umps overreacted. Pearson had no reason to plunk anyone. The guy is making his debut with his new team and was trying to get off on a positive start. The game was over at that point with the Cubs down by seven. There wasn't any showboating by the Reds that would have made the Cubs mad. If the umps were concerned, they could have given the team a warning. Ejection seemed unnecessary.
2024 Cub #48's debut didn't last as long as hoped. But the 48 players fit into a nice 6x8 mosaic, so we have that.
