Curt Simmons: Gunny?

So what do you think? Twins separated at birth?



Curt SImmons, Topps 1967



Retired Marine and actor R. Lee Ermey



SIde by side



Throw some strikes, you mamby pamby!!

Topps 2010: I Think I'm Done

My Topps 2010 series one cards arrived in January. In early November my final cards for the update series came. After checking ebay for a week or so, I think I'm done. And over the past ten months, I've picked up 102 different Cubs cards and inserts. That is by far the most for one season that I have ever bought.

Here is how the numbers break down:

24 - Base Set: 24 cards including SP variations for Ernie Banks and Ryne Sandberg
12 - Cards Your Mom Threw Out
1 - History of the Game (First Game in Japan)
3 - Legendary Lineage
5 - Manufactured Bat Barrels
3 - Manufactured Commemorative Patches
12 - Manufactured Cap Logos
1 - Mickey Mouse All Star
1- Tales of the Game
2 - More Tales of the Game
4 - Peak Performance
6 - Peak / Peek Performance Autographs
14 - Peak Performance Relics
1 - All Star Relic
12 - Update Series including SP variations of Bruce Sutter and Andre Dawson
1 - Vintage Legends

A typical season has taken up four or five pages. This year, I have 11 pages worth of Cubs! This was the first, and probably last year that I will go after so many of the inserts. Next year I will go back to the base and update cards, plus just a few of the inserts.



These two would be may favorites of the lot. You very rarely saw action shots from Ernie Banks' day, especially from the early part of his career when he was playing shortstop. And with the second card we get to fast forward about 55 years to the Cubs shortstop of the future, in action.




Here are 96 of the 102 cards (I didn't show both the original back and regular back versions of the Cards Your Mom Threw Out, since they are identical on the front). They will come at you at at one second per card, wasting 96 seconds of your life!

Fergie Jenkins, Post Playing Career

Fergie Jenkins retired after being released by the Cubs during spring training in 1984, but that didn't end his association with the Cubs.


1995 team-issued coaches card


1996 team-issued coaches card

He returned to the Cubs in 1995 as their pitching coach and held the position for two seasons. The 1995 Cubs staff finished 8th in the NL while the '96 team was 11th. He was let go after 1996 and replaced by a teammate from the 1969 Cubs, Phil Regan.



In 1999 the Cubs selected their All-Century team and Fergie was among the pitchers.



Despite his Hall of Fame career, several players wore #31 after Fergie was traded in 1973. When Greg Maddux was issued the number in 1987, he was the sixth player to wear it after Fergie. When Maddux left for Atlanta in 1993, the Cubs again began issuing the number, and six more players wore it until Maddux returned in 2004. But no more, as the number was finally retired, honoring both the Hall of Famer and future Hall of Famer.

Fergie Jenkins: The Prodigal Returns

In 1981, Fergie had the fewest starts and fewest wins since his rookie season of 1966. It looked like his career may be finished. He was a 38 year old free agent, but teams weren't knocking down his door to sign him. Except one.



The Wrigley family sold the Cubs to the Tribune Corporation during the 1981 season and in the off-season, Dallas Green was named the GM. He immediately went to work to revamp the team. Green was looking for a veteran pitcher and turned to Jenkins, who signed a free agent contract. It's interesting that Green went after Jenkins, because he was doing his best to cut any connection the '69 team had with the Cubs. The teams slogan was "Building A New Tradition," and he wanted to forget about the past. Yet the only player from the '69 team that was still active was brought back to Chicago.





He wasn't the same Fergie that we remembered, but it was still nice to see the "real" #31. In 1982 he was 14-15 for a team that won only 73 games. He also recorded his 3000th strikeout that season. But the next year he was pretty much finished, with a 6-9 record and an ERA of 4.30. He did go to camp with the team in the spring of 1984, but was released before the start of the season. He was 16 games short of 300, and supposedly six teams called and were interested in signing him. Jenkins decided to retire instead, saying he only wanted to win #300 in a Cubs uniform.



Topps issued this card for Jenkins in 1984, his final as an active player.

Fifties Friday: 1957 Topps

I'm taking a break from Fergie-fest today and instead I've my my regularly scheduled Friday feature.

Year two of Topps' baseball card monopoly saw several changes. The biggest change is that the cards got smaller. They were reduced to the now standard size of 2½" by 3½". I've never heard a reason for the switch. My best guess is that it would allow them to print more cards on a sheet, and since they didn't have any competition to match card size with, they could cut back without any worries.

The other significant change was the use of actual photographs on the card instead of paintings. The Bowman '53s were the first to use full color photos, so Topps wasn't introducing an innovation. But this was a major departure from the design of the past three years.

One plus of the Topps monopoly is that there was no more competition for players, so the set size was increased, from 340 to 407. The number of Cubs increased too, with 25 cards including a team picture card.

Most of the Cubs cards were taken at the Polo Grounds in New York or Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. None of the cards show the home uniforms. 1957 was also the year the Cubs switched from a wishbone C on their hats to the now familiar rounded red C. A couple of the high number cards show the new hats. You'll also notice some white piping on the hats. That feature lasted only one season. In 1958 the hats took on the same look they have today.

There was also some airbrushing going on with these cards. I wrote about it back it January

Fergie Jenkins: The Years In Exile

1973 was not Fergie Jenkins' finest year. For the first time since 1966 he failed to win 20 games. And in August, he had a melt down that really soured Cubs fans. After the season, the Cubs of '69 were no more. Glenn Beckert was traded to the Padres, Randy Hundley to the Twins, Ron Santo went across town to the White Sox, and Fergie was heading to Texas.



Of the four trades, the Jenkins trade worked out the best for the Cubs. They got third baseman Bill Madlock and second baseman Vic Harris in exchange. Madlock was the key to the deal and proved his worth immediately. He spent three seasons with the Cubs and led the NL in batting twice.




Fergie's first season with the Rangers was his best as he won an AL best 25 games while losing only 12. He also had 29 complete games. At age 31, he proved that he still had it. Unfortunately, he didn't keep it. The next season he fell to 17-18 and his ERA was up over a run.



After the 1975 season, Fergie was packing his bags again, this time headed to Boston.





For the next two seasons, he became a .500 pitcher and an innings eater for the Red Sox. The BoSox brass was so unimpressed that they traded Fergie back to the Rangers in exchange for pitcher John Poloni (who???). A seven-time 20 game winner was traded for a player who ended up with a major league career of two whole games.



The return to Texas re-energized Fergie and he had one more good season, going 18-8 in 1978. The next year he was 16-14 and that was followed by a 12-12 record. But by 1981 he was 38 years old and injuries started taking a toll as he started only 16 games, going 5-8. After the season he was a free agent and the Rangers weren't interested in re-signing him.







It looked like this could be the end of the line for Fergie Jenkins.