2016 Topps Series One Cubs

...back to my normal routine...

Here are the Cubs from 2016 Series One.  With a more stable roster this off-season, ten of the eleven players are still with the Cubs as they head to Mesa.  The big names are there....Rizzo, Bryant, Lester, Schwarber, Soler.  Hayward isn't included since Series One doesn't have time for off-season acquisitions.  Addison Russell is missing because they have to save something for Series Two.  The pitchers included are all starters. I guess the bullpen will get the call in the second series.

Last year Topps was all in with Javier Baez.  He had cards in just about every base and insert set.  This year he is non-existent.  His decent play in September wasn't enough to save him from banishment.  Hopefully he'll do better this year and show up in Series Two.

As for the design of the cards, I'm fine with it.  Being borderless will take a little getting used to, but its not a deal-breaker for me.  

I do find it interesting that the Cubs logo shifts from one side to the other depending on the player's picture.  As far as I can tell that is a first for the flagship brand.  All of the other designs from years past were static. The only difference would have been a vertical and horizontal alignment, which first happened in 1971.  Of the eleven Cubs cards, there is one horizontal, four verticals have the logo on the left and six with the logo on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

Boy Did Topps Blow It

I had some time to get into my 2016 Series One purchase.

Normally when I get a new series, I'll start by showing the Cubs team set.  Then I'll move on to the complete base set and then finish with the inserts.  This time, thought, I've got to start with the inserts.  Topps really did blow it and I couldn't wait a few days to get this up.

Actually, it is just one very disappointing insert set.  

Wrigley Field celebrates 100 years could have been an awesome set.  So many historic things have happened in the ballpark.  A 25 card set could really include some great baseball history.  But no.

• Instead, we celebrate 100 years during the ballpark's 102nd year
• We celebrate three players (Bryant, Russell, Schwarber) that haven't even played a full season in the ballpark.
• We celebrate two more (Rizzo, Arrieta) with just a few years of time with the Cubs
• We celebrate recent Cub hall of famers (Sandberg, Dawson, Jenkins, Maddux) but not Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, or Ron Santo.  How the heck can you celebrate Wrigley Field and exclude Mr. Cub?
• We celebrate a Williams...Ted Williams, not Billy. Really?
• We celebrate Babe Ruth's alleged called shot with a picture of the Babe at Comiskey Park
• We celebrate the first night game at Wrigley, not with a night shot of the ballpark, but with a daytime shot of Rafael (Steroids) Palmeiro.  

But forget all of that. Lets look at three cards that leave me extremely disappointed.  How the heck could Topps do this??

I already posted about the marquee card that shows the marquee painted red even though it was green when the picture was taken.  Now look at the back of the card...

...Topps knew that it wasn't red, wrote about it, and then ignored on the front what was written on the back.

Moving on to this card of Greg Maddux.  The front is fine. That is August 15, 2004, when the Cubs held a ceremony honoring him for his 300th win.   But the back, well, take a look.

The paragraph plays up the fact that he left the Cubs, had great years with the Braves, and returned to the Cubs which allowed the fans to see his 300th career win at Wrigley Field.  Seems nice.  But...

When Maddux picked up his 300th win on August 7, 2004 against the Giants, the game took place in SAN FRANCISCO!  

The knuckle-head that wrote the card must have assumed that the picture on the front of the card was from the day he won his 300th.Nice job of fact-checking, Topps!

But wait, there's an even bigger and more ridiculous error on this card...

...for the seventh inning stretch (which should have had a picture of Harry singing, not Maddux and Jenkins).  Harry Caray brought that with him from his White Sox days when he started with the Cubs in 1982.  But not according to Topps.  Take a look...

... wow.   "Cubs owner Bill Veeck"?????  Really?  What absolute stupidity!  How could someone with any knowledge of baseball write that?  Apparently any semblance of baseball knowledge is not required by Topps.  The real story is that Veeck, the WHITE SOX owner, planted the mic in Harry's booth at Comiskey Park some time in the mid-70's.  

And the last line on the card...the vocalist never exhorts the Wrigley Field fans to root, root, root for the home team.  It's root, root, root for the Cubbies!

Does Topps care at all about accuracy?  Doesn't anyone edit or proofread the cards?  Once again, I humbly offer my services to Topps as the official Cubs fact-checker.

Unopened Package

The Good News....

...my Series 1 order from Brentandbecca arrived.

The Bad News....

I haven't had any time to get into it.

My Tuesday included

• a tire with a slow leak due to a nail that needed to get repaired
• WW Jr.'s final home swim meet of the season
• a visit from my mother-in-law, who came to see the meet and spent the night
• no time for cards (I'm a good son-in-law!)

Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to do some scanning and writing.

One More for the Wall of Wax

I was finally able to get a 2016 pack for my Wall of Wax.  The only place in town that sells cards is Walmart, and they don't stock the single packs.  Its just blasters and blisters. WW Jr. wanted to spend some time at the mall in Kalamazoo, and I got drafted to pick them up.  As long as I was there I stopped at Target and picked up a few packs.

I got three from 2106 series one and one update pack from last year.

The update pack goes into my unopened stash.   As far as I can tell, its the first time a Cub player has been on the front of a flagship pack.

One of the 2016 packs is for the wall and the other two are for ripping.  I had to have something to tide me over while waiting for my brentandbecca order (which should be arrive later today if the USPS tracking is correct!)

The rip was a bust.  Twenty-four cards and not a single Cub....reminds me of my wax ripping days as a kid.  White Sox, sure....two.  Giants, Royals, Cardinals, Dodgers, A's, Blue Jays...two more of them.  But pulling a Cub??  Not a chance.

Here is the wall, with the 2016 pack added.  My pack collection coincides with my complete set collection. Both run from 1969 to the present.  That makes a total of 48 packs and sets.

This year is a milestone of sorts.  This year makes year number 23 for the foil packs.  That ties my number of wax packs (there are also two years of cellophane packs).  Wax is no longer the majority.

Rest assured though, that this will be still Wrigley Wax.  Wrigley Field Foil just doesn't roll off the tongue the same way.

An Updated List of All the Team-Issued Sets

I've gone and updated my list of all the Cubs baseball cards that were given away at Wrigley Field over the years.

• The list is a work in progress.  I thought I had it finished a couple years ago only to recently discover the 2000 set.
• The Cubs have made other sets (Vineline, Convention), but my list is just those given away at the ballpark
• A set was supposed to be given away in 1994, but the players strike wiped it out.
• In the early years, the sets were given to all who attended the game. The give away amount on my chart is the attendance for the game.
• For reasons I don't understand, some of the sets are not listed in the Standard Catalog. Missing are the 1996 Gatorade set (though the  '95 and '97 sets are included), 1999 Budweiser Top Ten Wrigley Field Moments, 2000 Fox Sports Net, and 2004 Topps reprints

Year	Game Date(s)	Card Sponsor	Give away amount
1982	August 20	Red Lobster	18,110
1983	September 2 & 3	Thorn Apple Valley	15,000
1984	August 8	7Up	37,392
1985	August 14	7 Up	30,055
1986	July 17	Gatorade	30,598
1987	July 29	David Berg	37,019
1988	August 24	David Berg	35,065
1989	August 10	Marathon	36,745
1990	August 17	Marathon	29,893
1991	August 14	Marathon	34,817
1992	July 10	Marathon	35,067
1992	August 28	Old Style Nostalgia	20,000
1993	July 28	Marathon	15,000
1993	August 17	Old Style Billy Williams	15,000
1993	September 24	Rolaids Relief Pitchers	15,000
1995	August 24	Gatorade	10,000
1996	August 18	Gatorade	10,000
1997	August 7	Gatorade	10,000
1999	May 15, June 26, August 3	Old Style All Century	20,000
1999	August 6	Budweiser Top Ten Wrigley Field Moments	20,000
2000	August 15	Fox Sports Net	10,000
2001	May 16, 19, June 23, 27, July 16, 25, Aug. 12, 21, 28, Sept. 29	Topps 50 Years	30,000
2002	April 21, May 6, 7, June 19, 24, 26, July 25, Aug. 16, Sept. 1, 2, 28	Topps	20,000
2003	April 12, May 3, 7, 28, Aug. 1, 3	Topps	20,000
2003	September 28	Ron Santo Jersey	39, 940
2004	May 19, June 16	Topps	20,000
2005	August 28	Ryne Sandberg Jersey	38,763
2009	May 3	Vineline Maddux Jenkins Jersey	40,457
2010	September 7	Ballpark Franks Billy Williams Statue	31,596
2013	Season Ticket Holders	Topps Archives
2013	May 3, July 5, August 2, 30	Topps Archives	10,000

Here's a look at one card from each of the 31 sets...

From the H(e)art

Bobby Valentine never played for the Cubs, so I can't use him.

The closest I can come is...

...Kevin Hart

Happy Valentines Day!

A Look at the Team-Issued 2000 Cubs

So as far as I can tell, this is the set the Cubs gave away at Wrigley Field on August 15, 2000.  The schedule says that 10,000 sets were to be handed out.  There were over 38,000 at Wrigley that day as the Cubs lost to the Cardinals 2-1.  All of the sets should have been distributed, so why is the set so tough to come by?

The 2000 set has (hopefully, since that's what I've got) a total of 29 cards.  The Cubs-issued sets always have included the manager and coaches, so I'll start with those.

 

  

 

The 2000 season was Don Baylor's first as Cubs manager.  All of the coaches except for Jeff Pentland and Billy Williams were new to the Cubs also.  In a 29 card set, it seems odd that seven of the cards were given to non-players.

The 2000 Cubs were 65-97, so players were coming and going.  That would be my guess for including just 22 players.  I'm thinking the promotion department just went with players they were pretty sure would still be on the roster on August 15 when the cards were given away.

Sammy and Grace were the big names on the team, though this was Grace's last season in Chicago.

 

 

  

 

The rest of the position players...not much here.

As far as the pitching, Kerry Wood was the big name, though he was in comeback mode, having missed the 1999 season following elbow surgery.  The rest of the staff?  Look over them and you'll see why 65-97 made sense.

 

 

 

 

And for you tile lovers, here are all 29 cards together.

Finally, a checklist.  The cards do not have a number on the back, so I'm using the number shown on the front, which is their uniform number:

46 Oscar Acosta
38 Rick Aguilera
2 Sandy Alomar
25 Don Baylor
37 Brant Brown
9 Damon Buford
44 Kyle Farnsworth
76 Daniel Garibay
8 Joe Girardi
3 Gene Glynn
17 Mark Grace
39 Willie Greene
12 Ricky Gutierrez
49 Felix Heredia
29 Jeff Huson
5 Rene Lachemann
32 Jon Lieber
11 Jose Nieves
4 Jeff Pentland
48 Ruben Quevedo
41 Steve Rain
16 Jeff Reed
21 Sammy Sosa
36 Kevin Tapani
47 Todd VanPoppel
26 Billy Williams
34 Kerry Wood
45 Tim Worrell
7 Eric Young