Merry Steve!

 I knew this guy played a few games for the Cubs, and I knew that I just had to get a card of his. He played only three games for the Cubs in late April of 1986, and he was just one for nine, a crummy .111 batting average. As far as I can tell, this card from the Cubs team issued set is the only card that features him as a major leaguer, though he did play with the Reds in 1983 and the White Sox in 1984.

He didn't have much of a big league career, but once a year his cards will be here on Wrigley Wax

 

Merry Steve Christmas to all!

The Christmas Story According to St. Luke

 If the networks can run A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph, and the Grinch every year, then  I think I can re-run this post every Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

From the Gospel according to St. Luke, the second chapter: 

In those days

Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire

world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So

also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of

because he belonged to the

and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the

to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. 

She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a

because there was no

for them in the inn. And there were

living out in the

nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at

An

of the

appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

May the simple, yet miraculous truth 

of the Christmas story 

touch your heart anew this year.

Peace,

Paul

Wrigley Wax

2000 Fleer Impact Cubs

 Generous reader Chad also sent me a complete Cubs team set from 2000 Fleer Impact.  Impact was a 200 card set that was supposed to be for the budget-conscious collector.  Each pack of ten cards was just 99¢.

The set, however, had no impact on the hobby as it was a one-and-done.

Six of the 200 cards feature Cubs.  The biggest names of the day, Grace, Sosa, and Wood were included.  Jon Lieber and Henry Rodriguez fill out the regular players.  Cole Liniak was the lone Cub in the 25-card prospect subset.  

 

 

 

2002 Maximum Cubs From Chad

 Here's another set sent to me by reader Chad, Fleer's 2002 Maximum.  Though the name is Maximum, it's release was minimum - just one year.

The set has a total of 270 cards, though 70 of them were short printed or numbered.  There were at total of ten Cubs cards, but I have just eight of the ten.  I'm missing the two numbered cards.  They belong to rookies and were numbered to 500.  

Mark Prior was one of the two.  I could get his card if I'm willing to shell out $39 bucks.  I'm not.  

The other rookie is Scott Chiasson.  Who you say??  I agree.  The guy had a ten game career with an ERA north of 11.  Yet he has a /500 card I have to chase and I couldn't find one listed anywhere.  I'm afraid I'm going to have two holes in my collection for a while.

 

 

 

There was also a 20-card short-printed subset called Impact.  Two Cubs were included and I do have those cards.

1994 Leaf Limited Cubs

 The next Cubs team set sent to my by generous reader Chad is 1994 Leaf Limited.  It was Leaf's entry into the super-premium market.  According to the Standard Catalog, the set was limited (hence the name) to 3,000 20-box cases.

Let's do some math... 3,000 20-box cases makes 60,000 boxes.  Each box has 20 cards, making a total of 1,2000,000 cards.  Divide the 1.2 million cards among 160 cards in the set and you get 7,500 of each card.  Most of these "Limited" cards can be picked up for 18¢ each at Sportlots.  That doesn't seem very limited to me!

The cards were printed on a heavy card stock and have shiny silver fronts.  The shiny silver didn't scan very well and looks black on the scans.

This set will most likely be my only Limited set for a while.  Later releases started getting gimmicky with short prints and the cards have over-inflated prices. I've got better things to chase.

There are seven Cubs in the set.  I'm guessing the release date was later in the summer because there is no card for Ryne Sandberg.  He retired in mid-June of 1994.

The scans also obliterated the names, so we have...

 

Shawon Dunston                                   Kevin Foster

 

Mark Grace                                      Derrick May

 

Sammy Sosa                          Steve Trachsel

Rick Wilkins
 

Five Random Cubs Cards

 I've got 18,731 Cubs cards from 264 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1979 Diamond Greats #111 Bill Nicholson This oddball set was made by a collector named Jack Wallin.  Nicholson was one of the few Cubs in the set that could almost be considered great.

1980s: 1988 Fleer #429 Rafael Palmiero This card comes from Palmiero's last season with the Cubs.  He hit .307, made the All-Star team, and was traded after the season.

1990s: 1992 Classic Collectors Edition #30 Greg Maddux  The camera must have been at an odd angle to catch the ball so high in the frame.

2000s: 2004 Finest #110 Mark Prior Jersey  This would have been a big-bucks card back in 2004, with Prior coming off of a great season, his first full season in the majors.  None are currently listed on eBay or show up in prior sales.  Its not on COMC or the Beckett Marketplace.  Maybe it sill has some value.

2010s: 2016 Topps Now World Series #13 Javier Baez  It's always nice to look back at these.

2002 Donruss Originals Cubs

Today's cards are one of several team sets sent to me by reader Chad.  Chad is one sharp cookie because every single one of the team sets he sent were not in my collection.  I've got over 250 sets and he sent me five that were new to me.  Kudos Chad!

Today's set is one reason why I am ok with MLB granting Topps an exclusive license for baseball.  The set is 2002 Donruss Classics.  

Topps released its first Heritage set in 2001.  That same year Upper Deck started their Vintage line.  Both sets drew on designs from past sets.  Topps used their own earlier sets while Upper Deck copied but slightly changed Topps designs.  This retro craze actually had its roots a year earlier with Fleer's 2000 set, which looked like Topps 1954.  

Donruss didn't want to be left out so in 2002 they created Originals.   It is a Heritage copycat as Donruss used their designs from 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1988.

Each of the four big cardmakers had their own retro-styled set.  Instead of trying to top the competition with unique sets, the big four were just playing copycat with one another.  Do we need all those retro sets?  I don't.  With the monopoly we don't get all those copycats.  I am just fine with that.

As I mentioned earlier, the Originals set used Donruss designs from their even year sets of the 1980.  At the time of release, the 1988 set was just 14 years old. 

In addition, Donruss felt it made sense to give some players cards with two or more of the different designs.  We have four Sammy Sosa cards, three for Kerry Wood and Corey Patterson, and two each for Moises Alou and Bobby Hill.  Only three Cubs in the set had solo cards, Francis Beltran, Juan Cruz, and Mark Prior.  Yes, Bobby Hill gets two cards but there is just one for Mark Prior.  

The brand lasted for just one year.  I read that Donruss had plans for a set in 2003, but it never came out.  

You can take a look at the 17 Cubs cards though they represent just eight players.