Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 20,695 Cubs cards from 304 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1976Towne Club Rick Monday The picture that MSA used of Rick Monday was not particularly flattering.  The logoless hat makes it even less appealing. 

1980s: 1982 Donruss #14 Ivan DeJesus DeJesus has two cards in the '82 Donurss set, this one and the Diamond King card.  But he didn't even play for the 1982 Cubs.  He was traded to the Phillies for Larry Bowa and an unknown rookie named Ryne Sandberg.

1990s: 1996 Signature Series Kevin Foster This is one of my rule-following autograph cards.  Foster has a pretty nice looking signature.

2000s: 2002 Heritage #248 Kerry Wood  The extra red circle around the Cubs logo on these cards is not necessary.  Why didn't they just use the blue circle for the border?

2010s: 2011 Topps #247 Ernie Banks SP Cognac I was all-in on the parallels in 2011.

Sixties Saturday - 1961 Post

 The Post set is the last of mine from 1961.  This is Post's first set and it was comprised of 200 cards.  All ten of the pictures on the Cubs cards look to be taken at Wrigley Field, so Post gets some bonus points.  

Not In School, so I Went To….

I started preschool in September, 1965.

I started high school in September, 1975.

I started college in September, 1979.

I started teaching in September, 1983.

This is the first September since 1964 that  I haven’t been in school.  It seems a little strange.

But I’m getting over it. Because look where the retired  principal got to be on a Thursday afternoon in September.

I’m in the Wrigley Field bleachers!  The tickets with a face value of $32 cost me just $9 on Stubhub since the Cubs are so lousy this year. 

We did our free parking trick... bring bikes, park on the street near Lincoln Park, ride bikes to Wrigley and take advantage of the Cubs free guarded bike lot.

After lunch at Yak-Zies on Clark Street we headed to the bleachers  We got in an hour before game time and it was pretty empty, especially in right field.  We headed down and sat in the front row.  A little of the outfield view is blocked by the top of the wall, but we'd stand up if there was any action along the wall, so it was great to be in the front.  A bonus was the shade provided by the wall.  It was a warm and sunny day and we had some much-needed shade on our legs, compliments of the wall.

The Cubs mascot Clark came to the outfield before the game and was hitting rubber balls into the bleachers.

Mrs. WW got one!

Here's a look at the Topps logo on the side wall in right field.

Sitting in the front row of the pretty empty bleachers meant we could find ourselves on TV!  This is a screen grab from the 6th inning when the Red's centerfielder lost a flyball in the sun.  Mrs. WW is on the left in the circled section, I'm on the right.

It was a great day...until the ninth inning when the Cubs bullpen turned a one run lead into a one run loss.  Cheap tickets, free parking, great seats, souvenir from Clark, sunshine, on TV... I think we still came out ahead despite the loss.

The Last of the 1996 Cubs Programs

  For over a year and a half I've been waiting for two of the four Cubs game programs from 1996 to be listed on eBay.  It was 18 months of nothing and then in the last two months both showed up.  I wrote about picking up one of them here.

And just a couple of weeks later the final missing program was listed, and then purchased.

I understand why this one my be hard to find.  It was sold only during the month of September.  The 1996 Cubs played just ten dates during that month and averaged around 28,000 fans per game.  Also, the other covers featured the team's three biggest stars while this one shows an unknown prospect.

The program cost me just five bucks and it came with a bonus, too.  There is an autograph on the cover from Moises Alou.  I just hope that he signed this before he used his callous treatment.

2022 Leaf Lumber Billy Williams

Topps hasn't done much with Billy Williams this year, so I picked up this card to get something for him from 2022.

It comes from Leaf Lumber and is 9/30.  Leaf's workaround the lack of a license is pretty clever, using the back of a jersey.  And they did get the number font correct, too. 

The card was a bargain too, costing me $5.26.  The bid was the highest the sniper program was set at.  Notice how I ended the amount with Billy's number.  I will do that quite often.  Sandberg bids end in .23, Banks with .14, Barney with .15.

Anyone else do odd things with their bid amounts?

The Cubs May Lose Their Record

 

All year long I've been tracking the number of players to appear on the field for the Cubs.  They sent an MLB record last year using 69 players. Thus far this year they've used 60 players.

However, their record of 69 players is being threatened by three other teams, each of which have used more players than the Cubs this year.

Angels - 62 players used

Reds - 62 players used

Pirates - 62 players used

With the 60 Cubs players, three teams in the NL Central have used 184 players.  It is not a very good division.

2022 Cubs #58-60

 Here's the next three 2022 Cubs and now we've hit the 60 mark.  Just nine more to tie last year's major league record! Go Cubs Go!