I’ve finished up getting all the Cubs from Donruss Studio, my 19th different brand of complete Cubs.Studio was another of the many that came out when I wasn’t doing much collecting. For most of the 90’s I received the Topps complete set for Christmas and ignored everything else.I wish I knew about Studio. I think I would have enjoyed it. In some ways, Studio was the first retro brand. Let me explain. For the first 20 years, all of the Topps cards featured posed photos. Cards showed game action shots for the first time in 1971. By the mid ‘80’s almost all the cards had action photos. While the action was nice, you had a tougher time recognizing the face of the player.Enter Studio in 1991. Some Donruss executive must have said, “We need something different. Let’s see……if all of today’s cards have action shots, we should go back to the posed cards.” But rather than using the cheesy poses of the Topps cards, they went with a studio-type photo shoot and poses. The card design was modern, but the photos have a retro feel to them.For the most part, Donruss accomplished what they set out to do. We got nice a look at the player's face. And many times, the Studio shot also gave us a glimpse into the personality of the player.Studio ran from 1991 – 2005, though there were no cards in 1999 and 2000. Sets typically had around 200 cards, some years more, some years less. That would mean 5-10 Cubs per set. There were a total of 105 Cubs cards that I had to gather.I can show you the entire Studio run with two players. The Mark Grace cards are from the first part of Studio’s production, 1991 – 1998. Kerry Wood takes us through the second half, 2001 – 2005.
1991 - Black and White
1992 First color pose
1993 - non-posed on front, posed shot on back
1994 - in front of the locker
1995 - credit card
1996 - big face
1997 - basic pose
1998 - pose over action
2001 - pose with logo, similar to 1993
2002 - tribute to 9/11
2003 - the marquee
2004 - pose with skyline
2005 - last set comes full circle, back to black and white like the first set
In future posts I’ll take a look at each of the Cubs cards from a particular year or two.
I really like the way this card looks. A good swing and a big smile.
But 1969 was a season with little for Adolfo Phillips to smile about. SInce coming to the Cubs from the Phillies in 1966 (in the same trade that brought Fergie Jenkins to the Cubs), great things were expected of Phillips. He was a speedy outfielder who could hit for power. He was going to make Cub fans forget about the Lou Brock trade.
He averaged 15 home runs and 18 stolen bases over three seasons. But his averaged dropped each year. He was also a very sensitive person, which isn't good when Leo Durocher is your manager.
The 1969 season did not start out well for Phillips. He broke his hand in spring training Leo was getting impatient with Adolfo's recovery and in May declared that Phillips was ready but doesn't want to play. By June, he had played in only 28 games and was hitting .228. The Cubs gave up on him and on June 11 he was traded to the Expos. In a three-way trade, the Cubs received utility infielder Paul Popovich from the Dodgers.
Adolfo Phillips was no Lou Brock. He played in 150 games with the Expos in '69-70. He was out of the majors in '71 and resurfaced with the Indians for 12 games in 1972 to wrap up his career.
Center field was a problem position for the 1969 Cubs. They really never had a consistent presence in center, as Phillips, and rookies Don Young and Jim Qualls manned the positiion, but never did much.
The good news...no hats are airbrushed!
The bad news...its hard to airbrush hats when five players aren't wearing one!
#365 - Jim Fregosi Another of several Angels pictured with a batting helmet. An original Angel, Fregosi had his last big season in 1969. He made the All Star team for the 6th time in 7 seasons. He hit 22 home runs and knocked in 82 runs.
#366 - Bo Belinski Bo pitched for the Astros in 1967 (you can see the top of the UST on his jersey) but spent all of 1968 in the minor leagues. He was trying to regain the form that saw him toss a no-hitter for the Angels in 1962. The Cardinals got him from the Astros in December, 1968 and then sold him to the Angels in April 1969. He never pitched for the Angels, and they sold him to the Pirates in July. He was 0-3 with a 4.58 ERA and then traded to the Reds after the season. Than means in 14 months he was with the Astros, Cardinals, Angels, Pirates, and Reds!
#367 - Lou Johnson This picture is a contender in the Ugliest Card of the Set competition. Lou came to the Indians from the Cubs in exchange for WIllie Smith during the 1968 season. He was sent to the Angels just before the season began and hit .203 in 67 games. That was his final year in the major leagues.
#368 - Vic Roznovsky His MLB debut was with the Cubs in 1964 and he spent parts of two seasons in Chicago. He is another player who spent all of 1968 in the minor leagues. He was traded by the Birds to the Phillies in April, 1969. He played in 13 games and then his career was done.
#369 - Bob Skinner He looks pretty old in this card, but he was only 36 when he took over as the Phillies skipper in 1968. They were 48-59 with him at the helm. In 1969 the team was going backwards and Skinner was fired after 105 games.
#370 - Juan Marichal This is a great looking card of the Hall of Famer. He looks so nice and mild mannered, not like a guy who would swing a bat at an opposing team's catcher. In 1969 he was an All Star for the eighth consecutive season. He led the league with a 2.10 ERA and was 21-11.
#371 - Sal Bando In 1968 he established himself as the A's third baseman, playing in all 162 games. He did the same thing in 1969, playing in every game and he made the AL All Star team for the first time.
#372 - Adolfo Philips This Cub gets his own post tomorrow
#373 - Fred Lasher Lasher is wearing a pinstriped uniform, which has to be from his time with the Twins, back in 1963. He was the Tigers top reliever in 1968. He made 32 relief appearances in 1969 and was 2-1.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)Hall of Famers - 23Hatless - 87Airbrush - 80Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 54
