Sunday, July 11, 2010

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 7,404 Cubs cards from 33 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.



1950's / 1960's - Topps 1965 #354 Rookie Stars Topps goes 0-2 on this one. Ott was with the Cubs for a brief time in both 1962 and 1964. His average was .164. I'm not sure how that qualifies you as a rookie star. He spent the 1965 season in with Rochester, the Orioles AAA team. That was his last season in professional ball.....Warner pitched in 33 games for the Cubs between 1962 and 1965. He was 0-2 with a 5.10 ERA. Again, not exactly rookie star stats in my humble opinion. The most notable fact about Warner is that during his four season run with the Cubs he wore six different uniform numbers!



1970's - Topps 1975 #638 Jim Marshall, Cubs Team
I remember being shocked by this card when I first saw it in 1975. There were no floating heads! For the first time since 1970, the Cubs had an actual team photo on the card. That was about the only memorable thing about this team. They got off to a hot start and led the Eastern Division through early June, but then hit the skids big time. On June 5 they were in first place with a one game lead. On July 3rd they were 11 1/2 games out of first. Talk about a turnaround! They finished the season 75-87, in fifth place, 17 1/2 games out.



1980's - 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best #116 Ryne Sandberg
This card is a recent pickup. It from Donruss' Baseball's Best set. The design is similar to the regular set, but with a different color scheme. The photo is also different than what was used in the base set. This one gives us a good look at ol' #23. 1988 was a mediocre year for Ryno. He hit only .264 and had just 19 HR and 69 RBIs.



1990's - 1996 Team Issued #18 Jose Hernandez
He was the Cubs opening day third baseman, but ended the season as the team's starting shortstop.



2000's - 2003 Fleer #381 Bobby Hill
Bobby Hill was an integral part of the Cubs pennant drive in 2003. It wasn't what he did on the field, because he played in only six games. It was his "value" to the Pirates. Hill, along with Jose Hernandez and Matt Bruback, was traded to Pittsburgh on August 15. The Cubs got Kenny Lofton and Aramis Ramirez in return. Both of those guy played important roles as the Cubs won the division and the NLDS before choking in the NLCS to the Marlins.

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