Starting Lineup Talking Baseball Cubs

Today's post is a followup to Saturday's on the Starting Lineup Talking Baseball Game.  I mentioned that the game came with two All Star Teams, but you could also buy team sets of individual team.

The Cubs set had 20 cards.  There are two Hall of Famers in the group and one more with the numbers for Cooperstown but a little steroid issue, too.  Despite the talent of these three, the team was not good at all.  They finished 76-85, 18 1/2 games out, and in last place.  I wonder if they did any better in the Starting Lineup game?

As for the cards, they're not too good, either.  First, Kenner lacked an MLB license, so they're missing logos.  Second, the backs of the cards are...

....very plain looking.  Finally, the cards are an odd size, 3" xx 2 5/8".  The width is the killer because its 1/8" bigger than regular cards, meaning these won't fit in a regular sized sheet.  I ended up putting them in the oversized sheets that are made for the Topps and Bowman cards of the early '50s.

Of the 20 cards in the set, nineteen of the players were on the 1987 Cubs.  One was acquired in an off-season trade...

...Calvin Schiraldi.  The Cubs got him from the Red Sox in a deal that sent Lee Smith to Boston.  So why did Starting Lineup...

...keep Lee Smith with the Cubs? Why swap one player but not the other?  Maybe they knew what the rest of the Cub fans did: that trading Lee Smith was dumb.  I knew it, Starting Lineup knew it; too bad GM Jim Frey didn't.

Here are the other eighteen Cubs in the set:

 

 

 

And finally, because I couldn't stand looking at 20 logo-less cards...

....ahhh! Much better.