They're Not Dead

After two very depressing losses, the Cubs saved the weekend by pulling out a heart- stopper of a game on Sunday.

An eight out save? Chapman was channeling his inner-Bruce Sutter.

Game 6 and hopefully 7 back in Cleveland. Arrieta and Hendricks on normal rest. Schwarber returning to the line up. The Cubs face long but not impossible odds. I'm as hopeful as a long-suffering Cub fan can be.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 14,459 Cubs cards from 109 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1958 Topps #241 Dick Littlefield Though shown as a Cub, Littlefield spent the 1958 season with the Braves.  He pitched in just four games in May and saw his big league career come to an end.

1980s: 1988 Big #100 Jim Sundberg  The Cubs released Sundberg in July of 1998 after playing in just 24 games. The Rangers picked him up and he finished his career back where he had the most success.

1990s: 1990 Topps #86 Paul Kilgus  The Cubs traded the lefty in December, 1989 and he spent the 1990 season with the Blue Jays and the AAA team in Syracuse.

2000s: 2003 Leaf #139 Alex Gonzalez  The media continues to refer to game 6 of the 2003 NLCS as the Bartman game.  Don't blame Bartman.  The game should be called the Gonzalez game because his error on a double play ball is what really opened the flood gates.

2010s: 2014 Allen & GInter #247 Billy Williams Mini Black  I've got several variations of Billy's 2014 A&G card in the player collection, including this one.

2016 Update Cubs

My update set arrived yesterday. Since I had other more important things to do last night, I was just able to get them scanned and posted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the Cubs / Indians

Yesterday I showed five Cubs that also played for the Indians.  I didn't do much research on the topic.  Matt from Once  A Cub did the research.  He came up with a list via baseballreference that had all the players the suited up for both franchises.

The total?

205 different players.

Here are a few more, picked by me for no other reason than when I saw the name on the list it piqued my interest.

 

 

 

 

Below is the list of all 205 players...thank Matt for the link!

Ted Abernathy
Hank Aguirre
Milo Allison
Jairo Asencio
Ken Aspromonte
Paul Assenmacher
Earl Averill
Cliff Bartosh
Heinz Becker
Fred Beebe
Butch Benton
Jason Bere
Joe Berry
Mike Bielecki
Jim Bolger
Bobby Bonds
Joe Borowski
Bill Bradley
Milton Bradley
Charlie Brewster
Dan Briggs
John Briggs
Herman Bronkie
Jumbo Brown
Jeromy Burnitz
Ellis Burton
Marlon Byrd
Jose Cardenal
Joe Carter
Paul Carter
Rico Carty
Larry Casian
Virgil Cheeves
Dave Clark
Mark Clark
Sumpter Clarke
Ty Cline
Billy Clingman
Jackie Collum
Bunk Congalton
Jack Curtis
Tom Daly
Mark DeRosa
Miguel Dilone
Brian Dorsett
Jason Dubois
Shawon Dunston
Todd Dunwoody
Dennis Eckersley
Hank Edwards
Dick Ellsworth
Felix Fermin
Jesse Flores
Terry Francona
George Frazier
Owen Friend
Kosuke Fukudome
Oscar Gamble
Bob Garbark
Rob Gardner
Charlie Gassaway
Greek George
Justin Germano
Jody Gerut
Johnny Gill
Jim Gleeson
Raul Gonzalez
Wilbur Good
Tom Gorzelanny
Peaches Graham
Mark Grudzielanek
Ricky Gutierrez
Rip Hagerman
Jimmie Hall
Mel Hall
Steve Hamilton
Chris Haney
Jack Hardy
Zaza Harvey
Ron Hassey
Jim Hegan
Rollie Hemsley
Harvey Hendrick
Jose Hernandez
Glenallen Hill
Rich Hill
Todd Hollandsworth
Tyler Houston
Bob Howry
Trent Hubbard
Roy Hughes
Tommy Hunter
Damian Jackson
Randy Jackson
Cliff Johnson
Lou Johnson
Doug Jones
Sam Jones
Bob Kelly
Marty Keough
Jerry Kindall
Ralph Kiner
Jim King
Malachi Kittridge
Johnny Klippstein
Joe Klugmann
Elmer Koestner
Harvey Kuenn
Dave LaRoche
Matt Lawton
Brent Lillibridge
Kenny Lofton
Andrew Lorraine
Grover Lowdermilk
Ray Mack
Clarence Maddern
Scott Maine
Candy Maldonado
Morrie Martin
Sandy Martinez
Jack McCarthy
Cal McLish
Kent Mercker
George Metkovich
Dutch Meyer
Bob Miller
Earl Moore
Terry Mulholland
Bob Muncrief
Chris Nabholz
Jaime Navarro
Thomas Neal
Cal Neeman
Al Nipper
Dickie Noles
Hal O'Hagan
Dave Otto
Karl Pagel
Mike Paul
Ken Penner
Jon Perlman
Jesse Petty
Adolfo Phillips
Horacio Pina
Juan Pizarro
Zach Putnam
Dick Radatz
Domingo Ramos
Clay Rapada
Herman Reich
Paul Reuschel
Bob Rhoads
Dan Rohn
Dave Rosello
Luther Roy
Jack Russell
Germany Schaefer
Joe Schaffernoth
Don Schulze
Heathcliff Slocumb
Bob Smith
Charlie Smith
Joe Smith
Willie Smith
Lary Sorensen
Justin Speier
Jerry Spradlin
Jack Spring
Riggs Stephenson
Dave Stevens
Tim Stoddard
Rick Sutcliffe
Pat Tabler
Chuck Tanner
Julian Tavarez
Sammy Taylor
Andre Thornton
Dick Tidrow
Bobby Tiefenauer
Chick Tolson
Manny Trillo
Bob Usher
Mike Vail
Luis Valbuena
Vito Valentinetti
Johnny Vander Meer
Jose Veras
Tom Veryzer
Jose Vizcaino
Luis Vizcaino
Mike Walker
Roy Walker
Preston Ward
David Weathers
Mitch Webster
Pete Whisenant
Earl Whitehill
Milt Wilcox
Hoyt Wilhelm
Brian Williams
Art Wilson
Enrique Wilson
Kerry Wood
Tim Worrell
Elmer Yoter

Cubs As Indians

With the World Series connecting the two teams, I tried to come up with a few Cubs players that were Indians at one time.  I went off of my memory.  I didn't do a whole lot of research.  There are plenty of other players, but these are five I came up with for no particular reason.

 

  

  

     

All I've Got of Him: Phil Cavarretta

He played first base for the Cubs in the World Series.

He wore #44

He was very good.

He isn't Anthony Rizzo.

Long before Rizzo wore #44 at first, Phil Cavarretta did.  In fact, after he left the Cubs in the mid-Fifties, the number was unofficially retired until Burt Hooton wore it in 1971.

A local boy made good, the north side native spent 20 years with the Cubs (and another two with the Sox).  He was a three-time All Star and was the NL MVP in 1945.

His career ended long before I started collecting, but I've ended up with a decent number of his cards.  Several are from his playing days, most with Bowman, and a couple Topps.  I've also got reprints from a few oddball brands.  And there are a few from modern sets.  All together I've got sixteen Cavarretta cards.

Let the World Series Begin!!

And away we go!

Getting to the World Series has been pretty exciting. First pennant in 71 years...awesome.

But almost every player that was interviewed on Saturday night had the same mantra, four more wins. The players are not satisfied. They want more.

 Me too.

Oddsmakers have made the Cubs a heavy favorite. You can throw that out. The games are played on the field, not on a bookie's sheet.

Through my slightly biased eyes the Cubs have the better team. Though young, they have two years of playoff experience. They know what it felt like to be swept and didn't like that feeling at all. They know how to come back. They know how to beat the ace. They know how to deal with the media onslaught.

They know how to win.

They need four more wins.

Got get them!

Five Random Cubs Cards

This was scheduled to run yesterday, but it got bumped by something more important.

I've got 14,459 Cubs cards from 109 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1969 Jewel Ken Holtzman  A star from the 1969 team that didn't make it.

1980s: 1987 Donruss #447 Scott Sanderson  A star from the 1984 team that didn't make it.

1990s: 1990 Kaybee Toys #8 Andre Dawson  A star from the 1989 team that didn't make it.

2000s: 2007 Heritage #66 Matt Murton  A member of the 2007 team that didn't make it.  Sensing a theme yet?  The RNG really like players from team that... well, you know what they did (or didn't do).

2010s: 2013 Topps #299 Darwin Barney Silver Slate  Darwin never played on a good Cubs team.  The most wins any Cub team had during his time in Chicago was 75.  But he was a member of the 2016 Blue Jays, a team that didn't make it.