2018 Topps Finest Cubs

Finest is another set with Cubs shrinkage.  Of the 125 cards in the set, just three are Cubs.

 

Cub #38, A Rule Follower!

The shuttle between Iowa and the Cubs has been very busy lately.  Pitcher Dillon Maples was called up on Wednesday, pitched two good innings, and then was set back to Des Moines.

I didn't need to make a card of Maples because he was included in Series Two.

But wait, there's more!

My recent gamble paid off as this card is now officially a rule-follower.  Maples has a certified autograph showing him as a Cub in a year he played for the Cubs.

Maples is not only the 38th Cub this year, but he is also the 133rd Cub rule follower.

Cub #37

On Monday pitcher Duane Underwood Jr. made his MLB debut and in the process became the 37th Cub for 2018.

He did a decent job, going four innings and allowing one run.  I was hoping that he'd get a chance to make another start, but he was sent back to Iowa.  I wouldn't have minded seeing him take the mound instead of Tyler ChatWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWood.  The W's stand for walks, which he gives out like he's Santa giving out presents.

RIP Yosh

Longtime Cub clubhouse attendant Yosh Kawano died on Monday at the age of 97.  Yosh was with the Cubs for 65 years, starting in 1943 as the visiting team clubhouse manager.  He moved to the Cubs clubhouse in 1953 and remained there until being moved back to hte visitors side in 1999.  He finally retired in 2008. 

He was such a beloved figure that when the Wrigley family sold the team in 1981, it was written into the sales contract that Yosh would be guaranteed a job.

To my knowledge Topps has never issued a card for any clubhouse employee.  If they did, there would certainly be one for Yosh.

Yosh did appear on several of the Cubs team cards.  In several he is easy to spot because he was almost always wearing his trademark white fishing hat.  Incidentally, one of his hats was sent to Cooperstown.

Cards That Match My Feelings After a Four Game Sweep By the Reds

Here are a few cards that match my feelings after a four game sweep by the Reds this weekend.

 

 

 

 

Series Two Home Run Challenge Cubs

The Series Two Checklist showed three Cubs in the Home Run Challenge insert.  They are the same three that were in Series One, Bryant, Contreras, and Rizzo.  I dutifully chased the three and got them

 

 

Now that I have them, I feel duped.

The Series Two cards are identical to the ones in Series One.  Same picture, same card number, same Topps code -#CMP028552.   I don't think that there is any way to tell the difference between the two series.  

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have bothered picking up these three.

FIve Random Cubs Cards

I've got 15,828 Cubs cards from 133 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1973 OPC #200 Billy Williams  This comes from my Billy Williams player collection.  I keeping going back and forth on completing an OPC run.  The price and the fact that the cards look the same as the Topps cards have kept me from bothering with it up to now.

1980s: 1981 Topps #609 Lynn McGlothen The 1981 season would be McGlothen's last full year in the major leagues.  He was 1-4 for the Cubs in 20 games and was sent south to the White Sox in August.

1990s: 1995 Topps Cyberstats #122 Shawon Dunston  Topps entered the computer age with the Cyberstats insert.  Since 1994 was cut short by the strike, Topps computer-simulated the rest of the season for a full year's worth of statistics.

2000s: 2008 Bowman Chrome Prosects #197 Darwin Barney  From my Darwin Barney collection, his first big league card.

2010s: 2012 Allen & Ginter Relic #CMR Carlos Marmol  Remember when the GIner relics were framed minis?  Those were really nice looking.  I'd love to see them return.

Utility Guys of the 70s

Joe Maddon is really lucky.  He has five infielders to play the four positions, and all could be starters.  Bryant, Russell, Baez, Zobrist, and Rizzo are all quality players.  When one has the day off, the odd man out can come in at any time and the lineup doesn't suffer.

That wasn't the case for the Cubs, or really just about any team, in the 1970s.  Teams had the starters and then there was a big drop off.

For the Cubs, you had Santo, Kessinger, Beckert, and Banks, and then

Paul Popovich.  Popovich was great at what he did, fill in when and where needed, and do a serviceable job.  Serviceable, but not anything to get excited over.

Popovich was traded before the 1974 season and he was followed by two other Popovich wanna-bes.

 

Dave Rosello and Mick Kelleher.  As with Popovich, these two were serviceable with the glove, but not so much with the bat.  Popovich was a career .233 hitter, Rosello .236, and Kelleher .213.

Popovich and Kelleher had eleven year careers, while Rosello was around for nine.  In today's game, I doubt they would have lasted half as long, if that.

Insert of Redundancy Insert

Series Two has an insert called "Future Stars" which should feature players that are on the way to becoming great players.

Series Two has another set called "Legends in the Making."  It should feature players that are on the way to becoming great players.

Four Cubs were in the Future Stars set.

Three Cubs that were in the Future Stars set are also in Legends in the Making.

The cards are nice enough looking, but why have two insert sets that deal with the same topic?

The cards are nice enough looking, but why have two insert sets that deal with the same topic?

Deleted Searches Have Come Back to Life

I'm sure that many of us card collectors use Ebay on a regular basis.  it's like having a card shop on your desktop. 

Ebay's saved searches feature is very handy.  I look forward each morning to an email telling me that something I've been looking for has been listed.

Lately, though, I've been getting some odd emails.

All of these are for 1952 high number Topps Cubs.  I was was chasing them back in 2015.  After my hunt was complete, I deleted the saved searches.  I didn't need to know that a 1952 Toby Altwell card was listed.

Yet for some reason, about two weeks ago I started getting these emails from Ebay, three years after the saved searches were deleted.

Has anyone one else had the same thing happen?

Within the email is a place to go to stop getting them.  When I click on that...

.... this is what I get, an  error message.  So something at Ebay is messed up. I hope they fix it quickly.