2021 Cubs Calendar

I wrote and scheduled this post a week ago.  It is already out of date since the Cubs traded Yu Darvish on Tuesday.

 Tonight we say good bye and good riddance to 2020.  It is a year I'd very much like to forget. I'll happily put the 2020 calendar away and get out the new one.

Hanging in the WW World Headquarters is my new 2021 Cubs calendar.  It is again put out by Turner Licensing and features a different Cubs player each month.  Turner has an early print deadline and often ends up featuring players no longer with the team.  During the rebuild there were at least half the players gone from the time by the start of the calendar year.  That changed when the team got good and there were a couple of years that had all twelve players still on the roster.

This year has just one no longer with the Cubs...

... though it is possible that he could return.

The other eleven are all still on the 40-man roster.  As you look through them, see if you can figure out the big name, on the roster, but not included in the calendar.

So where is Anthony Rizzo??  It is a very odd decision to leave him out.

I'm 12!

The blog turns 12 today.  My first post went live on December 30, 2008, and you can read it here.  My main motivation for starting was that I couldn't find any Cubs-specific card blogs.  

I dove in head first and had 401 posts that first year.  I've leveled off to one a day, though I've taken some time off in the summer the past two years.  My post total is 4219, which averages out to 368 per year.  

Thanks for reading, whether you were with me from the start or joined in sometime along the past twelve years.

Below are some of the 46 different players that have worn #12 for the Cubs.

The Last 1979 Wiffle Disc!

 In the spring I was on an MSA disc binge and picked up lots of the easy one.  The remaining have not been easy at all.  Some I've never seen.  Others pop up every so often.

At the start I had just one of the five 1979 Wiffle discs.  I've been slowly chipping away and was down to needing just one more, Dave Kingman.

Now I'm done!  This one came on a box that was printed with several others.  I like getting the boxes because I get to do the cutting of the disc.  I try to leave a border around the dotted lines. This one turned out looking pretty good.  The picture on the disc is pretty rare, too --- Kingman is smiling instead of brooding.

Below is the complete Cubs set!

2000 and 2001 Fleer Focus Cubs

 Today's cards are the last of the goodies from reader Chad.  He sent over the first two team sets from Fleer Focus, 2000 and 2001.

Focus' debut set has 225 veterans and 25 serial-numbered prospect cards.  There are seven Cubs in the vets set and no prospects.  Chad sent me all seven.

 

 

 

 The Cubs picked up Young and Valdes from the Dodgers in December.  Fleer shows them as Cubs, but didn't do any Photoshopping.  

The 2001 set has 200 veterans and 50 serial-numbered prospect cards.  Chad sent me the vets and I used Sportlots for the prospects.  

 

 

 

The 2002 and 2003 sets were pretty easy to find at Sportlots and I've placed an order.  I'll post those sets once they arrive.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 18,776 Cubs cards from 271 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1977 Chilly Willee Bobby Murcer  Chilly Willee was one of several brands that partnered with MSA to make these discs in 1977.

1980s: 1986 Unocal Keith Moreland The RNG snagged on of those nice Unocal letter-sized cards that I picked up a few months ago.

1990s: 1995 Bazooka #65 Rick Wilkins  Wilkins looks like he's about to get plowed over.  I know that this is against the Mets at Shea.  I wish I could see a number for the guy who's sliding so I could try to figure out the date of the game.

2000s: 2001 Fleer Ultra #94 Eric Young  Looks like Young is sliding in well ahead of the ball.

2010s: 2013 Team Issued #27 Steve Stone Season Ticket Holders  The cards were printed on game tickets and game #27 saw the Cubs play the Sox.  Stone was chosen for the card since he played on both sides of town.  The Cubs won that day 8-3 with the big hit being a grand slam by starting pitcher Travis Wood.  We don't need to stinkin' DH!

Oddballs From Chad

 In addition to several team sets, Chad sent me a bunch of interesting oddballs...

Some Sammy stuff from Pacific, Nestle, Bazooka, and Post

This Ryno card is from 1987 Donruss All-Star pop-ups

Hack Wilson was included in 1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes.

This is the oldest and oddest.  It comes from 1978 Reading Remembers, a set which celebrates the sports stars from the Reading, PA area.  The picture was most likely taken during spring training when the Cubs trained on Catalina Island.  Is he pictured with Gene Autry?