2019 South Bend Cubs

 The previous South Bend Cubs sets I've shown were all eBay purchases.  The 2019 set was not.  I bought this one in person at the South Bend Cubs team store.  

Mrs. WW and I have a bike route we take that often brings us to South Bend.  We drive from home to Niles, Michigan and then ride our bikes on a path that goes to South Bend, a 13 mile ride.  Our motivation is a pizza place in South Bend, Barnaby's, that was once a chain in Chicago.  Barnaby's is the nearest place to us that has real Chicago pizza, the thin crust type with pieces cut into squares (the deep dish is for the tourists, most real Chicagoans prefer the thin).

That pizza is well worth the 13 mile bike ride!

Barnaby's is also less than a mile from the South Bend Cubs ballpark, so last summer we took a little detour after a pizza run and stopped at the team store and picked up the 2019 set.  The Cubs team store is interesting too.  It is located in a former synagogue that was located just outside the ballpark.  The team bought the building, renovated it, and made it part of the park.

The 2019 South Bend Cubs did must better in 2019 compared to the previous season, ending with a record of 76-61.  They made the post-season and swept their way through the playoffs winning all seven games and the league crown!

The team set shrunk from 38 cards to 32.  All of the players were numbered in alphabetical order, so they gave up on naming a top prospect for the top of the pack.

This checklist card was on top instead of a player.

One player with a card in the set made it to the big leagues in 2020. Braylen Marquez pitched 2/3 of an inning for the Cubs and gave up five runs.  His career ERA is 67.50.  I'm sure he's praying for another chance so he can bring that down.

We didn't get any mascots in 2019, the the rest of the cards belong to the players and coaches.