1992 All Ivy Team vs. 1992 Old Style All Time Cubs

 Please indulge me with one more Vine Line post...

I showed this postcard a  week ago, the 1992 All Ivy Team.  It features 28 of the all-time great Cubs players.  This isn't the only all-time Cubs greats offering in 1992, though.  

The Cubs also had a set of 28 cards, sponsored by Old Style and given away at Wrigley Field on August 28, that features franchise greats.

That led me to see if the 28 players on the All Ivy Team were the same 28 in the Old Style set.

Nope. 

The picture above is a mash-up of the two.  Four players on the All Ivy team did not have a card in the Old Style set.  Three of the four exclusions were still active in 1992 (Andre Dawson, Lee Smith, and Ryne Sandberg) and that is my guess as to why they were not in the Old Style set.  The other left out of the set of cards is Bill Nicholson.

That also means that four players in the card set are not on the team picture.  Those four are Ken Hubbs, Randy Hundley, Bill Lee, and Rick Reuschel.  All four were decent but definitely not deserving of inclusion on the All Ivy team.

Why I Thought I Already Had the 2001 Vine Line Postcards

 Yesterday I showed the Vine Line postcard set from 2001 and mentioned never bought the set because I thought I already had it.

Below is the reason for my mistake.

The 2001 cards are on the left.  On the right is the Vine Line set from 2006, which I did have.  Side by side I think you can see the reason for my confusion.  The two sets are nearly identical.  When I saw listings for the 2001 set I just assumed I had it because the cards are so similar to the 2006 cards.

Both sets have cards that show...

twilight.... infield and grandstands.... ivy.... marquee.... scoreboard.... winter.... and silhouette.

There is a near-twin for seven of the eight cards.  That's not much originality shown by the 2006 promotions team.  They just took the old set and found pictures that matched the same theme.

2001 Vine Line Postcards Set

 I thought that I had all of the sets issued by the now-defunct Cubs newspaper, Vine Line.  But I was wrong as the 2001 set was missing.  This was discovered when I saw a listing for the cards.  When I was putting the cards into my binder I figured out why I had overlooked this set and I go into that tomorrow.  

For today, let's just take a look at the eight cards, which were given as a premium to those who bought a new one-year subscription to Vine Line.

The Cubs used a picture of the scoreboard from ten years earlier!  This is Sunday, May 26, 1991.  The score on the board ended up the final score, with the Cubs topping the Expos 8-6.

2023 Chrome Update Cubs

 Topps Chrome Update came out a couple of weeks ago.  The set is 2/3 the size of the regular update set, 220 cards compared to 330.  There were eleven Cubs in the Update set and Chrome Update has seven of the eleven.

 

 

 

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 21,316 Cubs cards from 316 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1971 Topps #203 Larry Gura The lefty made 20 appearances for the Cubs in 1970 which prompted Topps to including him in the 1971 set.  However, he spent most of the 1971 season in AAA and pitched just three innings for the Cubs in September.

1980s: 1982 O-Pee-Chee #89 Steve Henderson The 1982 cards are the first with to have the O-Pee-Chee logo on the front.

1990s: 1998 Fleer Traded #U43 Glenallen Hill The Cubs claimed Hill off of waivers from the Mariners on July 6.  It was his second tenure with the Cubs and it was off to a great start.  In 48 games he hit .351 with 8 HRs and 23 RBIs.

2000s: 2009 Topps Walmart Black #75 Rich Harden  This is a series one card.  The series one Walmart cards are plentiful and easy to find. I have two Walmart cards from series two on my most wanted list, and they have been impossible to find.

2010s: 2014 Topps #391 Blake Parker The Cubs were Parker's first of seven big-league teams over a career that spanned from 2012 - 2021.  In 2014 he spent a majority of the season in AAA, leading the PCL in saves with 25.  His time with the Cubs was much less successful, going 1-1 with an ERA of 5.14.

Eighties Alphabetically - 3D

 Here we go, looking at my 1980s Cubs cards from 94 different brands.

I guess numbers come before letters when alphabetizing, so we kick this off with Topps 3-D.  Sets were issued in both 1985 and 1986, but there were Cubs in just the 1985 set.

The cards aren't really cards.  They are formed plastic sheets, raised to give the card a 3-D effect.

It's not easy to see the 3-D effect on the front side, but looking at the backs,

it becomes pretty obvious.

The cards are larger that usual, 4.25" x 6", and are not easy to store because of the 3-D effect.  I'm glad that this idea didn't stick around for very long.

Archives Fan Favorite Autographs Disappointment

 I'm fairly blasé about the Archives sets.  We already have Heritage, so why do we need another set using old designs.

But there is one insert set in Archives that I've always loved, the Fan Favorite autographs.  In fact, it is the only autograph insert set that I collect all of the Cubs. 

Fan Favorites usually had a middle tier checklist.  They didn't have the big name Hall of Famers.  Instead, they included the middle guys, the guys that were good but not great.  For most of these players, the only place you'd see a certified autograph from them was in Fan Favorite.

What an eclectic collection of players!

2012 - Bill Buckner and Shawon Dunston

2013 - Jody Davis, Leon Durham, Rick Reuschel, and Lee Smith

2015 - Mark Grace and Mark Prior

2018 - Don Kessinger

2019 - Jody Davis, Pat Hughes, and Steve Stone

2021 - Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Carlos Zambrano

2022 - Corey Patterson and Manny Trillo

And now Topps has gone and ruined Fan Favorite for me.  The autographs in the 2023 set are divided into two parts.  Fan Favorites has a checklist of 62 cards and there are three Cubs included, but they are all active players (Miguel Amaya, Matt Mervis, and Justin Steele).  I don't want active players, I want retired guys, players that you wouldn't see anywhere else.

The second part does have retired guys, but it is called Fan Favorite Premium.  The cards are all /50 or less. Hold on to your wallet whenever you see the word "Premium."  The Cubs in the set are Greg Maddux and Ryne Sandberg.  No Maddux card has been listed yet on eBay and just one Sandberg was listed.  I won't be getting either of them.

Turkey Red for Turkey Day

  My traditional Thanksgiving Day post.... 

The original Turkey Red set came out in 1911. Topps released their own versions in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2020. There are 70 Cubs cards in those eight sets. Take a look at them and then go back to enjoying your own turkey! 

Eat up! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

2023 Topps Archives Cubs

 The 2023 version of Archives came out on November 8.  The set consists of 300 cards, with 100 cards divided among three designs, 1956, 1965, and 2003.  Included on the checklist are both active and retired players.

I picked up my 12 card Cubs team set from Card Barrel.  I haven't used that site much before, relying more on Sportlots.  Sportlots was a problem for this set, though, since I needed 12 cards and it was difficult to find one seller (and one shipping charge) that had all 12.  I think Card Barrel will be my go-to site when I need a larger number of cards.

These are the Cubs with the 1956 design.  The Suzuki card seems really out of place with the green/yellow colors instead of the red/blue on all the others.  

 

 

Four Cubs have the 1965 design.

 

The 2003 cards have just three Cubs.

1992 Vine Line Mailer

This is a real oddball. It is the front of a 1992 advertising card for the Cubs magazine Vine Line.  The cover has a picture commissioned by the team that features what they called the All Ivy Team, a line-up of 28 Cubs greats.

Front Row: IF-Frank Chance (1898-1912), IF-Johnny Evers (1902-1913), IF-Joe Tinker (1902-1912, 1916) 

Second Row: OF-Hack Wilson (1926-1931), IF-Billy Herman (1931-1941), C-Gabby Hartnett (1922-1940), IF-Charlie Grimm (1925-1936), IF-Stan Hack (1932-1947), IF-Ron Santo (1960-1973), OF-Bill Nicholson (1939-1948), IF-Ryne Sandberg (1982- ) 

Third Row: P-Mordecai Brown (1904-1912, 1916), P-Grover Cleveland Alexander (1918-1926), IF-Rogers Hornsby (1929-1932), OF-Andy Palko (1943-1951), IF-Ernie Banks (1953-1971), OF-B1IIy Williams (1959-1974), OF-Kiki Cuyler (1928-1935), OF-Riggs Stephenson (1926•1934), P-Hippo Vaugn (1913-1921) 

Fourth Row: IF OF-Phil Cavarretta (1934-1953), P-Charlie Root (1926-1941), Of-Andre Dawson (1987- ), P-Fergie Jenkins (1966-1973, 1982-1983), P-Lee Smith (1980-1987), OF Hank Sauer (1949-1955), P-Bruce Sutter (1976-1980),1F Cap Anson (1876-1897)

They did a great job of selecting the modern players.  There were three players in the picture that were still active in 1992 (Andre Dawson, Lee Smith, and Ryne Sandberg) and all three were eventual Hall of Famers.

If you mailed in the card and subscribed to Vine Line, in addition to the magazine you were given a 12 X 15 version of the picture.  There are several available on eBay.  I may have to pick one up some day.

This is the inside of the folder, with the subscription information and order form.

The back of the folder has the post office information for the postcard.  Notice that the Cubs were even picking up the price of the postage.

Buck O'Neil's Hall of Fame Postcard

 Thank you to P-Town Tom for point out my omission!

A few weeks ago I wrote about how I forgot to get the postcard for Fred McGriff when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame this past summer.

It turns out that he was not the only card I forgot.  Eagle-eyed P-Town Tom noticed that there was no card for Buck O'Neil.  It was another Duh moment for me!

O'Neil was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022.  He was noted for a life dedicated to baseball as a player, manager, scout, and coach.  He was with the Cubs organization as a scout and later coach during the late '50s and early 60's.  

When named to the Cubs coaching staff in 1962, he became the first black coach in MLB history.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 21,289 Cubs cards from 316 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1975 Pioneers of Baseball #17 Johnny Evers  Yes, I have this in my collection even though it shows Evers in a Braves uniform.  I'm assuming I used some team set listing when I bought the cards from the set that had him with the Cubs.

1980s: 1983 All-Star Game Program Larry Bowa These cards come from the game program, which was printed far in advance of the game.  Therefore, they made cards of all the nominated players, not the players on the actual teams.  Bowa was definitely not on the NL All-Star team in 1983.

1990s: 1990 K Mart #2 Ryne Sandberg This comes from the last of three sets that Topps produced for K Mart.

2000s: 2007 Sweet Spot Signatures #SD Shawon Dunston Dunston never had a certified autograph during his playing time, so this isn't a rule follower for me.  Instead, I picked it up because I wanted an autograph card for him and this one looked pretty nice.

2010s: 2012 Bowman #55 Geovany Soto Boy, that ball looks like it went straight up.