My Hero

We all had one growing up, the one baseball player we really seemed to idolize. We would copy his swing or wind up. We would do anything to get one of his baseball cards. We would try to get his number on our Little League jersey.

Who was your hero?

Mine was Hall-of-Famer Billy Williams. #26. Left fielder of the Chicago Cubs for 14 years.

Ernie Banks was the bubbly Mr. Cub. Ron Santo was loud and out there. These players had huge followings. But it was sweet-swinging Billy Williams that I was drawn to.

He wasn't flashy. He just went out and played hard every day (including a streak of 1,117 games in a row, the National League record at the time) and smashed the ball. That's what I liked about Billy, he just played the game and let his bat do his talking. His quietness may have kept him from the spotlight as a player, but the sportswriter recognized his greatness by voting him into the Hall of Fame in 1987.

Among my favorite Billy Williams memories:

• making a great catch in the well at the wall to save Ken Holtzman's no-hitter in 1969
• Hit great seasons in 1970 and 1972, losing out to Johnny Bench for the MVP each time.
• while in the on deck circle, Billy would spit and then swing and hit it. I think every kid Cub fan during this era (me included) tried to do this, too.

Here are all the Topps Billy Williams cards in my collection, starting with his rookie card from 1961 through his final card (with him looking totally out of place in an A's uniform) from 1976








This is the scorecard from Billy Williams Day at Wrigley Field on June 29, 1969. This was the day he became the National League record holder for consecutive games played. He had a monster day. The card, from game two, shows he went 4 for 5 with 3 RBI's. And no, I wasn't at the game, I bought the card on ebay.

Donruss Diamond Dud

When Donruss and Fleer issued their first sets in 1981, that was the beginning of the end of my card collecting days. I bought the complete sets from all three in '81 and '82, but I was feeling forced to get them all or else it would seem like my collection was incomplete. That left a bad taste in my mouth. Plus, those first two years of Donruss and Fleer had some pretty crummy looking cards. In 1983 I decided to stick to Topps only. When even more companies arrived in the late '80's, I was done (for a while).

The only thing I liked about Donruss was the Diamond King subset. It was a new concept and the cards didn't look like anything Topps put out. The first set, in 1982, had nine future hall-of-famers, plus Pete Rose. It was a pretty impressive collection of player.

The nine 1982 Diamond King Hall of Fame Players



Well, it was almost an impressive collection.

Because the 1982 Diamond King for the Chicago Cubs was Ivan DeJesus.



Rose, Carter, Carew, Niekro, Ryan, Brett, Seaver, Winfield, Fisk, Smith, and DeJesus?

Yes, Ivan DeJesus. The holder of a .194 batting average in 1981 (along with 0 home runs and 13 RBI's) - Your Chicago Cubs 1982 Diamond King. That tells you just how lousy the Cubs were in 1981. The best Donruss could come up with was a .194 hitter!

However,,,,,DeJesus didn't even play for the Cubs in 1982. He was traded in January of '82 to the Phillies in exchange for shortstop Larry Bowa and a throw-in, unknown rookie named....

...Ryne Sandberg.



I guess DeJesus had a little value to the Cubs after all.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

The Deans never did it. Neither did the Niekros or the Forschs. The Perry boys and Maddux boys didn't either. In fact, in the history of the major leagues, only one pair of brothers has ever pitched a combined shutout . The brothers...

...Chicago Cubs Rick and Paul Reuschel. They tossed a combined shutout against the Dodgers on August 21, 1975. Rick started and went the first 6 1/3. Big brother Paul finished the last 2 2/3 as the Cubs topped LA 7-0.



This Big League Brothers card was one of a subset of 4 pairs of brothers in the 1977 set. On the other three cards, the first name of the brother is on the same side of the card that he was on. For some reason, the names are reversed on the Reuschel card, with Paul's name on Rick's side of the picture and vice versa.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee is how we referred to these two. Not the kindest of names, but, you know, there was a sort of resemblance.



Actually, I really did like Rick Reuschel. He had some decent years with the Cubs in the late 70's, winning 20 game in his best season, 1977. And despite his size, he was a very good athlete. I remember him pinch running a couple of times. He was the staff workhorse. He also pitched a shutout at the second Cubs game I ever attended, on July 30, 1972.

Topps 1973 - Rick Reuschel's first card



Topps 1974 - Rick Reuschel in action




Topps 1986 - His last card as a Cub, a much more veteran look



Paul Reuschel, the older brother, was not nearly as good as his little brother. He spent several years in the minors before making it with the Cubs in 1975 at the age of 28. He had three and a half unspectacular years with the Cubs before being traded to the Indians. After a year and a half with the Tribe, his career was finished.

Topps 1977 - Paul's first card; note the ugly dark glasses



But that August day in 1975 put Paul in the record book and that is impressive.

Fast forward to April, 2008. It is spring break and I decide that we are going to.....Pittsburgh! Where else would you go for spring break? The Cubs were in town and I like going to see them in other ballparks (I've seen them in Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, and Milwaukee, too), where there is usually a large contingent of Cubs fans. This was true at PNC, where the crowd(?) for both games we attended was about 9,000 each, with at least a third in blue.

The Pirates had brought back some former players to sign autographs before the game and one of the ex-Bucs was Rick Reuschel. When I heard that, I hopped right over the the signing area and got in line. With such a small crowd, the line was very short and I came away with two of his autographs. I also told him that in my mind, he was always a Cub. He just smiled and nodded.

The autographed picture with Rick looking very strange in a Pirates uniform



I had him sign my ticket stub, too.

Adding To My Collection, Finding a Mistake

Its been a lot of fun over the past several weeks as I have been getting packages with the new Cubs sets I have been working on. I've had lots of reading to do, looking over all the new cards.

Here are a few from Upper Deck Collectors Choice, 1997.

A nice close up of Mark Grace



Ryno signing some autographs - classy as always



Steve Trachsel letting go of a pitch.



But as I was reading the back of Trachsel's card, there was this "Did You Know" fact.



Unfortunately Stumpy doesn't know, because this fact is wrong.
Can you tell me what the mistake is?

Collecting Baseball Cards...for the kids

In my real life I am the principal of Trinity Lutheran School in Sturgis, Michigan. Our school is on the small side, with only 105 students in grades K-8, so in addition to my administrative role, I also spend about half the day in the classroom. This year I have the fourth grade.

In reading class, our theme for the week is "Creative Solutions." The read-aloud story was about Dummy Hoy, a major leaguer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who was deaf. Some credit him for the umpire hand signals for safe and out.

This card of Dummy Hoy is not in my collection. Lutheran school teachers aren't paid quite enough to purchase one of these.



I was pretty sure there were other deaf players and so after some digging around I found...

Topps 1997 #376 Curtis Pride.

Here is a closeup of his face, and if you look carefully you can see a hearing aid in his ear.

Curtis Pride, who is 95% deaf, played in a total of 421 games between 1993 and 2006. He is currently the head baseball coach at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. (a university for the deaf which recently renamed their baseball field William "Dummy" Hoy Baseball Field). I brought the card to class to show the kids a modern version of Dummy Hoy.

In social studies they are learning the 50 states. Each day they have a sheet with things to color like the state bird and the state flag. So of course, I had to bring in the Allen and Ginter 2008 state collection, complete with a picture of the state flag. In their free time the kids can take the binder and look through the 50 states.

Here are a few random States cards. There were no Cubs included in the set, so here are Griffey, Pennsylvania, and Buck, Wyoming





Who knew that baseball cards could be educational. I guess I owe it to my students to purchase as many baseball cards as I can -- to help further their education, of course. It's the least I can do for them!

The cards can be considered education supplies that I can take as a tax deduction. Again, though, it's not any thing for my own personal gain, I'm doing it.... for the kids!

North Side - South Side: Steve Stone

I plan to make this an occasional series that looks at the cards of players who saw action on both the North and South Side of Chicago.

Steve Stone had an unusual Chicago career in that he has flipped between the two franchises several times, as both a player and an announcer.

Stone started in Chicago in 1973, joining the White Sox from the Giants in a trade for Tom Bradley. He went 6-11 for the Sox, which meant he was ready to join the Cubs.

Topps 1974 Steve Stone



1974 Topps Traded - Stone wearing a Giants uniform and an airbrushed hat


Topps 1975 Cubs - an interesting angle



Topps 1976


He came to the north side in December of 1974 as part of one of the biggest trades between the two teams, the Ron Santo trade. Stone was one of four players the Cubs received for their All-Star third baseman. His best year with the Cubs was 1975, when he posted a 12-8 record. He hurt his arm in 1976 and made only 17 appearances. He was granted free agency in November of 1976, the Cubs letting him go because of his arm troubles.


On the South Side this was the era of Bill Veeck's rent-a-player (trade for a big name player who is a year away from free agency - and not have to give up too much, ie Richie Zisk and Oscar Gamble) and the signing of low risk free agents, players who had some injury risk and weren't getting many offers (ie Eric Soderholm, Ron Bloomberg). Steve Stone was another low risk signing.

Topps 1977 - bad airbrushing strikes again. The collars on the Sox uniforms gave the Topps artists real fits. It looks like this picture was taken the same time as the picture on the 1976 card, at Candlestick Park



Topps 1978 - dig the disco hair and chains





Stone had a nice comeback in 1977, going 15-12 for the Sox. He went 12-12 in 1978 and was again granted free agency. Proving himself healed of arm trouble, he had priced himself out of Bill Veeck's budget and he left Chicago as a player for good, signing with the Orioles.

His sell your soul to the devil season was 1980, when he went 25-7 with Baltimore, winning the AL Cy Young Award. His success was due in part to his heavier reliance on the curveball, which ruined his arm. He slumped to 4-7 in 1981 and was finished as a player.

In 1983 Stone returned to Chicago, joining Harry Caray in the WGN TV booth as the color man. He spent from 18 years in the booth and was extremely popular. Health issues forced off the air after the 2000 season. He returned in 2003 and 2004, but ran into some controversy with several players who thought he was too critical. The 2004 was a season of great expectations for the Cubs, coming off their near-miss of the pennant in 2003. Greg Maddux was added to the rotation and Nomar Garciaparra was added at mid-season. But the team underperfomed and Stone called them out on it. They players whinned to management and the this ticked Stone off. He resigned after the 2004 season.

After working three years with a sports talk radio station in Chicago, Stone headed over to the south side as a radio color man for the Sox. In 2009 he will move into the TV booth and join Ken Harrelson, provided there is enough room in the booth for both of their enormous egos to fit.

North side and south side as both a player and a media personality, Stone has spent the better part of 35 years in Chicago.

Sunday Cub Fact: Youngest Players in Team History

Since 1900, the youngest Cubs position player was Danny Murphy, who was just 17 years, nine months old when he made his debut on June 18, 1960. You can read more about Murphy here.

Topps 1961 Danny Murphy



The youngest pitcher in team history was Dick Ellsworth, who was 18 years, three months when he came up to the Cubs in 1958. He had an interesting career in Chicago, winning 22 games in 1963, one year after losing 20 games. He went on to lose 22 games in 1966 and was then traded to the Phillies.

Topps 1960 Dick Ellsworth - his rookie card.



The last teenager to play for the Cubs was Oscar Gamble, who got into 24 games in 1969 and was then traded in the off season. Gamble ended up having a pretty decent career, including a one-year return to Chicago as a part of the White Sox Southside Hitmen Team of 1977.

Topps never issued a card of Oscar Gamble as a Cub, so that gives me an excuse to show off this beauty, a combination of bad air brushing and a giant afro.



I did find this, from a 1971 Dell Stamp set. Although Gamble had been with the Phillies since 1970, this stamp shows him in a Cubs uniform, a picture probably taken in 1969.