I've found several Cubs players whose names make you say, "I didn't know he played baseball." And then my answer is, "No, not him, the other one." Here's the first.
You knew he was an Academy Award winning actor, an American icon. Then you heard Jim Stewart played for the Cubs. No, not him, the other one.
The other Jim Stewart was signed by the Cubs in 1961 and by 1963 he made it to Wrigley Field as a September call up. In 1964, the Cubs had to fill an unexpected opening at second base due to the tragic death of incumbent Ken Hubbs, Stewart started 96 games there, hitting .253 with 3 homers and 33 RBIs.
The arrival of Glenn Beckert in 1965 meant that second base was no longer an option for Stewart and he started only 56 games, mostly in the outfield. His average dropped to .233 and he didn't hit any home runs. That's not the production you want out of your outfielders.
In 1966 and 1967 Stewart split time between the Cubs and AAA. His average was under .200 each season. The Cubs finally gave up on him in May, 1967, and sent him across town to the White Sox. Stewart went on to play for the Reds and Astros, before his career ended after the 1973 season.
Our look at #23 is now into 1958 and the next player is the first pitcher we've had. Since we're working backwards, that makes John Buzhardt the last pitcher to wear the number.
Buzhardt came to the 1958 Cubs as a 21-year-old September call up. He pitched in six games and was pretty successful. After four relief appearances, he got to start two games and won them both. He pitched a complete game against the Dodgers on September 20, holding them to only two runs. Six days later, he again started against the Dodgers and did just as well, limiting them to one run in 8 1/3 innings. His record for the year was 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA. That was good enough to get him a rookie card in the 1959 set.
Maybe the Curse of #23 only applies to position players. If that's the case, then Buzhardt made a big mistake the next season. He switched to #38. His record dropped to 4-5 while his ERA soared to 4.97. After the 1959 season he was traded to the Phillies.
Here is the last of the nine National Chicle Cubs.
Its a short printed card of Ernie Banks, the second Ernie in the set. I've said this before and I'll say it again. Why does Topps not put out cards of any other old time Cubs besides Banks and Sandberg (though with Chicle the two Sandberg cards have him shown as a Phillie)? Why no love for Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams, Ron Santo? I love Ernie Banks, but I'm also getting tired of Ernie Banks.
The artist for this card is Jason Davies. This is his only Cubs card, and it looks nice. He did a good job of capturing the happy-go-lucky, let's play two spirit of Mr. Cub.
The only complaint with the card that I have is uni-related. Davies got the Cubs logo wrong. During Ernie's era, the blue circle was very thin. The large circle didn't appear until 1979. You can see the narrow circle on this card 2006 Heritage.
But, otherwise, nice card, Jason.
Starlin Castro, at 20 years, 44 days old, was the youngest Cubs player to make his Major League debut since Oscar Gamble on Aug. 27, 1969, at the age of 19 years 250 days.
Here is my first attempt at making a 2010 Topps card. I'm still trying to figure out the font for the names. Has anyone else had any luck?
The big question, of course, is will Castro end up with a big super-fro like Oscar Gamble?
Topps didn't issue a card for Oscar Gamble when he was with the Cubs, so I had to make one. The name fonts on the '69's was a whole lot easier!
In addition, Castro is the youngest to make his debut with the Cubs as a shortstop, surpassing Marty Shay at 20 years 144 days on Sept. 16, 1916. Shay played in two games for the 1916 Cubs and then didn't make it back to the majors for another 8 years, a 19 game stint with the Braves.
I've got nothing to show you for Shay. When a guy has a 21 game career over 90 years ago, pictures are hard to come by!
Here is my monthly look at complete set prices, taken from the completed sales listings on Ebay on May 5. The prices do not include shipping costs.
If you are looking for a deal, the prices on the 1971 and 1974 sets really dropped. And if you wanted one of each of the 41 sets, it's going to cost you $5,328.73.
| Year | May 5, 2010 | April 1, 2010 | March 10, 2010 | 11 Mo. AVG |
| 1969 | $964.83 | $944.98 | $842.29 | $971.36 |
| 1970 | $945.00 | $794.26 | $1,008.33 | $813.17 |
| 1971 | $529.00 | $825.00 | $994.00 | $970.21 |
| 1972 | $729.95 | $806.25 | $1,058.40 | $864.53 |
| 1973 | $435.13 | $245.87 | $348.50 | $368.48 |
| 1974 | $163.37 | $255.28 | $218.87 | $211.36 |
| 1975 | $289.19 | $310.45 | $237.24 | $273.15 |
| 1976 | $147.70 | $180.89 | $122.28 | $165.46 |
| 1977 | $112.63 | $103.74 | $127.99 | $123.92 |
| 1978 | $96.50 | $92.30 | $77.00 | $88.53 |
| 1979 | $77.34 | $71.11 | $71.27 | $74.84 |
| 1980 | $72.45 | $59.27 | $58.02 | $58.52 |
| 1981 | $31.63 | $24.69 | $19.80 | $25.29 |
| 1982 | $34.55 | $34.87 | $38.00 | $35.94 |
| 1983 | $29.24 | $31.81 | $28.40 | $27.98 |
| 1984 | $17.88 | $21.20 | $14.10 | $16.93 |
| 1985 | $23.90 | $22.97 | $22.20 | $24.62 |
| 1986 | $11.26 | $10.20 | $12.68 | $11.35 |
| 1987 | $6.53 | $7.59 | $9.10 | $8.44 |
| 1988 | $8.75 | $5.87 | $11.27 | $9.21 |
| 1989 | $5.85 | $8.59 | $9.20 | $9.66 |
| 1990 | $6.85 | $9.15 | $12.50 | $9.52 |
| 1991 | $10.83 | $6.24 | $6.35 | $8.40 |
| 1992 | $7.47 | $9.90 | $16.40 | $9.92 |
| 1993 | $21.84 | $21.46 | $20.00 | $18.16 |
| 1994 | $34.79 | $14.72 | $19.16 | $20.79 |
| 1995 | $36.90 | $34.82 | $35.67 | $34.54 |
| 1996 | $17.50 | $12.50 | $15.95 | $15.88 |
| 1997 | $71.90 | $45.24 | $32.03 | $52.79 |
| 1998 | $47.09 | $12.23 | $47.02 | $42.68 |
| 1999 | $33.31 | $24.37 | $15.50 | $21.69 |
| 2000 | $21.48 | $13.10 | $15.59 | $17.99 |
| 2001 | $47.00 | $42.66 | $33.98 | $42.07 |
| 2002 | $48.21 | $29.75 | $33.21 | $30.35 |
| 2003 | $48.89 | $23.29 | $33.27 | $37.38 |
| 2004 | $22.99 | $24.16 | $29.03 | $22.60 |
| 2005 | $17.58 | $27.43 | $25.08 | $21.33 |
| 2006 | $26.09 | $14.16 | $22.00 | $17.88 |
| 2007 | $15.77 | $13.30 | $13.27 | $15.04 |
| 2008 | $22.00 | $16.06 | $15.39 | $22.08 |
| 2009 | $37.58 | $45.00 | $37.52 | $40.15 |
This is what happens when you get swept by the Pirates!
After seemingly righting the ship and winning seven of their last ten to reach the .500 mark, the Cubs got swept by the Pirates. And they looked bad, too; really bad.
Management apparently feels that something has to be done to shake things up, so phenom shortstop Starlin Castro has been called up from AA and will be in the lineup tonight in Cincinnati. Castro looked good in spring training and continued to impress in AA, where he was hitting .376.
Now we see what he can do against the big boys.
UPDATE: Well, a three run home run in your first major league at bat is not a bad start!!
UPDATE #2: Add a three run triple in the 5th. Half way to the cycle!!
Too bad the Cubs don't wear these road jerseys anymore. Then we could have had Castro playing for Cuba!
You would have thought that Topps would have used a picture of Art Schult with his eyes open!
Art Schult came to the Cubs in July of 1959, purchased from the Red Sox. He played in 42 games with the Cubs and hit a respectable .271. But Art made a fatal mistake. He switched uniform numbers.
He wore #43 during the 1959 season, but made the switch in 1960 to #23. It was a switch that would kill his career. He was with the Cubs through May, playing in 12 games. His average? It was a measly .133. Schult spent the rest of the season in AAA, and after the season, he was finished as a professional ballplayer.
The curse of #23 got another. Makes you wonder how Ryne Sandberg ever made it to Cooperstown!
