Today is one of the worst days of the year: the beginning of the off-season. Then again, the way the Cubs played this year, the off-season began months ago.
The team didn't play well and many familiar faces are gone. Lou, Lee, Lilly, The Riot, Fontenot, all gone. Zambrano had another meltdown, but rebounded nicely. Aramis Ramirez was never able to get his bat going.
There were some positives, though. Carlos Silva has a solid season. Starlin Castro gives us hope for the future at short. Carlos Marmol was great in his first full season as a closer.
But the team still has several holes to fill, including the manager. It should be a very interesting winter.
Since the team was in transition, there was a lot of player movement. That means that many players were not featured as Cubs on any card so far. By my count there were 44 players who made an appearance for the Cubs in 2010. That seems like a pretty big number. Of the 44, only 22, exactly half, had a card as a Cub.
Today, I'll show my favorite card of those who had a Cubs card, along with their final numbers for the season. Tomorrow and Wednesday, I'll show the custom cards I had to make for the 22 without a card.
Along with the season stats I came up with a one-sentence quip, my take on how the guy did this year.
Jeff Baker .272 4 HR 21 RBI
Baker was adequate as a utility infielder.
Marlon Byrd, .293 12 HR 66 RBI
Our lone All Star, who had a very nice season and allowed us to forget about the player he replaced in right field.
Andrew Casher 2-6 4.80
Shows nice promise as an eighth inning guy
Starlin Castro .300 3 HR 41 RBI
His average tailed at the end, but at only 20 years old, has a ton of upside.
Tyler Colvin .254 20 HR 56 RBI
A pleasant surprise in the outfield who will give the team some decent options for next year.
Ryan Dempster 15-11, 3.83
Another solid season for the player I consider to be the team leader.
Mike Fontenot .284 1 HR 20 RBI
He lost most of his playing time when Castro came up and ended up with the Giants/
Kosuke Fukudome .263 13 HR 44 RBI
His numbers make me want to say Sayonarra, Kosuke.
Koyie Hill .214 1 HR 17 RBI
A back up catcher with nothing at all at the plate.
Derrek Lee .261 15 HR 56 RBI
I'll miss D-Lee, but he was starting to show his age and not worth the big bucks it would take to resign.
Ted Lilly 3-8, 3.69
Ted never seemed to have much run support which made his record seem worse that the way he was pitching.
Carlos Marmol 2-3 2.55 ERA 38 saves
Marmol was nearly unhittable the last month of the season, and if he can cut down on his walks, he will be the top reliever in the National League.
Sean Marshall 7-5 2.65
Marshall was great as our late inning lefty and Wrigley Wax Jr got his autograph in Atlanta.
Aramis Ramirez .241 25 HR 83 RBI
I hope and pray that this season was a one-time blip and not they way things will be.
James Russell 1-1 4.96
I'm still not sold on this guy yet.
Jeff Samardzija 2-2 8.38
Unless he can learn to throw strikes, he will be a AAAA pitcher
Bobby Scales .308 0 HR 2 RBI
He got a courtesy September call-up.
Alfonso Soriano .258 24 HR 78 RBI
How much are we paying this guy and do the Mariners want him, too?
Geovany Soto .280, 17 HR 53 RBI
I hope he is fully recovered from his shoulder surgery by next spring.
Ryan Theriot .284 1HR 21 RBI
Castro was a huge upgrade at short over Theriot.
Randy Wells 8-14, 4.26
If we could start the game in the third inning, Wells could be the ace of the staff.
Carlos Zambrano 11-6 3.33
The new, mello Zambrano was great the last two months of the season.
Here is my monthly look at complete set prices, taken from the first five completed sales listings on Ebay on October 1. The prices do not include shipping costs.
A couple things:
- Only one 1969 set was sold, so that skews the average.
- A couple really high end 1971 sets were sold, which really jacked up the average.
- There wasn't much interest in sets from the 1990's. Only three sets were sold of the 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995 sets. The 1997 set has only one sale. No Nineties love this past week.
- The prices of the 2010 sets are mostly hand collated sets, and they seem to be available at half the price of a factory set. But the factory set gives you the Strasburg card, meaning you pay about $25 for it. Is it worth the extra cost?
| YEAR | Oct. 1 | Sept. 1 | August 1 | 12 Mo. Average |
| 1969 | $875.00 | $735.83 | $1,088.66 | $904.17 |
| 1970 | $863.38 | $852.25 | $757.25 | $795.84 |
| 1971 | $1,001.25 | $585.99 | $677.49 | $772.76 |
| 1972 | $777.60 | $850.47 | $870.72 | $844.74 |
| 1973 | $461.09 | $299.31 | $333.76 | $352.96 |
| 1974 | $192.24 | $187.30 | $146.60 | $203.84 |
| 1975 | $349.10 | $261.65 | $335.00 | $270.55 |
| 1976 | $115.57 | $119.66 | $154.90 | $151.68 |
| 1977 | $119.60 | $121.16 | $96.40 | $115.39 |
| 1978 | $91.87 | $80.72 | $63.96 | $86.13 |
| 1979 | $89.62 | $83.20 | $88.50 | $75.77 |
| 1980 | $64.85 | $49.07 | $54.27 | $58.79 |
| 1981 | $22.36 | $32.11 | $25.46 | $25.62 |
| 1982 | $27.36 | $36.94 | $40.10 | $35.23 |
| 1983 | $29.08 | $33.20 | $27.51 | $30.06 |
| 1984 | $24.51 | $20.00 | $23.62 | $18.89 |
| 1985 | $19.68 | $30.34 | $24.26 | $25.90 |
| 1986 | $9.14 | $13.29 | $12.02 | $11.68 |
| 1987 | $7.27 | $6.82 | $6.74 | $7.91 |
| 1988 | $8.35 | $8.78 | $9.60 | $9.11 |
| 1989 | $6.97 | $10.03 | $7.45 | $8.89 |
| 1990 | $12.17 | $16.29 | $11.03 | $9.98 |
| 1991 | $5.91 | $10.11 | $7.71 | $7.78 |
| 1992 | $8.61 | $15.08 | $9.43 | $9.25 |
| 1993 | $33.99 | $15.15 | $11.92 | $19.20 |
| 1994 | $22.83 | $17.60 | $19.96 | $20.07 |
| 1995 | $38.89 | $27.85 | $24.02 | $30.79 |
| 1996 | $16.90 | $14.62 | $23.39 | $16.85 |
| 1997 | $17.50 | $40.62 | $45.48 | $45.77 |
| 1998 | $40.00 | $37.00 | $24.21 | $41.91 |
| 1999 | $19.97 | $18.59 | $26.55 | $23.01 |
| 2000 | $19.98 | $17.84 | $19.04 | $19.42 |
| 2001 | $39.25 | $58.50 | $39.51 | $44.28 |
| 2002 | $34.80 | $23.96 | $37.79 | $32.60 |
| 2003 | $38.35 | $22.62 | $28.96 | $35.46 |
| 2004 | $21.17 | $27.09 | $25.65 | $23.95 |
| 2005 | $24.31 | $29.25 | $19.16 | $21.56 |
| 2006 | $18.86 | $21.56 | $21.20 | $19.45 |
| 2007 | $13.31 | $16.37 | $14.36 | $14.36 |
| 2008 | $26.36 | $31.36 | $30.29 | $21.52 |
| 2009 | $38.50 | $33.38 | $50.30 | $40.73 |
| 2010 | $27.62 | $30.00 | $25.59 | $31.30 |
Probably one of the hardest things for a company with a successful product to do is to follow up the initial success with another winner (Apple's next big release after the Apple II was the Lisa; did anyone buy the Lisa?) That's what Topps was facing in 1953. And their hands were going to be somewhat tied. Topps and Bowman were battling to sign players for their sets, and as exclusive contracts were signed, the number of players available for cards dropped. The 1953 set would feature 274 cards, down from 407 the previous year.
But Topps was able to put out a very nice looking set. The cards again featured a painted picture of the player. The back of the card included the first appearance of a baseball card trivia quiz, which Topps called "Dugout Quiz." This innovation would eventually lead to our friend, Stumpy.
The smaller set size meant fewer Cubs, only 13. That also meant that I could afford to get the cards, which I did! I wasn't going to break the bank going after mint condition cards. For me, part of the charm of cards from the Fifties is that they look like they are old. So if the corners are rounded, or there is a small crease, that's ok for me....and it saves me some dollars too.
Here are your 1953 Topps Chicago Cubs....
I got this one off of ebay at a price that was about the same as a card with no autograph. I have no idea if it's authentic, but how may Turk Lown forgers are out there??
