The Two Newest Cubs

The Cubs added two new players at the trade deadline and I've finally gotten around to make cards for them.

Alex Avila is the new Miguel Montero / David Ross, a veteran presence behind the plate and a mentor for Willson Contreras.  He is the fourth Cub this year with a last name that starts with the letter A.  I wonder what the record is for that?

 

 

He also looks like GI Joe with life-like hair.

Lefty reliever Justin Wilson also came over with Avila from the Tigers.

He's not been very impressive so far, having to yet record a 1-2-3 inning and giving up runs or blowing a save in each of his three Cub appearances.

With these two additions, 41 players have suited up thus far for the 2017 Cubs.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 15,061 Cubs cards from 122 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1974 Topps #338 Billy Williams All Star  A great card with two Hall of Famers.  Billy was an All Star for the sixth and final time in his career in 1973.

1980s: 1988 Score #413 Frank DiPino  This is from Score's very first set.  The borders were a variety of colors.  DiPino's card is one of just two green Cubs.

1990s: 1999 Chrome #56 Rod Beck  The Shooter was really bad for the '99 Cubs.  He went from 51 saves in 1998 to just 10 and his ERA skyrocketed to 5.93.  The Cubs traded him to the Red Sox at the end of August.

2000s: 2009 Goudey #74 Kosuke Fukudome 4 in 1  The 4 in 1 cards typically had some sort of theme to them. This one is apparently Asian players.

2010s: 2015 Allen and Ginter #337 Mike Olt  Talk about a guy that didn't deserve to be in a set!  Olt kept third base warm for a few days in 2015 until Bryant spent enough time in AAA for the Cubs to retain an extra year of team control.  Then it was bye bye Mike.

Thoughts on the Allen and Ginter Complete set

A few scattered thoughts now that I've gone through the set and put it into the binder...

• Every card is vertical.  Ginter should never have any horizontal cards and I'm glad there aren't any this year.
• I can't stand inconsistencies. There is something on the following card that is not on any of the others in the set.  Do you know what it is?

This is the only card in the entire set with a first name on the top.  Every other one has just a last name.  Does Topps think we don't know who Harriet Tubman is?  I'm pretty sure if it just had her last name we'd know.

Fixed!

• Another inconsistency...

If it is OK for Rawlings, Wilson, and Marucci to get a little free advertising,

why don't ESPN, SNY, and TBS get the same courtesy?

• If the set is going to include a card for Jenkins...

...it needs to be this Jenkins!

Recapping 2017 Allen & GInter

Winning the World Series means more cards that usual and that was definitely true with Allen and Ginter.  The total number of Cubs cards for me was 34 (which includes the Ernie Banks mini relic which I may not ever be able to add).  The previous high with my Ginter Cubs was 2016, a set that had 30 cards.

Here's a look at all 34.....

The 2017 Full Size Relic Cubs

Here the third Allen and Ginter 2017 Cubs post.  Today I've got the full sized relics.  Topps made two sets of these, creatively called A and B.  The Cubs have four cards in each set.

First, the A's

 

 

I appreciated that Brent sent me ones with the pinstripe showing.

Now, the B's

 

 

I didn't end up with as much visible pinstripe on these.  Also notice that Anthony Rizzo was included in both A and B.  He also has a mini, making three Rizzo relics.

What A Day! Cubs

Each year the Ginter set has all sorts of small oddball insert sets and one large set.  This year's big set is called "What A Day!" and it features a big day in the career of 100 different players.  Of those 100, seven are Cubs.

So what are we celebrating?

Jake Arrieta - April 21, 2016 - He throws his second no-hitter in eleven starts as the Cubs clobber the Reds 16-0.

Javier Baez - May 8, 2016.  Javy hits a walk off home run against the Nationals in the bottom of the 13th inning.  This was Mothers Day and he was using a pink bat, but the bat was cropped out of the picture.

Ernie Banks - May 12, 1970. Mr. Cub joins the 500 home run club with a blast off of the Brave's Pat Jarvis.  This is the only card among the Cubs that doesn't have a picture from the actual date mentioned.  Ernie's picture is from the 1969 season.

Kris Bryant - June 27, 2016.  Bryant becomes the first major leaguer to hit three home runs and two doubles in the same game.  Like Arrieta's no hitter, this too was against the Reds.  Bryant owned them last year.

Anthony Rizzo - April 7, 2016.  Rizzo had a single, triple, and home run against the Diamondacks and also knocked in six runs as the Cubs won 14-6.

Addison Russell - November 1, 2017.  Russell knocked in six runs in game 6 as the Cubs kept their title hopes alive.  The picture shows him rounding the bases after his third inning grand slam.

Kyle Schwarber - November 2, 2017.  This is a date that all Cub fans will remember forever.  Schwarber had three hits in game 7 including a lead off single in the 10th inning that ignited the game-winning rally.

2017 Allen & Ginter Cubs

My A&G shipment has arrived!

Today I've got the base set of Cubs.  Topps gave the Cubs fifteen slots.  Winning the World Series means they get treated (temporarily) like the Yankees or Red Sox.

I'll start with the retired guys, all Hall of Famers.

 

It's great to see Ernie Banks included again.  Too bad that Topps used a picture from his days as a Cubs coach (he's wearing a pullover jersey, first worn by the Cubs in 1972 while Ernie's last active year was 1971) instead of a shot of him as a player.

Below are the twelve active Cubs.  Albert Almora is in and Rob Zastryzny is out again.  Someone in New York wised up!