Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 21,698 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: 1969 Topps #538 Charlie Smith He had just two pinch hit at bats for the Cubs in April, and was then released.

1980s: 1989 Topps #36 Mitch Webster Webster hit .257 in part time duty for the 1989 Cubs. He was the Opening Day left fielder, but eventually lost his spot to Dwight Smith.

1990s: 1991 Stadium Club #230 Ryne Sandberg It was great to see Ryno at Wrigley on Opening Day.  I was pleasantly surprised that he was there as he is battling prostrate cancer.

2000s: 2004 Future Games Gear #DK David Kelton  There's only one reason for this card... It makes Kelton a rule-follower for my relics collection.  He played in only eight games for the 2004 Cubs, but that was enough to qualify him as a rule follower

2010s: 2017 Topps MVP Winners #10 Kris Bryant Bryant got a standing ovation on Opening Day, but today he is just a shell of the MVP player shown on this card.

Eighties Alphabetically - Champions

 

Champions was a one and done set put out by Donruss in 1984.  It consists of 60 cards that measure 3½" x 5".  There are ten Hall of Famers on the checklist along with 49 current players and a checklist card.  

There weren't any Cubs among the HOFer but they did land two players on the active list.

 

Ironically, neither of these two would finish the 1984 season with the Cubs. Fergie was cut during spring training and Buckner was traded to the Red Sox in late May.

The Cubs 2024 Scorecard

 I picked up the Cubs scorecard while I was at the home opener.  The cards are becoming harder and harder to get.  It used  to be that there were booths right inside the gates that had them.  You always entered the park to the cry of the vendors yelling "Scorecards, get your scorecard here!"

Now, the only place I could find one was at the team store and they were behind the counter there, not even out on display.  I wonder how much longer the Cubs will continue to even sell them?  Will they disappear like the team schedule and media guide?

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the cover.  It is a totally different design from what has been used...

.... the previous three seasons.  I'm glad that they changed it up.

Of course I had to find out the date of the picture of the scoreboard, and that ended up being a bit disappointing.  The Cubs used a picture from 2017, seven years ago!  The picture was take at 6:57 PM on Tuesday, June 6, 2017.  The Cubs ended up crushing the Marlins 10-2, so that was a good thing.  But why use a picture on the 2024 scorecard from 2017?  Wasn't there one from a more recent game?

My scorecard (or program, which replaced the four-page scorecard from 1940-1947) collection now spans from 1932 to 2024.  I've got them all pictured below.  Also note that there isn't a scorecard from 2020 since fans weren't allowed to attend games that season.

2024 Cub #27 Ben Brown

 The Cubs had to make a roster change after just one day into the 2024 season.  Justin Steele tweaked his hamstring on Opening Day and was moved to the IL.  Replacing him was rookie Ben Brown.  

Wasting no time, Brown was brought into the second game of the season.  It was his MLB debut and it would be memorable, but not for a good reason.  The rookie was rocked by the Rangers, giving up six runs in 1⅔ innings.  He had a nice bounce back outing last night, giving up just one run over four innings.

Jordan Wicks Follows the Rules

 No surprise here.  When he threw his first pitch on Sunday, Jordan Wicks became a rule follower for my autograph collection. While that was a good thing, his performance was not.  He gave up five runs in four innings, though just two were earned.  Hopefully he turns things around in his next start.

There are 13 Cubs on the current roster with a certified autograph on a card in a year that they played for the Cubs and the card shows them as a Cub.  Half the roster is a pretty good percentage.  They're names are in bold in the list below.

The total number of rule-followers is 165.

Terry Adams	Mike Fontenot	Jon Lester	Manuel Rodriquez
Arismendy Alcantara	Kevin Foster	Cole Liniak	Chris Rusin
Albert Almora	Dexter Fowler	Greg Maddux	Addison Russell
Moises Alou	Jackson Frazier	Nick Madrigal	Jeff Samardzija
Adbert Alzolay	Kyuji Fujikawa	Dave Magadan	Rey Sanchez
Jake Arrieta	Kosuke Fukudome	Trey Mancini	Ryne Sandberg
Javier Assad	Sam Fuld	Dillon Maples	Kyle Schwarber
Javier Baez	Sean Gallagher	Carlos Marmol	Scott Servais
Darwin Barney	Nomar Garciaparra	Sean Marshall	Jorge Soler
Cody Bellinger	Matt Garza	Miles Mastrobuoni	Alfonso Soriano
Francis Beltran	Leo Gomez	Matt Mervis	Sammy Sosa
David Bote	Tom Gorzelanny	Alec Mills	Geovany Soto
Milton Bradley	Kevin Gregg	Scott Moore	Steve Smyth
Roosevelt Brown	Angel Guzman	Christopher Morel	Justin Steele
Kris Bryant	Jason Hammel	Matt Murton	Marcus Stroman
Scott Bullett	Todd Haney	Rod Myers	Seiya Suzuki
Freddie Bynum	Ian Happ	Thomas Neal	Dansby Swanson
Marlon Byrd	Brendan Harris	James Norwood	Matt Szczur
Jeimer Candelario	Kevin Hart	Roberto Novoa	Ryan Theriot
Victor Caratini	Kyle Hendricks	Will Ohman	Keegan Thompson
Andrew Cashner	Jason Heyward	Augie Ojeda	Ozzie Timmons
Larry Cassian	Jose Hernandez	Mike Olt	Steve Trachsel
Frank Castillo	Bobby Hill	Ryan O'Malley	Duane Underwood
Welington Castillo	Rich Hill	Kevin Orie	Jermaine Van Buren
Starlin Castro	Nico Hoerner	Angel Pagan	Nelson Velazquez
Ronny Cedeno	Micah Hoffpauir	Bob Patterson	Josh Vitters
Rocky Cherry	Brandon Hughes	Eric Patterson	Jared Young
Matt Clement	Cesar Izturis	Corey Patterson	Todd Walker
Steve Clevenger	Brett Jackson	David Patton	Todd Wellemeyer
Buck Coats	Reed Johnson	Joc Pederson	Randy Wells
Tyler Colvin	Jacque Jones	Carlos Pena	Turk Wendell
Willson Contreras	Matt Karchner	Billy Petrick	Hayden Wesneski
Pete Crow-Armstrong	David Kelton	Felix Pie	Jordan Wicks
Juan Cruz	Brooks Kieschnick	Lou Piniella	Jerome Williams
Yu Darvish	Caleb Kilian	Mark Prior	Patrick Wisdom
Wade Davis	Craig Kimbrel	Brooks Raley	Kerry Wood
Blake DeWitt	Bryan LaHair	Aramis Ramirez	Travis Wood
Rafael Dolis	Junior Lake	Alfonso Rivas	Michael Wuertz
Scott Downs	Tommy LaStella	Anthony Rizzo	Carlos Zambrano
Jason Dubuois	Derrek Lee	Henry Rodriguez	Rob Zastryzny
Carl Edwards	Jon Leiber	Henry R. Rodriguez	Ben Zobrist
Kyle Farnsworth			Julio Zuleta

Cubs Win!

 It was cold (43° at game time) and windy (12mph blowing into our face), but nothing like a win at the home opener to make you feel warm all over!

The Cubs shut out the Rockies 5-0 with starter Shota Imanaga pitching six stellar innings and the bullpen following his lead.  Imanaga was awesome, giving up just two singles, both with two outs in the sixth inning while striking out nine.  I sure hope that he can keep pitching like that, especially with Justin Steele out for a while.

The Cubs offense didn't get going until the bottom of the sixth, when they had three singles.  The third single, by Christopher Morel, ended up a bases clearing Little League home run thanks to two Colorado errors.  Two more runs that scored on a single by Cody Bellinger in the seventh put the game out of reach.

It started raining in the seventh inning and the fans in the box seats scrambled for cover. Out seats were well-protected by the upper deck, so we stayed dry.  The rain never affected the play of the game and it quit by the time the game ended and we needed to walk to the L.

I'm now on a three-game home opener win streak.  I hope I can go back again next year!

Guess Where I'll Be Today?

 And this is no April Fool's joke!  Mrs. WW and I will be at the Cubs home opener this afternoon.  My friend with season tickets again offered us a couple tickets which we gratefully and immediately accepted.

This will be the fourth time I've attended a home opener.  I also went in 1979, 1980, and last season.  The Cubs lost in 1979 but have won the other two I saw.  Hopefully the winning streak gets bumped up to three in a row.