Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 8,917 Cubs cards from 52 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.



1950s / 1960s: Topps 1968 #235 Ron Santo For some reason I really like the look of the fake fielding pose on this card. In 1968 Santo made the All Star team for the fifth time and also won his fifth consecutive Gold Glove. He set a major league record by leading league third basemen in assists for the seventh consecutive season. Playing in all of the Cubs 162 games, he smashed 26 HRs and tied with Billy Williams for second in the NL in RBIs with 98.



1970s: Topps 1978 #17 Mike Krukow The 1978 set has a special place in my collection because it is the first complete set I bought. So I was familiar with all of the Cubs cards, including this spring training shot of Krukow. He started the season poorly and in May was sent to AAA. This had to be a letdown for a guy who spent all of the previous season with the Cubs. He seemed to turn things around because when he returned to the Cubs in late June he was placed into the rotation and went 9-3 the rest of the way.



1980s: Topps 1988 #593 Bob Tewksbury The Cubs acquired Tewksbury from the Yankees in a 1987 trade for Steve Trout. The righty was 0-4 with a 6.50 ERA with the Cubs. Some trade, huh? He started the season in AAA but was recalled in mid-May. He made only one appearance, giving up five runs in 3.1 innings. A few days later he was placed on the DL. When activated, he was sent back to AAA and spent the rest of the season in Iowa. He became a free agent after the season and was signed by the Cardinals, ending up with some success in St. Louis.



1990s: Stadium Club 1994 #359 Mike Morgan This is the third time the random number generator has picked a Mike Morgan card. The five seasons Morgan spent with the Cubs were the most of any of his stints with the 12 different teams he played for. The high point of his season was Opening Day, which he started. But he was bombed for six runs in four innings. Injured for much of the season, with three different stints on the DL, Morgan made only 14 more starts for the 1994 Cubs. And it wasn't pretty. He was 2-10 with an ERA 6.69 ERA.



2000s: Heritage 2010 #27 Mike Fontenot The 2010 season was Fontenot's last with the Cubs. The team's brass grew weary of the two LSU boys, and both Fontenot and Theriot were moved out of Chicago. Fontenot went to the Giants and even played in a World Series game.

Series 2 Gold

These all came from one seller, who offered the entire team set. Shipping was free and in the end, I saved a few bucks going this route. He has offered to do the same with the update set, with both the gold and platinum diamond anniversary cards. I think I'll take him up on the offer.

He did have some collation issues. After opening up six jumbo cases, he was still missing one of the twelve Cubs. But to make things right, he bought the card elsewhere and will ship it on to me. I don't have it yet, so I borrowed a picture from Ebay for the missing card. See if you can tell from the pictures which card it is.

Remember, these are numbered to 2011.

Series 2 Leather and Patches

Of all the different inserts from Topps 2011, these are my least favorite. I just don't like these contrived, made up fake cards.

It was a bit easier to get these in series 1, since there was only one patch and one glove. This time, I had three gloves to chase. The only redeeming thing is that they were three of my favorite Cubs, all Hall of Famers.







The patch...Matt Garza.



Not one of my favorites and not a Hall of Famer. And I still don't understand the concept behind these. What connection does Matt Garza have to the 1968 Cubs. And for that matter, why the 1968 Cubs? What is noteworthy about a 84-78 team that finished in third place?

Tomorrow...Gold!

Shiny, Sparkly Series 2

I liked these when they first came out in Series 1 and I still like them in Series 2. I rarely if ever collect parallels, but these seem to go beyond the usual different-colored border parallels. I just hope that Topps doesn't try to do something like this again next year, just because of the success this year.

It wasn't too difficult to get the 12 Cubs from Series 2. One seller had nine of them, so that saved a bundle on shipping. It took two more sellers to get the final three and in less than a week from when I bought them, I had them in hand, scanned, and logged into the master spreadsheet.

A technical note: these are larger JPEG files that the regular cards. In fact they are almost double the size. I would guess that's because the sparklies make the files a bit more intense. My regular scans are around 50KB each; these were 90-100 KB.

Enjoy!














Tomorrow: leather and patches

A Special Topps 2011 1/1

Today I've got a special 1/1 card, and its not even a Cub! Worse, its a Tiger. Here in SW Michigan, it's pretty lonely being a Cubs fan. Pretty much everyone else is a Tigers fan, so I get sick of hearing about the them.

But in an ironic twist, WW Jr.'s little league team is the Tigers. So for a couple hours, twice a week, I cheer for the Tigers. Last week the team pictures arrived and I went to work making his 2011 card. You'll notice that the photographer got a little creative with the pose.



Last year the Tigers swept through the season undefeated. But this year, with their top four players moving up to the next level, its been more of a struggle. They lost three of their first four, but then started figuring things out and won seven of their next eight. They split their final two, ending the regular season at 9-5. The playoffs begin on Monday.

For you history buffs, here are WW Jr's cards from 2009 and 2010





Go Tigers!!

Topps 100...One Year Later

I'm taking a break from Series Two to take a stroll down memory lane. Exactly one year ago I featured the five Cubs from the Bowman 2010 Topps 100. Let's see what they are up to today....

I'll lead off with the two that are still in the minor leagues. They're both at AA Tennessee.




Josh Vitters, Topps #13, is currently hitting .291 with 7 HR and 33 RBIs. His 2010 season was cut short by a broken finger; I wonder if that will have any long term effect on his power. Vitters is also in the 2011 Topps 100, but fell to #66.



Brett Jackson, Topps #62, he is batting .273 with 7 HRs. Like Vitters, Jackson is also in the 2011 Topps 100 but dropped to #92.


Up next are the three that are on the Cubs roster:



Starlin Castro, Topps #10, I don't have to say much here...you already know what Castro is doing.



D.J. LeMahieu, Topps #72, was tearing up the Southern League, hitting .358 before being brought to the Cubs in late May when Jeff Baker got hurt. He stayed with the team when Baker returned since Darwin Barney got injured. We'll have to see what happens when Barney comes back. My guess: AAA Iowa.


Andrew Cashner, Topps #39, had a decent year last year coming out of the pen for the Cubs. In the spring the team decided he would be a starter and prepared him for that...but apparently not well enough. In his first start (and only start) Cashner was cruising along, having given up only two hits and one run in 5.1 innings. But he felt something in his shoulder and was taken out of the game. He landed on the DL the same day and has yet to pitch again.

Topps 2011 Series 2 Autographs

Topps had three Cubs autographs to chase, and two of the three were worth getting.



Starlin Castro, this is my second Castro autograph card, as he had an autograph in last year's update set. I'm glad to have the second one, and will be happy to stop at two.



Carlos Pena, the Cubs new first baseman. You may have noticed that he was missing from series 2 (and series 1 also), though he did have a card in Heritage, Gypsy Queen, and the factory team set. I'm sure he will show up in the update set. By the way, this is a photoshop job and for some reason, Topps put a stripe on the pants, a stripe that the Cubs don't have.



Andrew Cashner, I'm sure with would mean more to me if the guy pitched in more than one game this season before landing on the DL. Like Castro, he also had a card in last year's update set, so I'm done with him now, too.

Tomorrow, the Platinum Diamond Anniversary cards.