2004 Vineline Cubs Postcards

Eagle-eyed reader Jeremy spied this card

among the 280 Ernie Banks cards in last week's Tuesday tile.  He thought it was cool looking.  I'm guessing he'd never seen it before. Chances are most of you haven't either.  Until I saw the auction, the card was off of my radar.

It comes from an eight card postcard set the Cubs issued with their monthly magazine, Vineline, in 2004.  The artwork is done by Steve Musgrave.  He is a Chicago artist and a long-time Cub fan.  His work has been featured on a several Cubs programs and scorecards.

He also has a few of his pieces on display at the Addison Street L station.

Though several Vineline and team issued sets are listed in the Standard Catalog, these cards are not, which explains why I knew nothing about them.

The cards came out in 2004, the year the Cubs were going to go all the way.  They were close in 2003 and with the addition of Greg Maddux and later in the year, Nomar Garciaparra, it was finally going to happen.  Of course it didn't; they didn't even make the post season.

The cards feature several of the key players from that season....

 

Sammy got two cards, including one that commemorates his 500th home run

 

The two glass armed starting pitchers were included, too.

Corey Patterson missed half of the '03 season but came back in 2004 and had the best season of his career.

Dusty made the checklist, too.

The final card went to broadcaster Ron Santo.

They're all nice looking cards that remind me of an ugly season.

Tile Tuesday: Ivy

The title says it all.  Today's tile features cards that show the Wrigley Field ivy.  I came up with 168 cards, all Cubs players.  I'm sure that there are a ton of cards of players on other teams that show some ivy, but I decided to stick with the Cubs.  I also stayed away from any brown ivy cards.  It had to be the bloomin' green ivy.

Calico Joe

I've never been a book guy.  I don't do much "pleasure reading."  I'm more of an information junkie, reading to add some new knowledge to the WW database.  I think that started when I was seven, reading the backs of baseball cards.

But when I saw that Wrigley Field was on the cover of John Grisham's latest book, I figured it was a book I should read.  After finishing the book, I can say that you need to read it too.  It was great!

Calico Joe is the story of a flash in the pan rookie on the 1973 Cubs named Joe Castle and how his life intersects with the story's narrator, Paul Tracey, the son of a Mets pitcher.  Thirty years later, Paul looks to bring some closure to an incident involving Joe and Paul's dad.  It's a very well-told story and it was a very quick read.  It's also a fairly short novel, only 198 pages.

Though fiction, Grisham works in many details of the actual 1973 Cubs.  Cubs shortstop Don Kessinger is mentioned several times, and he actually read an early draft of the book and gave Grisham some help in making the story more accurate.

 

 

Other '73 Cubs with a mention include Jim Hickman, manager Whitey Lockman, Fergie Jenkins and Rick Reuschel.

When Joe Castle broke in with the Cubs, they were on the road and he was given #42.  Once they got back home, he was give a more normal number, #15.  (I used the picture of a fairly unknown Cub of the era as a stand-in for Joe Castle.)

The only problem I have with the book is the cover, and I'm sure Grisham had nothing to do with it.  A modern picture of Wrigley Field was used.  

But then some know-it-all editor probably said that in 1973 Wrigley didn't have lights. The lights were removed.  Of course, in 1973 there weren't rooftop bleachers, ads on the bleacher doors, expanded bleachers, or a batters eye suite in center field.

Forget the cover and read the book.  You won't be disappointed (unless you're a Cubs fan....but then if you're a Cub fan you're used to disappointment!).

A Second New Billy Williams Card in 2012!!

Despite being in the Hall of Fame, Billy Williams hasn't been showing up on too many cards the past few years.  So its big news (at least to me) that a new card of his was made.  It wasn't Topps, but Leaf that put out this card.

The card was made to be given away at the recent National Convention in Baltimore.  Leaf obviously doesn't have an MLB license, so the team logos had to disappear. But you hardly notice due to great photo selection and some tight cropping.

The picture was taken on Billy Williams Day, June 29, 1969.  On this day, the Cubs played a doubleheader against the Cardinals.  Billy tied the NL record for consecutive games played in game one and set the record in game two.   He went 5 for 9 for the day with a single, two doubles, and two triples.

Here is a look at the original picture.  You can see that Leaf didn't have to get rid of too much.  Nicely done!

A Few New Autographs and Relics

I went on a little shopping spree to add a few more autographs and relics.  None of these broke the bank; in fact they were all quite cheap.

This Cracker Jack relic from 2004 set me back all of 77¢.  I've been trying to add at least one relic for any significant Cub player that has a relic available.  No reason for taking so long to get Alou's, that's just how it worked out.  One problem: I keep all of my relics in nine pocket sheets in alphabetical order.  Alou is now the first card, which meant that I had to shift every single card over one pocket to the right.

It took three bucks to get Little Dougie's auto on this Fleer '89 card.  It's not certified or anything, but I don't think anyone is going to get rich forging Doug Dascenzo's autograph onto cards at three bucks a crack.  Dascenzo was one of those guys who wasn't the most gifted player on the field, but what he lacked in talent he made up for with hustle.

This one goes in the Billy Williams PC.  It was the most expensive of the three, but it only cost me $6.49.  It also came with a certificate of authenticity.  Canadian Club issued six different cards in 1996, which were given away free with a bottle of their whiskey.  It looks like they didn't have an MLB license, since all the logos are gone.  When I was a kid we would bug mom to buy Kelloggs cereal for the 3D cards.  I guess in '96 the kids bugged mom to buy a bottle of booze.
Cheers!

My Latest Duh! Moment

I've had this card for over forty years and I just noticed that now??? Duh!!!

Your turn.  Look for something that's out of place.  This 1970 card of Grant Jackson is #6, which means its on the first sheet in the binder.  I've looked at it zillions of times, so how come I never noticed?

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Here's what's wrong...his pitching hand...

....he's wearing a batting glove on his pitching hand.  Did you notice it?  Would you have if I didn't make you look the card over carefully?

Its a strange thing for a couple reasons.  First, its illegal.  A pitcher can't wear anything on his pitching hand. But secondly, when the picture was taken in 1969, most players didn't wear batting gloves.  They were just starting to come into use at the time.  

So how is it that a pitcher ends up wearing something that many hitters weren't even using?  

And why didn't the Topps photographer notice?  Or the Topps editor?

That one I can answer....

.....they aren't the sharpest crayon in the box.

My Star Hunt in Winding Down

I started collecting Cubs sets from Star nearly 2½ years ago. Star issued various sets from 1983 - 1995 and by my count there are 31 different sets that feature Cubs players.  In the first five months I picked up 21 sets, but its been a nearly two year quest to hunt down the other ten.  It's not that I haven't tried, instead, these sets are very hard to find.  One by one I've been whittling them down and today I've got my 30^th set.

The 1992 version of Star Platinum was made up of twelve players.  One thousand sets of each player were made.  You wouldn't think it would be that hard to come up with a /1000 set, but these have been quite scarce.  The Standard Catalog gives the Sandberg set a value of $5.  I wish that's what I paid, but since these show up so rarely, it's going to take a lot more than five bucks.

As with most Star sets, there are nine cards.  Each highlights a different part of Sandberg's career.  

 

With these now in hand, the only Star set I have left to find is the 1992 Millennium set of Ryne Sandberg.  In the two+ years I've been looking, I don't think I've ever seen one show up anywhere.  One will, eventually!