The Last Update

 The final Cubs insert is from the TEK set.  Topps didn't put out a separate TEK set this year, instead including it as part of Update.  

There is just one Cubs card on the 25-card checklist.

A Quick Fix

 A short post today with a quick fix.

Topps made a 1953 card of Ernie Banks for the Cards That Never Were insert set.

Why, I don't know, but Topps used the wrong logo on the card.  They used a period-correct Cubs logo.  But that was not the logo on the original 1953 cards.

Topps used the brown and yellow bear.

Mr. Cub is now fixed.

The Update Heritage Archives Inserts

 I really liked the Heritage concept when it first came out.  That was 20 years ago.  I am now really tired of it as Topps has overkilled the idea.  Heritage now gives us one past year, Archives another four or five.  Do we need more?

Yes, apparently, because there are Cubs inserts in Update 2021 that use designs from six different past designs.

 

70 Years of Topps gives us 1977 and 1961

 

More 1986 with the regular insert set and the silver packs

 

The 1992 Redux set has two Cubs card.

Black Gold uses the look from 1993

Topps make a 1953 rookie card for Ernie Banks in the Cards That Never Were set. 

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 19,544 Cubs cards from 285 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1933 Goudey #277 Billy Herman This is the second week in a row that the RNG starts us off with a Billy in the Hall of Fame. Last week it was Williams, this week it's Herman.  The cards I have of this set are reprints.  I'll get the originals after I win the lottery.

1980s: 1987 Fleer #574 Lee Smith Another Hall of Famer!  

1990s: 1995 Select #221 Mark Grace  This is getting freaky!  Last week the RNG pulled two HOFers and then a card of Mark Grace.  This weeks it has done the exact same thing!  What are the odds of that??  Select became very select is 1005 as Grace was one of just three Cubs in the set.

2000s: 2007 USA Baseball Autograph Jersey Green #8 Darwin Barney  I've got the entire rainbow of these  - the green, black, blue, and red.

2010s: 2017 Gypsy Queen #118 Wade Davis  Davis came to the Cubs in a trade with the Royals after the 2016 season.  The Cubs gave up this year's World Series MVP Jorge Soler.

70s Saturday - 1970 & 1971 Fleer Quiz Cards

 Today I've got Fleer quiz cards from 1970 and 1971.  These were inserts in their cloth patch packs, serving as a stiffener to keep the patches from getting wrinkled.

Though they look similar from a distance, they have differences.  The logo has changed and the UBS got moved over on the 1971 version.  The number of question was increased from two to three and all the questions changed. 

Take the quizzes and see how many you get right.

Starting the 2021 Update Inserts

 The Good News: There are 12 Cubs card among the 2021 Update set basic inserts.  That's four more cards than were in the base set.

The Bad News: Not a single player featured is on the current Cubs roster.  That has never happened before and it is not a good thing.

Today I've got the cards from the All-Star insert.  In the past the All-Star cards were part of the base set.  I like that they made the All-Stars an insert because that opens up more player slots in the base set.

These are the two Cubs All-Stars, both traded a few weeks after the game.  The picture choice puzzles me.  If Topps had time to make the cards after the All-Star game, wouldn't they also have had the time to use a photo from the actual All-Star game.   

Just asking.

60

 The Cubs have had a total of six players wear uniform #60, include pitcher Jason Adam, who wore it this past season.  None of the six were very good.

We have Jason Adam, Mitch Atkins, Chris Carpenter (not the good one who was with the Cardinals), Manny Corpas, Cory Mazzoni, and Felix Pena.

They pitched in a combined 134 games for the Cubs.  While they posted a winning record of 5-3, their ERA was 4.54, and their WHIP was 1.44. 

None lasted longer than two seasons with the Cubs.  I don't have a single card of any of the six because none have a card that shows them with the Cubs.

So why am I bothering to write about a bunch of non-descript players that wore #60?

Because today yours truly hits the big 6-0.

60 used to seem really old.  Now it doesn't!  Now its just a number.

I'm hoping that 60 turns out better for me than it did for Adam, Atkins, etc.

It will be a very interesting year for me.  Besides hitting a big round number, I'll be retiring at the end of the school year.  I'm in my 39th year as an educator.  I've been a principal for 27 of those.  It's been a nice ride, but I'm getting worn out as the guy in charge.  The strains of the past two covid years haven't helped matters either.

I'm looking forward to being in charge of nothing other than some pieces of 2½" x 3½" cardboard.