I broke down

if you are a horse racing fan I do not mean what you are thinking . . . for the rest of you . . . I made a set purchase I vowed not to do since I re-entered this hobby several months ago.

Some of you may remember that several months ago at a local card show I grabbed a bunch of Cubs cards from a bargain bin (20 cards for $ 1.00) and two cards (the 1995 Flair Mark Grace #332 and Sammy Sosa #334) made a unique impression on me. Being a vintage kind of guy, this set intrigued me for some odd reason. I was able to pick up a few other cards a month later in another bargain bin find (12 to be exact) and that just fueled my fire.

For the last few months I have been looking at ebay, craigslist, sportlots and checkoutmycards trying to decide how and where I could find or put together the complete set. I sometimes even asked myself "why".

Last week I broke down and found the complete set (432 cards) for sale on ebay, went ahead and put in a bid. After a few days of increasing in $ .50 increments the set was mine for under $ 12.00 (not including shipping). I am not sure if that s a good price or fair price - I dont really care . . . I like this set and am glad I "won".

Now a bit about this set: the 1995 Flair has 432 cards in the basic set; series I and series II with seven subsets (now my real hunt begins). The fronts feature a horizontal border less design with a dual photograph and the backs are the traditional vertical alignment and showcase a third mostly full body, though cropped at the knees, photo.

The stats on the back only show five or six years of play though do highlight some players minor league performances, if only in the bigs for a couple of years. That to me is the only down side from this set, because I do like looking at a whole career worth of numbers but I do like the photography. Every card, as much as I can tell, are single player photos - no one lurking, no one sharing space, no other player on any ones card except for the player themselves.

The Cubs have fifteen (15) cards, part in series I and part in series II. For those who remember, 1995 was the year Ryne Sandberg "retired" and is not included in this set. A disappointment for this Cubs fan but . . .

I will be putting this complete set in nine pocket page protectors sheets and start looking for those subsets. If any of you are interested in my "doubles" let me know (I only have 12 but they are fair game to anyone) . . . I have Garrett Anderson, Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Larkin, Alex Gonzalez, Ron Gant, Ryan Klesko, J T Snow, Javier Lopez, Randy Johnson, Bobby Jones, Dante Bichette and Jim Edmonds - my doubles of Grace and Sosa are going to a special young Cubs fan I know.

I dont breakdown very often and am still not sure why I have taken a liking to this "modern" set but . . . I did . . . break down that is.

a Sandberg grimace

I am not sure if I like seeing cards of players with a grimace on their face (especially a HOF'r or great Chicago Cub) but nonetheless this Ryne Sandberg 1997 Topps Stadium Club card certainly does.

Sandberg is obviously sliding into second base and that look on his face pains me just to imagine what actually hurts.

A second thing I am not sure of is whether Sandberg is safe or out (I would like to think he beat the throw and tag) and am also curious who that "other" player is on the card.

I much prefer seeing Sandberg with the "my head is too big for my body" look . . .

an ebay find

as a 1970's set collector (as in the "boring gray border" set from 1970) I could not pass up the opportunity to purchase the 1992 Baseball Card Magazine full panel cards portraying the 1970 design.

Finding these cards is difficult, let alone finding the panels in tact. I found a guy selling six of the eleven panels (the set has 8 cards per panel and is only an 88 card set) and I could not resist. I am still not sure if I am going to cut them (carefully) and store them as singles of keep the panels in tact.

For now I have cards numbered 25 thru 30, 39 thru 64, 73 thru 80 and 81 to 88 (uncut).

Here is my favorite panel because it showcases the only two Chicago Cubs in the set; Andre Dawson # 44 and Ryne Sandberg# 47. Pretty nice to have 7 HOF'rs and two future candidates on one panel.
The backs are equally interesting with "The Investment Advisor" (remember these were printed in 1992, back in the glut of the marketplace).

I like these cards and would like to complete the set if anyone knows of anyone with any of these cards . . . . I will keep on looking on ebay . . . because you never know what you may find there.

Where and how do I start ?

Three and a half months ago I started this blog and had no idea what, where, how or anything about the blogosphere, bloggers or the "new" hobby I had so loved way back when. Today I can honestly say I still have no idea of so many things but one thing is for sure - baseball card bloggers are some of the most generous people around !

Opening Day 2009 (yes April 6th) was a day to remember. The Cubs won and I received a "small" box of cards from Jim at gcrl . A say "small" as sarcastically as I can - it was a 400 count box filled with CUBS cards ! On the day the Cubs win I won too !




From Sandberg to Dawson to Wood, Sosa and Grace- so many swings and smiles to make my heart go beat beat beat. Did you notice the Sandberg and Dawson 1988 Leaf pop ups ? Upper left corner in photos (The ones with the outline around their torso).
Check out Sosa running so fast in his powerful stride that his helmet flies off (1997 Topps # 305) and Kerry Wood showing off his "secret" grip on the ball (2008 UD # 327).
Jim also sent some "vintage", heritage, tradition, archives and cards of stars from yesteryear. A batting champ (Madlock) a Hall of Famer (Jenkins) and half an all-star infield (Santo - Kessinger) plus a few Cubs that could have been somethings.

Did I mention that Jim sent a few cards . . .


So many more Cubs cards and so many 1991's from Fleer, Stadium Club, Topps, Leaf, and Studio 91; all for my daughters binder and did I mention some Cubs cards ? !

Something only a Rangers fan may find interesting; in the Fleer 1991 set, there is a pitcher named Jeff Russell and a catcher named John Russell - did they ever appear together as battery mates making a Russell Russell battery ?

Jim also sent a stack of O-Pee-Chee 1986 Cubs cards and several 1988 Pacific Trading (series 1) to get me closer to completing that set.

All in all, Jim sent me so many cards that as soon as I though I was getting organized, I have more to log in and store.

For me Opening Day 2009 will be remembered for the generosity of a blogger named Jim of gcrl the Dodger fan from Minnesota. Thank you !

A CUBS extravaganza

Thanks to A Cardboard Problem my Cubs collection took a big boost today. Once again the generosity of fellow bloggers make me smile. The offer to send "free cards" of my favorite team was too hard to pass up and I just received a small box of 117 cards -all Chicago Cubs. Here is a picture of about half of them.

Yes, many of them are the over-produced mid 1980's cards but for his Cub fan one can not have enough duplicates of these (great for putting in team sets, team binders and year binders). Thank you ! An added note of interest to those who care; there were three Ryne Sandbergs, four Andre Dawsons, two Mark Grace and three Greg Maddux's.

There was also two 1981 Cubbies: Lenny Randle and Larry Biittner.

A small collection of Frank DiPino - a twelve year, 5 team journeyman who spent the middle of his career (2 1/2 years; 1986-87-88) as a Cub. DiPino's highlight was in 1989 going 9 - 0 for the St Louis Cardinals.

Two 1998 Fleer Ultra, my first cards of this set and nice cards they are.

And one cannot forget to mention two of the happiest Cubs ever, always smiling, always playing hard; Manny Trillo and Bob Dernier.

Thank Card Bandits and A Cardboard Problem . . .you have given this Cubs Fan much to smile about !

Night Owl Strikes Again

A few months ago when I first entered this blogsophere, it became rapidly apparent that I was incredibly naive as to what the hobby had changed into since I left this hobby over 20 years ago (actually I stopped buying any cards in 1987 but still followed along until 1991).

My favorite year in baseball was 1969 (go figure) and the 1970 set is my work in progress, thanks to my re-newed efforts I am now at 92.6 % complete. In my attempt to get "modern" I decided to try to collect some 1991 cards (the year my daughter was born). Night Owl was one of the first to catch on and sent me a few interesting 1991 Score Dream Team cards (among other prime samples).

I liked those Dream Team cards and put out a ask to see if I could complete the set (ok it is only a 13 card set but nonetheless my first set to start and finish solely upon the generosity of bloggers). Tim at 90s box breaks had a few I needed and kindly sent them to me and just the other day Night Owl sent me the last card I needed; the Ken Griffey Jr. So my first official complete set (sub-set) started and finished by bloggers is done - Thank you Tim and Greg.





But Night Owl has done it again. Knowing I like the Cubs and the 1970' set he also sent me this 1992 Baseball Card Magazine 1970's reprint of Andre Dawson. All I could say is WOW ! I did a little research and found that this set has only two Cubs (Ryne Sandberg being the other) and totals 88 cards. So naturally I am on a new quest - to complete this much larger set that will compliment my 1970 original set with a more modern look.


The back of this card (I did not scan for no good reason) tries to duplicate the 1970's feel with the bio and paragraph of info on the upper left and a cartoon in he upper right. Instead of traditional statistics these cards gave "investment advise". On the bottom of Dawsons card it reads: "A real bargain is Dawson's 1977 Topps, which is priced at just $ 60. There's no question that this card is a perfect long-term and short-term investment value". I guess that was the state of the hobby back then . . . for me the value is in the fact he is in a Cubs uniform and reflect the 1970's set.

Thanks to Night Owl, he struck again, and now I have a new adventure.

Oh what a year it was . . .

. . . in 1959 for Chicago baseball.

While this year was most celebrated on the southside with the White Sox winning the American League pennant and facing the Los Angels Dodgers in the World Series (eventually losing to the Dodgers 4 games to 2), Chicago baseball can boast one thing !

Each team had their league MVP ! Nellie Fox led the White Sox and Ernie Banks won his 2nd consecutive MVP for the bottom dweller Chicago Cubs. 1959 was the year Chicago bragged about having two MVP's (as an aside, Early Wynn from the Sox won the Cy Young as well).

The same city MVP's had happened quite often in the 40's and 50's with the Yankees and Dodgers dominating the award (Brooklyn at the time) but for Chicago, 1959 was the year. The closest since 1959 was in 2000; Jeff Kent of the San Fransisco Giants (NL) and Jason Giambi of the Oakland Athletics (AL). So the Bay area fans can brag about that if they want to.

1959 is also the year that future Chicago Cub MVP and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg was born.

Oh what a year it was . . .

The 30-40-50-100 Man

For those of you who are new to baseball (under 21 years of age) or dont bleed Cubbie Blue there once was a 2nd baseman who was pretty darn good.

He was elected to ten (10) all-star games, won nine (9) gold glove and seven (7) silver slugger awards. He has one NL MVP (1984) award in his pocket and his uniform number (#23) is hanging on a foul pole at Wrigley Field. His two game-tying clutch homeruns in a June 23rd, 1984 game has been "officially" named after him . . .

Ok . . . no big secret here . . .the "pretty darn good" 2nd baseman is Ryne Sandberg, Duh !

While 1984 is his MVP year, I will take note of his 1990 year (coming in fourth in MVP ballots): What is so special about 1990 ?

Sandberg hit .306, had a .559 slugging average and . . . . hit 30 doubles, 40 HR's, had 50 walks and drove in 100 RBI's (exactly); a 30-40-50-100 Man ! As an aside, he is one of only threee players ever to hit 40 HR's (1990) and steal 50 bases (1985) in ones career (joining Brady Anderson and Barry Bonds).

Score appropriately named Sandberg "Man of the Year" for 1990 ! I still call him the 30-40-50-100 Man !

in a class (post) by himself

I know I could have made one looooooong post about the cards I received from Ryan at Ryans Memorabilia Blog but Ryne Sandberg deserves to be in a class (post) by himself.

The first card is his 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces (my newest favorite set); a great Sandberg card, with his stats from 1990 on the back: showcasing his career high and league leading 40 HR to go along with 30 doubles, 100 RBI's, a .306 BA and leading the league in runs scored with 116 and total bases with 344.

Other Sandbergs in this package were: a grimace ( 1996 fleer checklist # U249), an MVP card (1991 Leaf #404) and a triple action photo of him turning a double play (1994 Topps # 300).

Thanks again Ryan . . . as Ryne Sandberg is always in a class by himself and deserves a post all to himself.

Who will wear # 9 in 2009 ?

I have been on a uniform number “kick” in a couple of previous posts so I thought I would continue my discussion and ask this question. Who will wear uniform # 9 in 2009 ? To begin with I must confess I have no cards of “proof” for what I am going to tell you though my official source of very reliable information is Cubs by the Numbers

The answer for the 2009 Chicago Cubs will be Reed Johnson, who will proudly wear uniform # 9 in 2009.

From the historical perspective, the Cubs did not have uniform numbers until the 1932 campaign and over the last 77 years only 22 players or coaches ( 29%) have worn the uniform number of the year on the calendar.

So here goes in uniform number order:
Uniform # 1: Augie Ojeda year 2001
Uniform # 2: Sandy Alomar Sr. (coach) year 2002
Uniform #3: Wendall Kim (coach) year 2003
Uniform # 4: Jason DuBois year 2004
Uniform # 5: Nomar Garciaparra year 2005
Uniform # 6: Sonny Jackson (coach) year 2006
Uniform # 7: Mark DeRosa year 2007
Uniform # 8: Mike Quade (coach) year 2008
Uniform # 9: Reed Johnson year 2009
Uniform # 34: Stan Hack year 1934
Uniform # 39: Bob Garback year 1939
Uniform # 41: Vance Page year 1941
Uniform # 43: Bill Nicholson year 1943
Uniform # 44: Phil Cavarretta year 1944
Uniform # 45: Ed Saver year 1945
Uniform # 46: Dom Dallessandro year 1946
Uniform # 47: Peanuts Lowery year 1947
Uniform # 48: Andy Pafko year 1948
Uniform # 53: Johnny Schmitz year 1953
Uniform # 55: El Tappe year 1955
Uniform # 57: Vito Valentinetti year 1957
Uniform # 64: Joe Macko (coach) year 1964

Not a star-studded collection, though any list with Cavarretta and Pafko is not half bad. Even though the 1940’s dominated this list, it is interesting (at least to me) that as of the turn of this century almost every team should have a player wearing the number of the calendar year (aside for those clubs that have retired numbers and of course no one will wear # 42 in the year 1942 or ever).

For those of you and curious about next year already, 2010, no Cubbie will wear uniform #10, it is proudly retired by the Cubs in honor of Ron Santo, along with Banks #14, Sandberg #23 and Williams #26. Maybe in the next few years we will see 1931 (Greg Maddux’s and as I was corrected Ferguson Jenkins uniform #31) eliminated from contention also.

So who will wear uniform # 9 in 2009 for your favorite team ?

Three's Company

For those of you who read my blog (thank you !) you know that I received a nice package in the mail the other day from Night Owl. How I know it was for ME was that it had the name STEVE before my last name.

That being said, there were 16 cards in all . . .

destined for my daughter are six National League All Star Team cards form the Score 1991 subset including none other than Chicago Cub "great" and HOF Ryne Sandberg. Also included were Santiago, Larkin, Bonds, Bonilla and Davis. These are "fun" cards with the over sized head drawings.

Night Owl also included another start to the Score 1991 project of my daughters with Dream Team cards (#'s 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13). Need I mention again that my wife "stole" three of them and left my daughter with the remaining five "suitable" cards including Larkin standing tall.

So that leaves me with my two "vintage" cards; two Cubs cards I really like and two cards that will be proud to join MY collection.

Topps 1955 Frank Baumholtz: because his last game played was in 1957 I never got to see him play but sources say his back to back seasons of '52 and '53 batting .325 and .306 respectively made Baumholtz a solid outfielder for the Cubs.

Topps 1973 Milt Pappas: are those ear flaps he his wearing or just the hair of the times ? Pappas had several career highlights including a nine pitch / three strikeout / half inning of work on September 24th, 1971 and on September 2 1972 was one pitch away from a perfect game, the 27th batter to face Pappas was given a walk (controversial to this day) yet Pappas did retire the next batter to preserve his no-hitter. Pappas deserves a longer post and I will do a more thorough account of his career in a later post.

So thanks to Night Owl, my daughter ends up with 11 cards, my wife three and for me . . . two. I guess having three "interested" collectors in my home is not a bad thing. I am learning to share.

More Good Mail Arrived Today

My mail-person (a real nice lady) must like me, as opposed to Night Owls mail person who holds out on him. I received another great package today, from Chris at Project 1962 , and once again has made my Wednesday much more enjoyable. Here is a good sample of why today was a good day.

Chris sent me many cards from my want list including three 1987 Topps All Star Rookies; Snyder, Tartabull and Incaviglia and this 1962 Jake Wood. While the condition is not pristine, it is still I card I greatly appreciate and needed (as an aside, I am in the camp that for "vintage" cards, condition is secondary to the story of the players).

Woods Rookie Year, 1961, was his best of his career with 170 hits, 14 triples playing in every 162 games. His career never got any better and had a short and fast stay with the Tigers.
I like these cards with the little gold trophies on them (hint hint for future trades).

Chris also sent a Cubbie from the sixties (1964 Don Elston) and the seventies (1970 Paul Popovich) Pictured here is the 1964 Don Elston, in a typical face shot of the time. Elston spent the better part of nine seasons with the Cubs, appearing in 450 career games (all but one as a Cub) and amassing a record of 49-54. Elston was elected to one All Star Game (1959) and was the workhorse for the Cubs, leading the National League in games played in 1958 and 1959.

Also in this envelope were two UD Masterpieces; Derek Lee and this Carlos Zambrano. And if that was not enough an assortment of Chicago Cub "greats" were included:

Thank you to Chris who made my Wednesday . . . can this week get any better ? The mail-lady will be the judge of that.

Bubble Mailer # 2 - "I am getting into the '90s"

I received a bubble mailer in the mail on Friday, culminating a trade with Kevin at The Great 1965 Topps Project .

I had sent him about 25, 1965 Topps cards, last week and in return he sent me an assortment of 91 cards (that is right 91) from 1991. From the various sets including a Topps Stadium Club and Fleer Ultra, he has gotten me kick started in my quest to complete a "real" 1991 set before my daughter returns from her year in Finland (scheduled to return sometime in July of this year). If anybody else can help . . .I am open to many ideas of trades.

Thank you Kevin for getting me started.

A sample of what he sent me includes the following:

an unremarkable Cubbie and a Hall of Famer

he really looks like a caveman

a most unflattering action photo

Ryno . . . record breaker and Hall of Famer

My wife says it is about time I "got into the nineties" as I have been stuck in the late sixties and early seventies "forever". She thought I understood that to mean my "state of mind" and not with collecting cards . . . just another difficulty in communication between the sexes.