I think I'm addicted to garage sales.
Just one week after my adventures through Coal City's city-wide garage sale, I set aside the weekend to scrounge through Midlothian's (my hometown) annual resale day.
Is there a twelve-step program for digging through people's junk?
It's the thrill of the hunt that always pulls me in; plus, you really just never know what you are going to find. Unfortunately, Midlothian must not have many card collectors because I could only find one house with any cardboard squares. While my Coal City exploration required two posts, this one will barely fill one.
Two bucks brought me the only ones that I could find:
At least it starts out with a Hall of Famer. Granted, I only collect players related to the Cubs, but I took it as a good omen.
Unfortunately, most of this Ziploc baggy was junk wax in it's purest form. That said, I could still take some joy in what I found.
I have always thought that the 1990 Topps set was one of their most garish and clunky; however, I've certainly not kept it secret that the 1989 Cubs are one of my favorite teams of all-time and all four of these men were members.
Courtesy of a VHS tape I bought from the local video rental store discount bin about ten years ago, "The Boys of Zimmer" were introduced to me. This motley crew of one-year wonders and over achievers made a surprising run for the playoffs during my birth year. I guess I'm good luck.
Thanks Family Home Video!
Image courtesy of eBay, my tape is in the shed somewhere
Aside from the normal junk wax, this bag also contained a few cool new oddities for my collection. Honestly, who collects baseball cards and doesn't love oddities?
I wish that I could still find baseball cards in my box of cereal; the only thing I ever find these days is the bottom (because I'm a glutton for Cap'n Crunch).
Although these two guys aren't depicted as Cubs, they still make my binders for their brief stints on the North Side. Joe Carter came up to Chicago as a top prospect in 1983 and was included in the package to land Rick Sutcliffe as the Cubs entered "win-now" mode the next season. It was a win-win trade I'd say.
HoJo had many great seasons as a Met; but, he had only one season as a Cub - and it was terrible. He wrapped up his 14 year career in 1995 by hitting .195/.330/.355 with just 7 homers in 87 games. This All-Star went out as just another in the long line of crummy third basemen in between Ron Santo and Aramis Ramirez.
The MooTown Snackers set was completely new to me. Until I pulled this "Hawk" I had never even known this set existed. I do like the layout of the card, but I really have to wonder why they designated the set as "Autograph Series."
I certainly would not have found this card in a Ziploc bag at as garage sale in the south side of Chicago had this series lived up to it's designation!
Finally, I've saved my favorite oddity (and favorite card in the bag) for last:
Another fun set that got completely by me as a child. The Baseball Enquirer was an unlicensed set that made the rounds in 1992, right in the thick of the junk wax era. Confex put this out to poke fun at MLB stars and to cash in on the craze.
On the reverse side of the card was a satirical "interview" with the unnamed player which lampooned certain aspects of his game, personality or in, some cases, got kinda vicious with their personal lives
The only Cub that was included in the set was George Bell. I'm calling this a Cubs card because it certainly looks like a Cubs jersey from the time and his one season as a Cub was the previous season.
As you've probably guessed, George was getting hassled about his lack of fielding ability. The slugger was a DH during his time in the AL for a reason.
This is the sort of thing that I'll never tire of finding. I love good satire. I love baseball cards. What else could I ask for?
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Thus, I'd say that yet another day spent searching through other people's castaways was well-spent.
I may not have found any crazy deals or new players for my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, but I did get to add some interesting new oddities to my binders.
Also, if you hear rattling around in your garage later tonight, I promise that its DEFINITELY not me....
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