Kiss From a Rose

Besides being the name of an excellent 90's R&B cut by American one-hit wonder Seal that helped distract from how bad of a movie Batman Forever actually is. this post title is also the reason why the man on the card below has any significance in Cubs history:

No - Seal's birth name is not Reggie Patterson, so guess again.

Mr. Patterson was "kissed" by a certain Rose way back in 1985:

Yes, it was Reggie Patterson who was pitching when Pete Rose "kissed" a fastball to tie himself with Ty Cobb for the all-time hit record.  Did you think I meant "kissed" romantically?  That would have been weird, but equally talked about.

In trying to defend their surprising NL East title from the year before, the Cubs starting rotation quickly became decimated with injuries - at one point, all five starters were on the DL at the same time!  Thus, hacks like Reggie were needed to eat innings and give up milestone accomplishments.

That said, a Cub is a Cub, no matter how bad, so Reggie and his 5.20 career ERA need to be represented in my CATRC.  For a long time, his spot was filled by this card:

Now, this card is fine and all; but, it has three things going against it:

1. It's not a Cubs card
2. It's a multi-player card and I prefer my CATRC pieces to spotlight just one player
3. It's a White Sox card

Just kidding on that last one.  I actually quite like that it shows off the Southsiders' "leisure suit" jerseys of the late 70's/early 80's, which they just threw back to a few nights ago.

Anywho, that 1986 Fleer common is his only Major League Cub card and it has eluded me (for no particular reason) for many years, as I documented in this post here.  Then, I find a stack of 20 of them in a 4/$1 box at my LCS.  Life is a funny thing, isn't it?

But, I felt weird buying just a singular card for the price of a gumball; so I decided to add a few more to my stack, on top of the Cubgrade:

The card on the right is the new one here - I've had the one on the left since I purchased the 2004 Daytona Cubs team set (new) as one of my first independent internet purchases.  I was a mature high school sophomore, huh?

Like the Patterson, I consider this to be a "Cubgrade" addition as well.  I love minor league cards; but, while this busted prospect might have been a draft pick at the time, the 2000 Topps card lists him as a CHICAGO Cub, a Cubgrade over DAYTONA Cub.  Into the binder it goes.

However, that single-A card will slot nicely into another collection I've been building - stay tuned!

*Sidenote - It took 8 years and a switch to the outfield for Montanez to finally crack the Bigs and it wasn't even for the Cubs - it was in Baltimore.  He did eventually make his way to Wrigley though as roster filler in the dark days of 2011.  *Shudder*

Scott Downs is a guy I don't have too many cards of and I really liked the image choice on this 2001 UD card - a set I've always appreciated.  So, I picked this up too for a potential swapping into my CATRC binder. 

It wasn't meant to be though.  I didn't notice it at the time; but, it's not technically a Cubs card.  See that shiny Expos logo in the bottom right corner?  Curses - foiled again.

*rimshot*

 
I also picked up these two cards for no other reason then that I liked them.  Oddballs are always fun, especially the oh-so-90's Classic game cards.  I just couldn't say no to this one, even if it was Derrick May.  His rookie cards will still be worth a fortune some day - I know it!!!1!!

*sigh*

Also, the blue borders of 2003 Topps might be hit-and-miss on the blogosphere; but, I've always thought that they look wonderful on the Cubs cards and since I only have one other Paul Bako Cubs card, I decided to make it mine.

Along with a new storage box, that wrapped up my purchases from the LCS that day.  The cards may have been a touch over-priced; but who am I to quabble when my purchase would have been $1.25 without the box?  Gotta keep the LCS in business, after all.

We'll close out today's edition of Wrigley Roster Jenga with this video because I know you've been humming it to yourself since you clicked on the link to begin with: