Gotta Catch 'em All - PokeCubs!

While killing time during a rare dead period at work the other day, I somehow stumbled upon my new favorite waste of time:  My Poke Card.

Now, as a child of the 90's and a bonafide card collector, it was inevitable that I'd build up a large stash of Pokemon cards during my pre-pubescent years.  Alongside my stash of Cubs, I had an impressive stack of Ancient Mews, holographic Hitmonchans, Pikachus, etc. in my possession, as well.  Meanwhile, this Poke-fanatic also played all the Gameboy games through Gold and Silver and saw every episode of the original cartoon at least three times.

Unfortunately, I lost that card collection to a scheming former friend who took them from me and sold them off to a local card dealer.  Bad memories.

Anyway, with an hour to while away, I couldn't help myself from merging two of my favorite pastimes.  So, without any further ado, I present you PokeCubs:

David Ross, pressed into more regular duty after the injury to Miguel Montero, had just launched one onto Waveland as I discovered the card generator.  Thus, he became the very first PokeCub - and a fire type at that, thanks to his fast start in 2016.  

Also, he's no John Baker, but when he takes the mound, things get interesting.

Another player on "fire" thus far has been Matt Szczur, an extra outfielder that just barely made the team out of camp.  He's certainly proved his worth, batting .308 in 29 PAs, culminating with spectacular grand salami in the bottom of the eighth yesterday against the Braves.  In one swing, the tight 2-1 contest instantly became a laugher.

Furthermore, his second attack is a reference to the fact that while still at Villanova, the two sport-star made a life saving bone marrow donation to a young girl from the Ukraine.  This was a selfless act that cost him a partial season in the process.

I figured Jake would be a grass type thanks to his moniker of "Jake the Snake" - seems like a natural fit to me.

That stare though.

Manager Joe Maddon on pinch-hitting extraordinaire Tommy La Stella:  "He can get up at three a.m.., get out of bed, and hit."  So far in 2016, he's lived up to that moniker.

Also, you can see why he'd be a "Darkness" type Pokemon.

If he doesn't kill you with the long ball, he'll use those baby blues to trick you into a false sense of security.

Ryno is one of the greatest second basemen to play the game, be it on the field or at the plate, and an all-time fan favorite (this fan included).  That said, I couldn't help but poke fun at the way he's now abandoned his club twice during his time in pro ball (his first retirement in 1994 and his abrupt resignation from managing the Phillies last season).

Theo Epstein has saved this franchise from the doldrums.  His strict adherence to the plan he and his cohorts drafted and his shrewd moves (of which, the sign and trade was quite effective) has "resurrected" the team, leading the franchise from past-their-prime bottom feeders to the best team in baseball.  

Praise the Theocracy!

...and I think the novelty has worn off - I'll call it a day here.   I hope you found these to be at least a little bit amusing.  In the meantime, I'm going to sit here and sulk in my newly re-discovered rage about Mike's stealing of my Pokemon cards... jerk.

I'll close this out with my favorite rap song of all-time (though the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song gives it a good run):

Tim the Emergency Catcher

There are some who call him injury depth, there are some who call him a defensive specialist, there are some who call him a prototypical AAAA player...

Tim the Emergency Catcher (not the Tim the Enchanter) has been added to the Cubs roster as a result of Miguel Montero's forced 15-day Disabled List stint.  Miggy has had some back stiffness and soreness problems lingering for several days now, so Cubs brass decided to play it safe and let him get some rest.

Meanwhile, this opened up the door for Tim Federowicz, who was signed as an NRI this off-season to serve precisely this role.  Thankfully, he stuck around and accepted a spot in the waiting room known as Iowa after being cut in March.

Luckily, as the Cubs were stashing Tim the Emergency Catcher in Iowa, I was stashing this 2012 Topps Heritage Card in my "queue box," just in case.  After all, Miggy seems to end up on the DL at least once or twice a season.

Federowicz has had a couple extensive trials in the Bigs with the Dodgers; however, his bat has never blossomed to MLB quality (career .194 BA in 89 games).  That said, his skills behind the dish have drawn rave reviews, leading him down the road of third catchers and Quad-A status.

Now, some might be asking themselves, "Why this boring option?  Why aren't we calling up super-prospect Willson Contreras?"  I mean, Willson, after having won the Southern League batting title last season, is off to a blazing start in his first AAA season (.375 through 14 games).

Anyone pull one of these yet?  I'd gladly trade you for it!

But, it should be noted that while his bat may very well be big league ready, his defensive chops need some work.  Contreras is fairly new to the catching game, having been converted to backstop in 2012 after having spent his lifetime previously in the infield.

Manager Joe Maddon has been quoted (and I'm paraphrasing here) that as it stands, Miggy's injury is not a serious one and should not need a lengthy DL stint.  Thus, it's better for Willson to stay in AAA and work on development while Tim comes up, plugs a temporary gap and splits time with Grandpa Rossy.  However, should Miggy worsen and require an extended stay, the young catcher could get the call for regular playing time, as his potent bat would be needed.

And so, this is how Tim the Emergency Catcher becomes an official Chicago Cub.  No offense to him, but I hope his stay is short.  The Cubs offense has been potent enough to withstand a short loss of Montero - however, I will start to worry if Tim's bat has to stick around long term.

Welcome to the collection, Tim and get well soon, Miggy!

(Kris Bryant's ankle better be okay, I don't want to be doing another one of these posts for him!)

Drama at the Dollar Tree

This particular pack was a doozy.

Not because it provided me with a mega-mojo hit, or even a new name for my all-time NASCAR driver collection.  No, this package was a doozy because it was surprisingly difficult to purchase:

About 2 weeks ago, while rustling through the highly disorganized and chaotic card display of my local Dollar Tree, I found this rarely seen product nestled amongst the incessant repacks and entertainment cards.  A set from which I have nothing with an interesting and different theme?  Heck yea - I'll take that over a 5 card, '92 Donruss-filled baseball re-pack!

Unfortunately, I did not get to scratch my pack-ripping itch.  While checking out with my totally mature, adult purchases (card, pop and candy), the pack simply refused to scan when swiped by the cashier.  I was loathe to find out that he was not permitted to sell this item to me, under any circumstance.  I'm certain that this is store policy and it was not his choice at all; however, he was wearing a stupid man-bun, so I still found him to be exceptionally annoying.

You tell 'em, Zoolander.

I left the store muttering under my breath because I'm polite dammit; plus, I do the healthy, American thing and bottle my frustration deep down inside.

Fast-forward to a few days ago, when again rustling through the card display at that same Dollar Tree, I saw a rather familiar pack buried deep within the madness.  Did man-bun simply throw the pack back into the display and set a trap for me, yet again - or, had there been a second one hidden this whole time?  I'll never know, but I'll be damned if I wasn't going to try again.

So, I whispered to my fiancee that I was going to be conducting an experiment (leaving her super confused, as per normal), and entered into the checkout line with the contraband... and a bag of circus peanuts... and an energy drink.

 Y'know, health food.

The anticipation and tension were palpable (to me, at least), as a different cashier swiped each item, finally getting to my coveted, heretofore banned item.  Would I again be denied?  Then, I heard the "beep" and watched as the teenager placed the cards into my shopping bag.  SUCCESS!!  TAKE THAT STUPID MAN-BUN!!!

Again, I realize that this whole snafu really had nothing to do with that first kid; in fact, after that, they probably re-entered the product into their inventory and placed it back onto the shelf.  However, that fashion choice is entirely on them.

As I walked away with my stash, I realized that the cards were pretty much secondary in this power-struggle.  At that point, I really only wanted them because I couldn't have them.... and the joke was really on me since they got my hard-earned money anyway.

So, after all of this, was the 5-card pack of "Wheels - Main Event," issued by Press Pass in 2009, worth all of the trouble it caused?  The short-lived product blended NASCAR with professional poker (which go together like peanut butter and ladies, so why not?) for a nothing if not unique set:

In an era where few companies can afford (or make it profitable, anyway) to sponsor a top-notch NASCAR team for a full 36-race schedule, this "Double Suited" insert set is genius.  Just like today, AMP and the National Guard split time backing perennial fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and this design gives an AMP-le showcase for both.

Ba-dum-tis.

Here's another insert, this one being super-duper shiny.  "High Roller" is an insert set that "shines" the spotlight on the biggest names in the sport - Jimmie Johnson certainly qualifies, perhaps being the greatest driver in the long history of NASCAR racing.

This card is really quite pretty in person - my crappy camera phone picture doesn't truly do it justice.

Oh hey - a base card!  This was the only such card to fall out of the pack.

Matt Kenseth is always a contender, a guy I've been lucky enough to meet twice and hails from near the hometown of our good friend Tony L. at Off Hiatus Baseball.  Honestly, I don't have much to say about the base cards other than I quite enjoy the fact that they are colored according to their car's main paint scheme and the playing card motif in the corners is pretty neat.

Speaking of playing cards, this insert set takes it one step further from motif and presents an actual playing card.

This is shaped, designed and feels like an authentic ace of hearts.  I've made it known here on Wrigley Roster Jenga that I love sets that blend trading cards and card games, so this was a more than welcome pull.

...and we go out with what everybody was waiting for, a card of a professional poker player.  Like I said, this product provides a mix of NASCAR and poker, one of this base set of poker pros is found in every sampling.  Yay....

I'm sure Dennis Phillips is excellent at what he does and is probably a swell guy; however, a card of a guy playing cards, while being rather Inception-like, doesn't really do it for me.  Sorry.

With that, my hard-fought package of cards has been exhausted.  While none of the drivers were new to my all-time NASCAR collection, the inserts pulled were quite nifty and well-worth the dollar they cost me.  So after all that drama, I'll consider this one a victory.

*Obligatory mention of hope that Panini utilizes their newly-acquired NASCAR license soon and creates products of comparable quality to Press Pass*

Has anybody else ever had an experience like this in a retail establishment?  If so, was there a happy ending to the craziness?  Tell me about it in the comments!

Also, while you're at it, if you're considering jumping on board the man-bun bandwagon, don't.  Just don't.

Show Me The Mune!

As I alluded to yesterday, the package that was absolutely stuffed with numerous copies of Mark Grace's 1989 Fleer card, courtesy of Andy from Ain't Nobody Got Time For Cardboard, was more than just a cheap gag.  While I got a good, hardy laugh out of the "Gracing," there was a good amount of new and useful cardboard contained within to be added to my collections.

Despite this, there was still one card that stood out from the pack... by far.  That said, I think we'll save that for last - keep them wanting more, they say.

Here's the multi-sport barrage that accompanied my Gracies:

There was a healthy selection of late-80's, early-90's, junk wax Cubs singles included.  The above were definitely my favorites.

I have always had a thing for 1990 Topps, especially the cards that make use of blue and red in their borders (always a great touch for a Cubs card).  This particular Grace was the only one of his kind; but, he did bring along a friend in the bunting Shawon Dunston, another long-time fan favorite.  Plus, we've got a hustling Hall of Famer  from the original incarnation of Triple Play.

From the diamond to the gridiron, we have a new addition to my Bears All-Time Roster Collection; it's always a thrill to chop another name off of that list!

Not to be confused with the ever-successful basketball coach of the same name, this Pat Riley was a Chicago Bear for all of one game in 1995, after being drafted in the second round that year.  In fact, that was his only NFL appearance.  

It's exceptionally satisfying when I'm able to knock off a super short-term name like Riley!

While that was the only new Bears player for my roster collection, he was far from the only Bear in the package.  There were plenty of new and interesting Monsters of the Midway cards to be found within.

For instance, that Riley wasn't the only Classic that Andy sent along.  Jack Jackson was also only a Bear for a single season (1996) and Rashaan Salaam hung around a bit longer (1995-97), but didn't see much success.  Nevertheless, I love minor league and college uniforms on trading cards.

I love these marble statue-esque Pro Line Profiles - Mike Singletary and Jim Harbaugh look downright artistic!

We'll close out the football portion of this package with these two gems.

Is there anything more Chicago than a toothless Refrigerator Perry grinning for the camera in a pair of Zubaz?  I think not.  Also, a Gold Zone parallel of '85 Bear Richard Dent is always just that - golden!

Now we go from the gridiron to the hardwood:

While I haven't full organized what I've got already, I have been toying with the idea of starting a Bulls all-time roster collection... because trying to accumulate every Cub, Bear and Blackhawk isn't already ridiculous enough.  I intimated this to Andy and he immediately provided a boost to this blossoming collection.

Steve Kerr is a big name from the Bulls Dynasty of the 90's and, as such, is pretty much royalty to anyone in Chicago who watched sports at that time.  Isn't it funny then that the Golden State Warriors just broke his former squad's record for most wins in a season, earning him the Coach of the Year award?

Andy also provided me with my first Michael Jordan cards... that is, my first Michael Jordan cards which show him playing the sport he's most famous for.  I do have a couple MJ White Sox cards milling about somewhere.

As a Chicago sports fanatic and card collector since the mid-90's, this might sound like sacrilege; however, think about the hometown markup a guy like this would get.  Pretty cost prohibitive for only a casual collector of basketball.

And now, we come to the grand finale.  What card was so cool that it can follow up the one and only Michael Jordan?:

Munenori Kawasaki!

When Andy and I initially discussed this trade, he mentioned that he was going to throw in a Mune for my CATRC.  I fully expected one of his plain, ol' base cards from this side of the ocean; this Shining Star, chromium BBM single from 2008 totally blew me away.  I love checking names off of my to-get list and I love foreign cards - win/win!

Here's the back, since this is something completely different:

Kawasaki had one helluva spring training and proved to be an excellent clubhouse presence, almost making the team as an NRI, but instead being stashed in Iowa as injury insurance.  That said, he was already needed for a few games in April, courtesy of the Javy Baez injury and I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of him in Chicago for 2016.

Besides the fact that I can now add Kawasaki to my CATRC binder, this card is also significant because it allows this particular collection to reach a milestone.  With the addition of Mune, my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection now stands at just over 70% completion.

I started this collecting goal way back in 2004 and when I started this blog two years ago, I stood at approximately 58%.  For a franchise that stretches back into the 1870's, I'm quite satisfied with this progress.  Next up, the three-quarters mark!

Ahhhh, memories....

Thank you Andy for the superb trade package - this really was a treat to look through!  I can only hope that what I sent you is at least half as entertaining and useful.

For somebody who "Ain't Got Time for Cardboard," you sure did craft an amazing trade package!

Graced by Andy

In yesterday's mail, I received a heavy and thick padded mailer from Mr. Andy Stetson, the proprietor of Ain't Nobody Got Time For Cardboard.  He may be a rookie to the card blog scene, but we've already completed three trades; Andy is making up for lost blogging time!

I should have known something was up though - I wasn't expecting a package so voluminous.  However, the excitement of new cards in the mail blinded my instincts.

There were two large stacks of cards to be found within the confines of the mailer.  On top of the second one, was this seemingly harmless 1989 Fleer, second-year card of one of my all-time favorite Cubs, Mark "Amazing" Grace.  Mr. Stetson is well aware of my fondness for the nineties-hits leader; so, nothing out of the ordinary here, right?

Wrong:

What you see here is an entire stack of '89 Fleer Gracies... egad!  You've heard of "Bipping;" however, have you ever been "Graced?"

This is the second time that I've been "Bipped" with a Cubs theme - this time I was Graced by Andy, last time I was Vogel-bombed by P-Town Tom.

Now, this was all very amusing and such - but, I found myself faced with a very important question... what does one do with a massive amount of junk wax dupes?  Before I could even finish asking myself that question, my fiancee grabbed the pile and, well, this happened:

Makin' it rain...

She sure was pleased with herself:

This one is just full of surprises,

After having cleaned up that mess, I was still faced with the same question - what to do with all these Gracies?  Share the wealth of course.

What cat doesn't want their very own Mark Grace baseball card?

This one, apparently.  "Mongo" was not impressed.

Perhaps another one of the household pets would be a tad more grateful for the gift Andy and I bestowed upon them:

"Sheldon" is looking at me as if to say, "What buffoonery is this?  I asked for a Picasso, not a baseball card!!"

In the end, none of these solutions were particularly helpful; I'll have to figure something else out.  If you're a Cubs collector and I trade with you, I'd watch your mailbox if I was you.

Now, as for that second stack of cards that Andy jammed into his padded mailer - it was filled with cool stuff that fit into multiple facets of my collections, including one card that absolutely blew me away.  However, I think I'll save the rest for tomorrow - holy cliffhanger Batman!

In the meantime, maybe the dogs would more appreciative?...

The Proper Attire

In order to more readily fill otherwise vacant slots in my respective all-time roster collections, I accept any card of any player, regardless of team affiliation listed on the rectangle.  Often times, that player doesn't have a Cubs/Bears/Blackhawks card to be obtained, or a card with the proper uniform is exceptionally rare and/or prohibitively expensive.

Sometimes, it's just a question of what's available and when.

Over the past couple of days, I was able to "Cubgrade" and "Hawkgrade" a couple of players who had otherwise slipped by in the uniforms of other clubs.  These cards weren't rare, they weren't expensive; our paths just were not crossing:

For instance, this simple base card from 1977 Topps of an otherwise un-notable player had been sitting on my to-get list for a long time.  For whatever reason, it just never showed up in my LCS, dimeboxes, or at a price I was willing to pay online.

Seeing as Joe only pitched for one, partial season in Chicago (1976), it's not surprising that this is his only Cubs card.

Until a couple of days ago, when I finally found a cheapie online, this "pitcher at the plate" shot had been the representation for Casey Coleman's father in my CATRC.  It had been part of Christmas gift when I was still in high school, so it's been keeping the spot warm for a proper Coleman for many moons.

Meanwhile, this "Hawkgrade" didn't take nearly as long, mostly since Artem Anisimov only blew into the Windy City last year, as part of the much-maligned Brandon Saad deal.

I'd picked the original, Rookie Anthology card from a dimebox at one of my local card spots to temporarily hold down the fort.  I mean, at a dime, you just can't beat that price.

Lucky for me, my hookup on Ebay for virtual dimebox shopping on hockey singles had this 2016 UD Series II Anisimov plucked and ready to go.  In the end, it cost me a bit more than a dime - 11 cents;  although, I think I can live with that uptick in price.

Also, it should be noted that tonight is a win or go home game for my beloved Blackhawks - game 7 against the damn Blues begins at 7:30pm in St. Louis.  They sure haven't played like the Blackhawks machine of seasons previous this year; however, they still have some fight left in them!

Image courtesy of Victoria Kendzierski of SDI

That's it for today - a short and sweet post showing off the proper attire for my collections.   After having taken the weekend off, I didn't want to slip into a slump.

Thankfully, blogging inspiration should be on the rise in the next few days.  At home, I have a massive padded mailer sitting on my counter, courtesy of Andy at Ain't Nobody Got Time for Cardboard, that I have yet to tear into.  Not to mention, just today, I sent off my very first TTM autograph request.  I know some of you out there did that in grade school and hundreds of cards later have this down to a science; please try to contain your laughter.

Speaking of TTM, it's time for me to TTFN - tata for now!

Pickin' Up Chicks

In all these years of trying to build a collection of the Cubs' all-time roster, I've come to accept the fact that certain names will never be officially added to my corresponding binder.  In collecting a team whose history dates back to the Reconstruction Era, many a player has come and gone without any sort of cardboard immortalization.

However - that doesn't mean I'm not going to do my damndest to get all of them anyway... and in any way possible too.

One of these heretofore, ancient and unknown names is one Charles "Chick" Pedroes, who was a Chicago "Orphan" for all of two games in 1902.  In the course of six trips to the plate, the rightfielder didn't so much as touch first base.

Officially, he's never had a baseball card issued in his name - after all, he had a exceptionally brief cuppacoffee over 100 years ago.  That said, I still managed to add him to my CATRC collection today:

What you see here might not technically qualify as a card and it certainly holds no monetary value; however, it will still be slid into a nine-pocket page, all the same.

This "card" was printed out by yours truly on cardstock, using an HP printer designed specifically for printing photographs.  Furthermore, the design for this oddity does not come from me - it hails from a spanish-language website dedicated to Major League players of Cuban heritage:

The proprietors of the above-linked fan-site has created one of these virtual "cards" for every Cuban to ever reach the Major Leagues, including the little-known Chick Pedroes.  Before we talk anymore about this template, we have to address the elephant in the room:  although his name is the definition of obscure, Chick is notable for being the first Cuban-born player in Cubs' history, a credit we don't often hear about.

In an era where cultural heritage is often spotlighted and when Cuban/US relations haven't been better in decades, why has this fact been glossed over?  MLB blogger Peter Bjarkman posited this reason when Pedroes' birthplace was solidified in 2008:

"(Pedroes and contemporary Jud Castro) are Latino pioneers only by special case: they are North American ballplayers who happen, by a quirk of fate, to have been born outside of American soil. None of their baseball talents, styles of play, or athletic heritage had anything whatsoever to do with their seemingly non-existent “Latino” heritage."

In Peter's eyes, Chick just wasn't Cuban enough.  Hmmmmm....  Anyway, back to the custom creation at hand.

In the process of printing this thing, I came to the realization that whoever was the creator behind it either drew heavy inspiration from a notable custom card-maker, or he straight up lifted said artist's work.  If you're familiar at all with blogger, artist and author Gary Cieradkowski and his beautiful "Infinite Baseball Card Set," the frame around Chick should definitely ring a bell:

As you can plainly see, these also obscure and old-timey Chicago baseballers above are presented to us on a pretty much identical template.  Both of these cards were purchased straight from Gary to fill other gaps in my collection that would otherwise remain empty forever.

I'm not looking to get anyone in trouble here, but...

Also of interest to me, is the team for which Mr. Pedroes is pictured as playing with - "Gunther."  Chick had been playing in the organized minor leagues going way back to 1888, with his all-too-brief Cubs call-up being the noted finish line for his professional baseball career.  None of his bush league stops were with a team called "Gunther." 

Therefore, this lack of record combined with the fact that the picture appears to date from a little bit later in the decade (based on the quality) and the apparent age in Pedroes' face, "Gunther" must have been some sort of semi-pro or industrial league nine he played with after his career in organized ball had come to an end.

Gunther is also, apparently, a terribly vulgar Euro-pop artist.  Who knew?

Regardless, this "bootleg" card will probably have to serve as Chick's representation in my CATRC binder for the duration of my collection - that is, unless someone decides to properly recognize his status in Cubs history with a card or I feel motivated enough to create my own custom.  No matter what though, I got a blog post out of it, at least!

Does anyone else do this for cards of subjects that they'd otherwise never get?  Perhaps a print-out of an otherwise exclusively digital release (i.e. Topps Bunt, Huddle, Star Wars Card Trader, etc.) resides in a binder page or two?  I really hope that I'm not the only one desperate enough to do this.

Anyone?

When Doves Cry

David Bowie, Merle Haggard, Frank Sinatra Jr., Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), Glenn Frey (Eagles), Keith Emerson (Emerson Lake and Palmer), George Martin (Beatles producer), Maurice White (Earth Wind and Fire), Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane)....  2016 has been an especially terrible year when it comes to losing musical icons.

Unfortunately, another major name in the history of recorded music has been added to that list.  At the far-too-young age of 57, Prince passed away at his Paisley Park residence, as confirmed by his official publicist.

Details are vague at this point; however, earlier this month, Prince had to temporarily postpone a planned performance in Atlanta due to illness.  After soldiering through the make up date, his plane was forced to take an emergency landing in Illinois so that the legendary singer and guitarist could seek medical attention.

Prince has seen sustained popularity since he first emerged on the scene in the early 80's.  It was his iconic album 1999, and the single of the same name, that first launched "the Purple One" into the mainstream.  A string of subversively and overtly raunchy hits soon followed, including Darling Nikki, Raspberry Beret and Little Red Corvette gave the PMRC fits and songs like Let's Go Crazy and Purple Rain became ubiquitous parts of American culture (even if the movie of the same, latter name decidedly didn't).

The eccentric artist may have changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol for a time and been notably reclusive; that said, his blend of rock, funk, R&B and pop created one of the most unique sounds in business and he is universally accepted as one of the greatest guitarists and lyricists of all-time

In recent years, Prince has slayed a Super Bowl halftime show, released a string of critically acclaimed singles and albums and made popular guest appearances on TV, such as his cameo in New Girl.  His appeal as a musician and artist stretched through several generations, much like David Bowie.

As such, today I'll been spinning my original pressing of his 1999 album and my purple, 7" single of Purple Rain (which has one of the greatest guitar solos ever committed to record) in honor of this influential icon.  Prince himself may now be gone; however, his genius and presence will continue to be felt on the airwaves and through stereo speakers forever.

The most rock n' roll halftime show - ever.