The Joy of Christmas Cards

Christmas has come and gone, so I'm a little late with this shout out - but, I hope Angus can find it in his heart to forgive me.

The proprietor of Dawg Day Cards has been somewhat MIA on the blogosphere lately, as real life has gotten in the way over the past few months.  However, everyone's favorite Browns fan has recently returned to our ranks and announced his presence with authority in a round of Christmas packages.  Watching the Browns every Sunday is enough to turn anyone into a bitter mess, but not Angus.  Despite the woes of his favorite sports team, this blogger remains as generous as ever.  One does not need to look any further than the bubble mailer that showed up in my mailbox in the days leading up to Jesus' birthday:

First of all, they came encapsulated in the fabulous Christmas card that you see above, which also contained a lovely note on the inside which I forgot to photograph for the purposes of the blog.  This would have been enough on it's own, as it's a gift that appeals to both myself and my wife, as well.

For me, I absolutely love the ivy-walled artwork chosen for the front flap of this masterpiece and it makes for a unique oddball to my Cubs-themed baseball card collection.  In my wife's case, one of her favorite parts of the holiday season is receiving Christmas cards from our friends and family, bringing Yuletide greetings, well-wishes, and spirited joy as they decorate our mantelpiece... well, book shelf, that is... we live in an apartment, after all.  At any rate, this was something both my wife and I "oohed and aahed" over!

In case you were curious, the print hails from an original piece of work by Darren Hill, titled "Where He Called His Shot" - an obvious nod to Babe Ruth's mythical (and fictional) called home run.  I haven't been able to track down any more of Mr. Hill's work, but I love his peaceful depiction of "The Friendly Confines," despite it being based on the "modern" Wrigley as opposed to the configuration from when the titular event took place.  I wonder if he's published any more work since his partnership with Off-Season's Greetings Card Co. in 1986?  I can't really find any more information on that company either... where did you find this gem, Angus?

It was easy for me to get lost in that Christmas card alone, but, as I mentioned, it came stuffed with further cardboard goodies.  So, let's take a look at what other gifts Angus Claus dropped down my figurative chimney flute.

Let's start with a quick warm-up, like any proper running event - these two track & field singles should do the trick.

By collection of running cards is a project that's been on the back-burner, seeing as it's not a sport that sees much trading card love and harriers do not show up in sets regularly.  Thus, I was thrilled when the University of Arizona's George Young and Team USA's Karl Warner fell out of Angus' mailer.  they're both new faces to be added to that burgeoning collection.  The former won a bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the  steeplechase and held several American records in events ranging from the two mile to the 5k.  The latter ran the third leg in the American 4x400 meter relay team in the 1932 Olympics, taking home the gold when they posted a then-world record of 3:08.2.

I'm sorry, my distance runner nerd side is showing... let's shift gears a little bit with another pair of cards from the 1990 Collegiate Collection set:

Holy moly!  The University of Arizona basketball star, Ken Lofton?  You better believe that's the same Ken Lofton who would go on to patrol the outfield for seemingly every team in Major League Baseball in the 90's and 00's.

Before signing his first pro baseball contract in between his junior and senior year of college, the multi-sport athlete starred on the basketball court for the Wildcats.  In baseball, he regularly lead the league in steals on the basepaths; in basketball, Lofton actually set the UA record for career steals (200) and steals in a season (67) on the hardwood.  Also, fun fact, Kenny is one of four Cubs to have played in the March Madness tournament.

These singles have long been on my want-list for my collection of multi-sport Cubs, a PC which includes Tim Stoddard basketball cards, Matt Szczur football cards, and Ernie Banks golf cards.  Angus is bringing the fire power!

How do you keep that momentum going? By throwing in an autograph, of course!

Billy Blitzer is a scout that worked for the Cubs from the early 80's through the early portion of this decade.  Among his most well-known signings are Shawon Dunston, Jamie Moyer, Derrick May, and Alex Arias.  In 2011, Topps decided to include autographs of scouts in their popular Bowman brand - it's a pairing that makes sense on paper, but I can't imagine prospectors were thrilled when one of their guaranteed hits turned out to be a non-athlete.  On the other hand, I love these sorts of quirks and I'm more happy to scoop them up, odd though they may be.

Speaking of oddballs, the rest of Angus' "Christmas in an envelope" mailing was nothing but:

These three cards might look like ordinary 2017 Flagship base and inserts, but there's more than meets the eye.  As the different photos on the front might have indicated, these are actually singles from the New Era promotional set released by Topps through Lids.  Seeing as my trusty, dusty Cubs cap isn't getting updated anytime soon and I'm not one to drop thirty smackers on headgear anyway, these bad boys simply weren't on my radar, whatsoever.

Now, with Maddux, Bryant, and Schwarber in hand, I have the complete Cubs base team set and half of the inserts from the checklist - not bad!  Also, Kris looks phenomenal in World Series Champion gold!

Speaking of Kris Bryant, one special Topps promotion that was on my radar was National Baseball Card Day.  In fact, I went to multiple different card shops to chase the free packs that were given away during that hallowed holiday.  Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I did not pull a single Cubs card from any of them.  It was quite the letdown.

Well, Angus wasn't going to let that stand.  I did a little happy dance when this NBCD '17 Bryant single fell out of his stocking stuffer!

Continuing the oddball trend, was this small stack of Panini stickers.  I'm still fighting the temptation to stick them all over the walls of our apartment; however, I think that might ruin the Christmas glow that my wife is still joyously basking in.  My landlord might have something to say about that too.

Moving on, before the urges become too strong to overpower:

Angus also tossed in a couple of complete sets of oddities - on the left is the 1985 7Up sponsored, SGA set and on the right is the 1987 Pro Cards Wytheville Cubs collation.

I've long had scattered singles from the former floating throughout my collection, so it's awesome to finally have a complete, team-bagged set to keep intact.  In contrast, I've never possessed a single one of these Wytheville cards, which was the Rookie level team in the Appalachian League for the Cubs of the late-80's.  I'm sure that Angus knows that I absolutely adore minor league cards and threw these into the package accordingly.

Here's a pair of my favorites from the latter.  First, we have Matt Franco, eventual Cubs bench player and nephew of the great Kurt Russell.  Next to him, is the rare shot of the pitching coach pretending to lay down a bunt - seriously, what's not to love about that?  Not to mention, Rick Kranitz went on to become the Big League Cubs' bullpen coach in 2002; so, this goofy single will slot nicely into my coaches binder.  Meanwhile, Franco and several other friends will be targeted for my "Nothing Major" collection of minor league cards of Major League Cubs.

On that note, so will these two concluding pasteboards:

These 1988 Iowa Cubs All Stars would go on to be key contributors for the surprise 1989 NL East Champion Cubs, aka "The Boys of Zimmer."  Dwight Smith would finish second in the Rookie of the Year voting while Mike Bielecki would revive his career as the number two starter on the staff.

Back to the cards, these blue-bordered and beautiful Pro Cards were available, on-site, to patrons of the 1988 AAA All-Star Game in Buffalo, New York and the player information on the back was only two weeks old that day - not bad, considering how long it takes to print and prepare thousands of card sets!  Now, they, like their Wytheville brethren, will be resting comfortably in my minor league Cubs binder.

With that, we've finally reached the conclusion of Angus' seemingly endless Christmas gift.  Seriously, it was like trying to find the bottom of Santa's bag!  Thank you, Angus, for your Christmas spirit and generosity - the package was a thrill to sort through and distribute among the various arms of my collection.  There was no lack of quality cardboard, that's for sure.  I'll be sure to return the favor ASAP.

Also, I made sure to put the Christmas card on prominent display on our mantelpiece.... errr, again, bookshelf.  Here it is, right on the very top, among the other bits of mailable Noel joy on that shelving unit:

A merry late Christmas to you Angus and to all of you out there who are reading this - and a happy new year!