No Nomo? No Problem!

 

"Is this heaven?"  "No, it's Iowa." - Field of Dreams

Honestly, I may be the person most impressed by anything Iowan since that exchange between Ray Kinsella and his father.  As a fellow Midwesterner, I mean no offense to any Iowa natives who might have stumbled out of the corn fields and come across this blog.  It can get pretty dull out here in the vast, flat center of our country.

What isn't boring, came from the Hawkeye State, and has caught my fancy are the cards that Nick from Dime Boxes sent my way.  The royal dime box digger recently acquired a dream pasteboard of his - one that nearly causes this Cubs fan head explode - but, it came as part of a fully-packaged set.  Luckily, among the cast-offs were a trio of cards that I had also been searching high and low for; although, admittedly, they are not nearly as mind-bending as seeing Hideo Nomo in Cubs colors.

In case you hadn't figured it out yet through the title card and the embedded link to Nick's blog, these mysterious Iowan trading cards that I'm dancing around are the 1999 Multi-Ad Sports Iowa Cubs team set:

Why do these basic cards with poor photography and thin cardstock have me so enthused?  After all, these three players combined hardly add up to the significance of the 1995 National League Rookie of the Year and his famed tornado delivery.  Nor do they show nationally renowned stars wearing unfamiliar uniforms.  Does anyone remember Hideo Nomo's superfluous stint in the Chicago Cubs organization?  One can hardly blame you if you don't as it was only three starts long - singed to a MiLB deal in March, Nomo exercised an opt-out after the Cubs neglected to add him to their MLB roster.

The 1999 Cubs were terrible and saw three of their regular starters post ERA's over five, including Andrew Lorraine above.  Sure seems like they could have afforded to give Nomo a proper audition...but, what do I know?  Maybe I'm just salty because I wish I could add such a noteworthy player to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.

Tell me that sight doesn't melt your brain a little bit!  Image courtesy of the Des Moines Register.

 

Anyway, these guys are no Nomo, but they are significant to me and my CATRC.  All three of these men made brief appearances with the Chicago version of the Cubs either before or after their cards were printed.  Unfortunately for this team collector, with the exception of one rarely seen oddball for Lorraine that I only discovered after this acquisition, none of this trio appeared on a card in their Windy City digs.  Thus, these Multi-Ad's are as close as I can possibly get to representing them within the pages of my CATRC in proper Cubbie Blue.  When it comes to fringe roster guys, I often have to dip into their minor league cards in this manner.

So, when I saw Nick's post about his purchase of the 1999 Iowa team set and that he really only cared about the Nomo, I quickly perused the checklist for short-termers and offered to trade.  Being the kind and generous soul that he is, the Dime Box king gladly obliged.  

In case you were curious, here's the skinny on there three mostly Iowa, sometime Chicago Cubs.  Doug Creek snuck into three games out of the bullpen in 1999 and was walloped for seven runs in just six innings.  Lorraine rode the Iowa/Chicago shuttle as a Quad A-type player from 1999-2000 getting into a total of 19 games as a swingman.  Derrick White's Cubs tenure and entire MLB career was already over when this card rolled off the presses, having appeared in 11 games with the surprise 1998 NL Wild Card winners.  While he did not appear in the playoffs, he did contribute to the playoff cause by smacking a game winning home run in a contest against the White Sox - his only big fly of the season.

Above, you can see the cards from other organizations which were unseated by Nick's generosity.  The White and Lorraine singles will be repurposed for my binder of extra minor league cards feature Major League Cubs, seeing as they hail from each player's prospect days.  Meanwhile, you might say that this Giant  Doug is up a Creek.

Now, with Nick being the gracious ruler of Dimeboxdonia that he is, the monarch didn't just send me the agreed upon Iowa cards.  Also stuffed into the PWE was a bunch of bonus Cubs-related cardboard, which packed an extra thrill into a trade that I was already pumped about.  What a guy, eh?

Taking a look at the surprise inclusions, let's stick with the minor leagues for a minute:

Syketo Anderson has one heckuva name - too bad he didn't make the Major Leagues because that would be a mighty moniker for the CATRC.  However, his brother was able to break through onto the game's biggest stage and you might have heard of him:  12-year veteran, Marlon Anderson.  Little brother was only able to top out at A-ball in 2001; though, he did stay active in the indy leagues for a little while after that.

Gotta love Total for really digging into the weeds.  I'm so glad that Topps rebooted this brand!

Getting a little more modern, Nick got me updated on 2020 Update too:

Figures that I just bought the team set for this set a couple of weeks prior - that's what I get for being impatient.  That's okay though, a few extras never hurt a blogger.  Plus, even though he didn't end up playing in 2020, dig that awesome double play turn on Daniel Descalso's card!

At this point, the trade started getting odd.... oddball heavy, that is!

Next up, was a pair of pasteboards from the 2000 Fox Sports Net set that was given away at Wrigley Field that year.  I absolutely love the unique design on these cards and I am strongly considering swapping these into my CATRC for whatever cards are already repping Brown and Tapani.  The TV-like graphical elements (apropos for a set sponsorship by a television station) make this SGA collation rather unique and any set that incorporates uniform numbers gets some bonus points from this blogger as well.

Finally, in stark contrast with a TV-based set, we close with a couple of cards that are aping designs from sets of long ago, when such a modern luxury wasn't even a glimmer in your granpappy's eye:

 

Adbert Alzolay's appearance in the PWE comes via a rookie card insert evoking the hand-painted lithographs of the Turkey Red days near the turn of the previous century.  Here's hoping Adbert does some painting of his own in 2021, specifically painting the corners seeing as he'll be heavily counted upon to shore up the Cubs', shall we say, iffy starting rotation.  Furthermore, for as easy on the eyes as this RC is, let's hope that Adbert is just as tough on opposing hitters!

 

 

Finally, the last card contained with the plain, white envelope was a modern-ish reprint of a 1910 Plow Boys tobacco antique, featuring a World Champion outfielder in Jimmy Sheckard.  Much like Iowa Cubs minor league issues, reprints are another fertile source for new additions to the CATRC due to their offering low budget options for aged and obscure players from the distant past.  I already have a Sheckard in my collection, but I like the look of this sepia-toned re-do - Jimmy looks so regal!

With that, we've reached seen all of the contents of Nick's PWE and what a PWE it was.  I should have known that it was going to be a doozy and not just because it came from Nick - just look at the awesome, tone-setting stamp that he affixed to the front:

We all know that Nick has exquisite taste in cardboard.  Don't sleep on this man's taste in music though, as his ongoing and fascinating saga with Jim Walewander and the Dead Milkmen also indicates. 

Meanwhile, if you are sitting on any minor league cards of Cubs affiliates or reprints featuring Cubbies of long ago era, I would love to talk trade.  They don't just have to be Iowa Cubs cards; it's just that since they are the Cubs AAA affiliate, those sets often feature the most eventual Major Leaguers.  Plus, I selfishly like that the team uses the same colors, name, and similar logos to the parent club.  These factors allow me to cross my eyes and see a true Cubs card for the purposes of my CATRC!

My thanks go out to Dime Box Nick and to the state of Iowa for stuffing the coffers of my favorite baseball card collection.  Nick - keep an eye on your mailbox!  Iowa - keep hosting the Iowa Cubs, please!