Bobbin' For Cards

Sometimes, when it comes to pursuing my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, it kind of feels like bobbing for apples.

There are so many players with cards on the market, just plainly floating in front of my face.  But, when I throw myself into the market to grab one, I often come up empty.

Of course, there aren't actually cards floating in a bucket anywhere in my house - that would be counter productive.

Then again, sometimes I come up with a nice, big ol' Granny Smith.  Or a Bob Smith, anyway:

The proprietor of one of my LCS's kindly set this card aside for me as he is acutely aware of my collecting habits - the man is a saint!

Bob Smith's 1958 Topps high-number has dodged me several times, most recently when I was sniped on Listia by just a few credits about a month ago.  The prospect of adding a vintage high-number to my binder for exactly $0.00 was just so damn appealing; it was such a let down.

No matter, this time I'm clutching it in my teeth... errr hands - that metaphor is over with.

"Riverboat" here was one of three men to suit up for the Cubbies who bore the name "Bob Smith."  Further complicating matters, there was another contemporary infielder who also played for the Red Sox with the same name.  Despite this web, I've managed to track down the correct guy.

Will the real Bob Smith please stand up, please stand up?

Thankfully, I already added these two to my binder

 Bob was a lefty pitcher who got two years in the Show and exactly one game with the Cubs.

Traded by the Red Sox for future manager Chuck Tanner in 1959, he pitched exactly 2/3 of an inning on April 29th and was lit up by the Redlegs; he was torched for six earned runs!

He soon found himself swapped to Cleveland so that "Handsome Ransom" Jackson could finish his farewell tour with his original franchise and out of the Bigs for good.

Soooo the fact that he had such a common name, a terrible track record and only one known baseball card (a high number, at that) made this a tough rectangle to track down.

Just finding this gem (one of my favorite sets!) would have been enough for me to call this "bob"bing session a success; but then I noticed a nice stack of Target Dodgers:

This team-issued set sponsored by the big box retailer was released to celebrate 100 years of the Dodger franchise and aimed to include a card of every man to ever suit up for them.  Seeing as they are almost as old as the Cubs, there is a lot of helpful player overlap.

I should take a second to mention that GCRL has done a tremendous job spotlighting this oddball set, including this very card.  Thank you for that!

Jack had two brief stints as a serviceable extra outfielder in 1900 and from 1903-04 (a Cubs Double Dipper, as GCRL might say) before he was eventually traded to Brooklyn for future World Series cog Jimmy Sheckard.

Now, maybe this is just me, but that picture doesn't look right to me.  It looks too sharp and clear to be of the correct era.  Plus, the jersey looks more like the style that was worn in the 30's and 40's.  This set is plagued with picture errors - is it possible that this is another?  Or am I just loco?

Personally, I thought I was going loco with all my luck, especially when I noticed a couple of singles in the discount bin that I had been wanting to pick up.

I feel in love with the Alcantara card the first time I saw it scanned on the blogosphere.  I adore those late-60's Cubs throwback uniforms, the photo selection works well with the excellent 2015 design and the "Future Stars" designation is icing on the cake.  I hope Arismendy turns out at least half as well as this card!

Motte is one of the new guys on the Cubs roster, brought in to bring some veteran leadership to an otherwise young bullpen.  While, he is sporting some severe "pitcher's face," I appreciate that the photo wasn't cropped so tightly that that's all we could see.  Not to mention, I like the design of 2011 Topps infinitely better than the train-wreck of a design that was 2014 Topps that was holding Motte's spot in my collection.

Tightly cropped and a hodge podge of a layout. Ugh.

At this point, time was getting short and it was time for me to be on my merry way.  But, I couldn't resist the urge to rip open a pack.  So, I bought a single pack of Heritage.

I didn't pull any hits, short prints, gum stains or anything like that,but lo and behold, resting right on top was another guy I needed for my CATRC:

Jokisch is a lefty starter who made his debut late last season.  He looked pretty good - 1.88 ERA in 14.1 innings and 10 K's, but there are still lingering doubts about his durability and his stuff in extended action.  He'll probably be riding the shuttle from Des Moines to Chicago a few times this year.

Spencer Patton?  Sorry, I'm not too concerned with you.  Or the rest of the pack's contents:

See anything you like?

My attention was taken by the fact that an impulsive stop to my LCS (which I keep thinking I've fished clean out) produced three new additions to my CATRC.  

That doesn't happen much anymore, over ten years into this project.

I may usually come up empty when I go bobbin' in the LCS; but, today I came up with not one - not two - but three, shiny apples in my clutches.

That certainly brightened my Monday!

Stroke the Furry Wall

Because that's what you do when life slips you a Jeffrey.

Quick - name that flick!

The Jeffrey that life (or rather Ebay) slipped me yesterday afternoon was of the Beliveau variety.

A Cubs relief-prospect who was on the shuttle between Des Moines and Chicago throughout 2012, thus keeping him from finding his niche (4.58 ERA in 17.2 frames) and burning up his options prematurely. This lead to his unecessary DFA that offseason.

That development proved to be unfortunate, as Jeffrey emerged as a strong component of the Tampa Bay bullpen last season, posting a 2.63 ERA in 30 games.

But we snapped Joe Maddon up from under their noses and the bullpen has actually been one of the strongest and most well-stocked aspects of this team lately - so, we win!

He's ours Tampa!

This mugshot of a baseball card comes from Jeffrey's minor league days, 2011 to be specific. You'll notice that the 18th rd. draft choice from 2008 is listed as a member of the High-A Daytona Cubs, but the uniform he is sporting clearly does not match up. He's actually wearing a Tennessee Smokies uni, AA affiliate of the Cubs.

I find this somewhat goofy, seeing as he never tossed another pitch in Daytona after his call up to the Volunteer State mid-way through 2011. That said, I can see why Daytona would have wanted to document his time spent there in their team-issued set of cards - 0.52 ERA in 17 innings with 2 saves. His performance continued right on up to AA, were he posted a 1.89 ERA in 57 innings. You can see why he became a prospect, despite his draft status.

You win some, you lose some

Courtesy of Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images North America

So, even though it wasn't for Chicago, it's nice to see that Jeff may have finally solidified his spot in the Major Leagues. What's not nice is my record keeping.

You see, I thought I still needed a Jeffrey card to place into my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection. So, when I saw this card listed for about $1 with shipping included on Ebay, I pounced, seeing as minor league singles are generally tough to come by at a decent price.

Well, it turns out that I was wrong. In fact, not only did I have a card representing Beliveau in my CATRC, I had one that was graciously bestowed upon me by P-Town Tom of Waiting 'til Next Year fame.

This one even looks more like a baseball card than a mugshot. Doh!

C'iest la vie. There much, much, much bigger problems in the world that I could be having to deal with right now. So, I'll just add this to my greater Cubs card collection and smile.

Unlike Jeffrey - he looks like he's been too busy stroking furry walls to smile.

Beeler?... Beeler?....

So, right before I fell off the face of the earth, I was contacted by Weston, proprietor of the aptly named blog Fantastic Catch.  As a Cub fan, I pretty much loathe the Cardinals, so the opportunity to unload a few onto him was a welcome opportunity.  In return, he helped me to cross another name off of my CATRC want list,

Dallas got the call for the first time last summer to start the second game of a double header on June 28th against the Nationals and making a second spot start on July 9th against the Cardinals (how appropriate for this trade!).

He was excellent in his first start, giving up no earned runs in six innings, although he took the loss.  Game 2 was more of a mixed bag, giving up four in just five innings.  He's technically in the mix for the fifth spot in the rotation this spring, but it would take an unfortunate set of circumstances for him not to start the season in Iowa as depth.

John Baker comforts Dallas Beeler as the Cubs waste his strong debut

Also of note (not a good note), as a testament to how bad the Cubs were at developing talent at the end of the Jim Hendry regime, Dallas was the first player from the draft of 2010 (41st round!!) to make the bigs, with many of the top picks having already washed out of the game. Anyone remember Hayden Simpson or Reggie Golden?

However, this 2010 Topps Pro-Debut card depicting his tenure on the Mesa rookie league team wasn't the only thing that fell out of Weston's envelope:

Here we have a Cubs legend from days long gone by and, hopefully, a Cubs legend-to-be for days long to come.  I presume Weston was willing to let this shiny 2011 Topps 60 go because it commemorates his time with the Cubs, specifically his franchise record for single-season total bases (409 in his MVP year of 1929).  I'm happy to oblige,

Jorge has gone from the 41st best prospect in the game on this Bowman card to one of the leading contenders for the NL ROY courtesy of a monster late-season call-up.  His prodigious power has me feeling quite optimistic!

Also included was this nifty gold "58 Years of Collecting" parallel from the 2009 edition of Update.  Jeff Baker never looked so good!  Thusly, this card now represents Mr. Baker in my CATRC.

Side-note, good thing I got my hands on a copy, apparently there are "only" 2009 of these floating around out there!

Now, I'm rather certain that Weston included a few more cards in this trade, however, too much time has passed for my sleep-deprived brain to remember.  For that, I apologize.  But, even just based on what you see above, it's easy to acknowledge that this was a pretty sweet deal!

Thanks for trading with me... even though it took several months for me to give you proper credit!

Always Look on the Whiteside of Life

Today's post will be another brief one - I'm most of the way through re-posting all the pictures that were lost on this blog, but I've still got some work to do.

But, I saw this morning that a member of last year's Cubs team has called it a career.  Since I just recently acquired his card for my CATRC, this seemed like as good as time as any to feature it:

Ah, the chrome text strikes again!  You'll have to trust me when I say that Eli's last name is Whiteside.

Anyway, Eli first came up to the big leagues in 2005 with the Orioles, but his tenure only lasted a scant 9 games.

He didn't reemerge from the minors until 2009, when he earned the regular back-up catching gig with the Giants.  He wasn't much with the bat (.214 career BA in SF), but came with a good reputation for defense and game-calling.  As proof, he was behind the dish for Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter against the Padres.

Eli was briefly re-united with his battery-mate in Cubs camp last spring

The role was his until the 2012 season, when he lost it to Hector Sanchez and ended up appearing in only 12 games.  That offseason, he played the waiver-wire shuffle before spending 2013 in the minors with the Blue Jays.

The Cubs signed him to a minor league deal for 2014 to serve as just-in-case depth and it turned out that depth was needed after Welington Castillo went on the DL in July with a rib-cage injury.

In Chicago, he appeared in his last 8 MLB games of his career, batting a woeful .120 in 26 plate appearances before being designated for assignment.  Although, he did somehow manage to steal a base, so there's that.

Welly's injury allowed Eli one last hurrah in the Majors

Despite getting some offers from big league clubs this off-season, Mr. Whiteside has decided to move on to the next stage of his professional career:  coaching.  He just accepted the role as bullpen catcher on the team for which he helped get to two World Series: the San Francisco Giants.

As for his spot in my CATRC, it will be held by the 2012 Topps flagship card you see at the top of this post for the time being.  As a role player, he has few cards on the market (I had to break a Giants team-set just to track down this one) and none of them depict his brief stop in the Windy City.  However, he did make the Iowa Cubs team set and that is the closest I can get to a "Cubs card."

If anyone is willing to break up a set, I'd love to take this off your hands!

Image courtesy of GoSportsCards

So there you have it.  His individual stats might not be very eye-catching; however, I'm sure his two World Series rings are very much so.  Plus, he called a no-hitter and he joined Bobby Bonds, Dave Kingman, and Brian Dallimore as the only Giants to hit a grand slam for their first home run.  

I'd definitely take that career.  Good luck to you in the next phase of your baseball life Eli!

Oh! and just in case you didn't already get this stuck in your head due to the post title....

Roster Jenga 3 - Back to the Minors

Hopefully, unlike the movie title that this post references, this blog post has a reason for existing.

Right before I left to go on vacation to the east coast (more on that in a later post) earlier this summer, P-Town Tom of the wonderful Cub-centric blog Waiting 'Til Next Year contacted me about a potential trade that would fill a couple of my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection needs.

Far from being a blockbuster like we witnessed later in summer in actual baseball, this one involved a couple of guys who only got brief tastes of the Majors - Jeff Beliveau and Mike Mahoney.  As such, both of the cards that the gracious P-Town Tom was offering up were of the minor league, team-issued variety.

I love minor league baseball cards.  They may be cheaply made, over-priced and difficult to obtain, but there's something about seeing relatively unfamiliar uniforms, teams, players etc. that really piques my curiosity.

Seeing as how P-Town references Peoria, I think it's safe to say that Tom may have obtained this card during a trip to the local diamond.  If my inference is correct, even more gratitude goes your way for breaking a set!

The Peoria Chiefs were a low-A affiliate of the Cubs from 1985-94 and again from 2005-12.  It was during this second stint that Beliveau was making his way through the system.

A semi-intriguing relief prospect, Jeff stopped through town in 2009.  The hard-thrower eventually climbed all the way into the Bigs in 2012; if he showed some promise, he could shore up a spot in a dreadful bullpen.

It wasn't to be; inconsistency plagued Beliveau that season.  Although he struck out 17 men in 17.2 innings, he also walked 12 and posted an ERA of 4.58.

He was DFA'ed after the season and claimed by the Rays.  He continues to bounce up and down in their system today.

I really like the simplistic layout of the card, as many minor league sets tend to be a little too jarring on the front, and the photo choice; it looks as though he had a really itchy armpit.  However, what is going on with the margins on the back?  Taking it to the edge there Multi-Ad?

Speaking of interesting photography though:

What a catch!  This might just be one of my favorite cards in the collection.

Mike was a failed Braves prospect when he came to the Cubs system before the 2000 season.  But, seeing as the Cubs chain was in shambles at that time, Mike's status changed from failed to top rather quickly.

He made a September cameo later that season and then a 16 game stint in 2002 where he batted .206 while exhibiting no power in 31 at-bats.  Even on a floundering Cubs team that lost 90 games, that wasn't going to fly.

However, though he wasn't able to crack the big league roster in 2001, the year did provide one highlight - the birth of his daughter Aubrey in May.  As you can see, they honored this on his AAA Iowa card.  That makes sense - he had no on-field moments that were worth honoring, after all.

Also, let's take a moment to realize that little Aubrey there is now 13 years old and in 8th grade.  My oh my does time fly by.  I bet she doesn't fit in his glove anymore.

The good news is that Mike has plenty of time to deal with his teenager, as after a brief reappearance in 2005 with the Cardinals, Mike's major league career has long since ended.

Good luck Mike!  She was a handful then (literally) and she'll be even more of one now!

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There you have it, my big summer trade.  It may have only been two cards, but it was two minor league cards of guys that I had been chasing for a long time.  Plus, one even provided one of my favorite shots of all-time on a baseball card.

You really can't ask for more than that!

Thank you very much for the cards P-Town Tom and I hope to continue trading in the future. 

Mr. Zero Goes to Chicago

Yesterday, I hinted that my post today would have an international flavor to it.  That international flavor?  Japanese (and Korean).

The Cubs have not really had much success when it comes to Japanese-league imports.  Kosuke Fukudome turned into a screw driver every time he came to the plate and Kyuji Fujikawa hit the DL immediately upon landing in the states... OK, it wasn't THAT quickly, but it sure did feel like it.

Recently, there was one other former NPB star that the Cubs brought over, but he didn't come with nearly as much fan-fare and he wasn't actually Japanese - Chang Yong-Lim.

"Mr. Zero," as he was known in Japan, was well-past his prime by the time he landed in Chicago on a two-year deal.  In fact, at age 36, he was coming straight off of his second (!!!) Tommy John surgery when he was inked as a free agent going into 2013.  Not exactly a promising set-up.

He spent several years starring in his native South Korea in the KBO as a reliever.  Lim even generated some MLB buzz with his sidearm fastball, which has been credited as the fastest sidearm pitch in baseball history (peak 99 MPH), but he stayed put.

That is, until the Tokyo Yakult Swallows came a-calling in 2007, looking to stabilize their bullpen.  After jumping countries for the first time in his career, Lim rose to the challenge: 3.00 ERA and 33 saves in 51.0 innings.

Lim in his "Mr. Zero" days

Courtesy of The Korea Times

He began the 2009 season by going several months without giving up a single earned run, thus earning him the title of "Mr. Zero" and an All-Star berth.  However, it was all downhill from there.

Wear and tear caught up with Lim and, two TJ surgeries later, he was seemingly washed up when the Cubs signed him.  Still, there was a glimmer of hope that he could return to form.

He was not expected to contribute at the major league level that season, but he forced the issue.  After beginning his rehab assignments, he rocketed through the system by going 2-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 39.1 innings across four levels.  Not "Mr. Zero," but "Mr. 1.83" just doesn't have a ring to it.

 Lim pitches against the Pirates last September

Courtesy of The Daily Herald

The Cubs could not ignore those numbers and called him up to the Bigs in September; unfortunately, he wasn't as sharp.  In 5 innings stretched across 6 games, Lim gave up 3 earned runs and walked 7 men.  However, he was unscored upon in 4 of those 6 games and didn't allow any home runs, so it wasn't all bad.

Lim was non-tendered in the offseason, but signed him shortly thereafter to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.  Alas, he was just as inconsistent in Arizona and was given his walking papers near the end of March.

Where is he now?  He's back in South Korea and he seems to be doing just fine for himself: 2-1 with a 2.12 ERA and 12 saves in 17 innings for Samsung.  It's just too bad he couldn't post such numbers in Chicago.

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Finding a card of Chang Yong-Lim was a test of patience.  His time in the MLB was so short and insignificant that he never had a card issued as a Cub.  Plus, his minor league stints were so brief that he didn't end up in any of their team sets either.

Inconvenient for sure, but since he was a star over in Japan, his cards must be relatively easy to find right?

It seems he only had a handful issued in Japan and his KBO cards are pretty much out of the question.  So, I had to wait several months before one showed up on eBay a couple weeks ago.  When it finally showed up, I wasn't even annoyed that I had to overpay to get it.

It's a nice piece and it looks like it comes from a retrospective set of NPB stars.  Perhaps the NPB Guy over at Japanese Baseball Cards could fill me in on the specifics?

In acquiring Lim, I'm getting ever so close to completing my side-quest of collecting a card of every Cub who has played since 1980:

Gene Krug - 1981

Bill Johnson  - 1983-1984

Johnny Abrego - 1985

Mike Maksudian  - 1994

Ramon Tatis - 1997

Steve Gajkowski - 1998-1999

Richard Barker - 1999-2000

Raul Gonzalez - 2000

Mike Mahoney - 2000, 2002

Mike Fyhrie - 2001

Jeff Beliveau - 2012

Lendy Castillo - 2012

Chang Yong-Lim - 2013

Hopefully I can knock off a few more of these without having to import my baseball cards from another country!  But, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like to obtain cards from distant lands.  That said, tomorrow's post will be focused back in the United States, but back in the distant past.

Come "Sale" Away With Me - Part 2 of 2

Today we continue to talk about the big box o' cards that I picked up during Coal City's annual Garage Sale Day this past weekend.  Yesterday, I showed off all of the weird and interesting odd and ends, not necessarily having to do with baseball.  However, for today, let's get back to what Wrigley Roster Jenga is all about - Cubs baseball cards!

First up, we have some minor league Cubs.  Two of these men have had a much larger impact on the franchise than the other two, can you spot them?

Here's hoping the Cubs can figure something out with good ol' Jeffy Spellcheck and it looks as though Rizzo might be officially recovered from last season's mess.  

On the flip side, Bowden just never could find consistency from the bullpen and Chris Volstad might well have been the worst starting pitcher I've ever seen in a Cubs uniform.  But, a Cub is a Cub and I love minor league baseball cards.

From the worst to one of the best I've ever seen, The Professor made a few appearances in this box:

While I don't have any particular player collections and I just collect any player who has played for the Cubs, Maddux is one that I'm particularly excited to obtain new cards of.

I used to have that shiny Fleer insert in my original collection when I was just a kid, but it got beaten up and lost somewhere along the way.  When I showed my grandfather the card at the time is when I first heard about the worst mistake in Cubs history. Welcome back to my binders, you piece of foiled awesomeness you.

I also get excited about serial numbered cards; but then again, who doesn't?  Even if they're numbered to 5,000, it's still pretty cool to see that you own one of a finite number of cards.  Especially when they feature a vintage player:

Babe Herman is depicted as Dodger here, but he played with the Cubs from 1933-34.  I already have him depicted as a Cub in my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, but #385 of 399 will definitely sill occupy a place in my player binders.

In the meantime, these two players will have to wait a little bit before they get added to my binders, as they are not yet officially Cubs.  But now I have them, just in case.

Joel Piniero had been out of baseball for a couple of seasons when the Cubs signed him to a minor league deal earlier this month.  It's a long-shot, but if he comes back and pitches decently in the minors, there's always a chance that he could be called up when the big July sell-off occurs.

Meanwhile, the likelihood of Arodys Vizcaino making the Cubs roster at some point is much, much greater.  He's still shaking the rust off after coming back from TJ Surgery, but he's been lights out in Daytona thus far.  I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him in Chicago sometime later this year.

However, I was somewhat surprised to see this card in there:

Vintage is always exciting!  Even if it is one of those buybacks with a gold stamp on it.  Covington was another short term Cub from the '60s and is more remembered for his time with the Braves. But who doesn't love 1959 Topps?

I might have covered all of the non-baseball oddballs yesterday, but that doesn't mean there weren't plenty of Cubs themed oddballs to be found.  Here are my favorites:

That Post Mark Grace comes from the same set as my very first baseball card (which was Mark Whitten) and it marks the second time in this box that I've reacquired a card lost from my childhood.  It also doesn't hurt that Grace is on the same level as Maddux when it comes to my player collecting.

Another minor league card!  It's always fascinating to see future MLB stars when they were young and green, back when they were another face in the crowd.  Luis' time as a Cub lasted a season and a half (1995-96) and is certainly more remembered for his later years in Arizona, when he suddenly developed 50 HR power.

While I never actually played the game, MLB Showdown made some of my favorite cards of the early aughts.  Neifi wasn't much of a fan favorite by the time his Cubs career ended (he was probably the all-time favorite whipping boy), he sure did help the Cubs during his time as a Rockie.  It was his walk-off homerun in September of 1998 that beat the Giants and forced their one-game playoff with the Cubs for the NL Wild Card.

Finally, after sorting through all of this box, one new addition to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection did in fact emerge from masses.  His time with the Cubs was short... and exceptionally bad... but, as I said earlier, a Cubs is a Cub.

Doug Creek was a journeyman reliever who played for a total of six teams from 1995 through 2005, including some time in Japan.  One of those six teams was the Cubs, where he pitched in three games in 1999.  In mop up duty, he was scored upon in all three appearances - 7 earned runs in just 6 innings - before getting sent to Iowa.

I don't think anyone else on this planet would be as excited to pull his card than I was - except for maybe Creek himself or his mother.  With this finding, I am another name closer to completing my 1980-Present Side Quest.

Gene Krug - 1981

Bill Johnson  - 1983-1984

Johnny Abrego - 1985

Mike Maksudian  - 1994

Ramon Tatis - 1997

Steve Gajkowski - 1998-1999

Richard Barker - 1999-2000

Doug Creek - 1999

Raul Gonzalez - 2000

Mike Mahoney - 2000, 2002

Mike Fyhrie - 2001

Jeff Beliveau - 2012

Lendy Castillo - 2012

Chang Yong-Lim - 2013

All good things must come to an end though.  Unfortunately, the box produced no more goodies after that.  But, I really can't complain - I got two posts worth of fun/cool/good/interesting cards for a mere five bucks, not to mention the box that contained them retails for the same amount empty.

 The moral of this story is that garage sales are absolutely awesome.  You just never know what you are going to find when digging through another person's junk. 

Where Have You Gone, Gene Krug?

Ok, perhaps that doesn't sound as poetic as Simon & Garfunkel's original musings, but, we actually knew where Joe DiMaggio was.  However, the same cannot be said for short-time Cub Gene Krug.

Twice drafted by the Mets, the Cubs finally came in and swooped the slugging first baseman out of Lamar College in the 29th round of the 1977 amateur draft.  Sorry New York!

Gene Krug in his Wichita Aeros garb

Krug did nothing but hit at every step of the minor league ladder in the Cubs system and quickly obtained prospect status.  He had a career .317 avg in the bush leagues with 45 homers and 305 RBIs in parts of five seasons.  The kid could rake.

Unfortunately Gene's only Major League action came during the strike-shortened 1981 season with one of the worst Cubs teams in franchise history.  So, maybe that's why he's hiding.

 The 1981 Cubs - But you won't find Gene Krug's face here

Regardless, Krug just kept on hitting.  In 6 plate appearances, all pinch hitting, he singled twice and walked once for a .400 avg.  I'd take that coming off of the bench.

Krug never took the field though and was sent back down to the minors late that May, where he finished up the year playing in Iowa.  This is where the paper trail ends though.

1981 was the last season of Krug's professional baseball career.  I cannot find any indication of whether this was caused by injury, personal problems or if he just flat out had enough.  At any rate, I have to believe that the Cubs (or another team for that matter) would have kept him around if he wanted to stay.

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So, why does this matter?  Well, since my goal is to collect at least one baseball card of every guy who has played so much as 1/3 of an inning for the Cubs, Gene Krug is on my "to acquire" list.  Not to mention my goal within a goal to obtain a card of every Cubs player since 1980.

Unfortunately, since his big league career was so brief and his minor league career came in a time before minor league cards were produced for pretty much every team, Gene Krug never had a baseball card issued in his honor.  None.  At least by my research.

That said, I knew when I set this collecting goal that it was unobtainable.  The Cubs franchise history dates back to the 1870's; research hasn't even turned up the first names of some of their early players. I truly thought that I would have to go further back in history than 1981 to hit my first snag like this. 

So, I've developed a little plan to get around this unexpected issue.  

TheAutographCard.com has these nifty little blank trading cards meant for signatures.  One can even order them for a particular team:

If I can get Gene to sign one of these, it will lend a sense of legitimacy; I feel like a signature would make it an official baseball card.  However, I have no idea how to go about getting one of these to Mr. Krug.

So, all you autograph hounds out there - with your databases and what not - does anybody know if Gene Krug will sign autographs?  If so, does anyone have a method of communication?

My Cubs All-Time Roster Collection depends on you; any help would be greatly appreciated!