Get Back, Loretta

There has been much ado made about the glacial pace of the free agent market over the last two winters and the sandbagging Cubs have certainly been no exception to this new normal.  While there hasn't been much movement on the player movement front - so far, Daniel Descalso remains the only Big League acquisition made by Theo and crew - this off-season has seen a flurry of activity in another facet of it's roster structure.  While the 25-man currently looks almost exactly the same as it did through the bulk of 2018, the same thing cannot be said about the coaching staff.  In fact, that staff bears little resemblance to the World Series winning crew of 2016.  Of that crew, over the past two seasons, only two men remain employed by the franchise with several positions turning over multiple times in that short span.

In some regards, that's the price of success - the Cubs have been quite successful over the past half decade and, thus, other clubs want to get a piece of the action.  However, part of that is also reflective of some poor decision making (the Chili Davis experiment, for example) and the fact that Joe Maddon heads into the upcoming season as a lame-duck manager.  Much like any professional setting, stability is a key ingredient to a productive workplace.

Since the end of this year's World Series, hitting coach Davis was fired, pitching coach Jim Hickey stepped down, assistant hitting coach Andy Haines was promoted in Milwaukee, and bench coach Brandon Hyde was poached by Baltimore to become their latest skipper.  In short, the staff will almost be entirely new once Spring Training comes around.

The Cubs had gone about filling all of these newfound openings, except for one that is - the bench coach spot previously occupied by Hyde.  With Maddon seemingly on the hot seat, the dugout's second-in-command in Chicago is sure to be put an interesting, maybe desirable position.  Rumors swirled around perennial future management candidate, David Ross, and fellow former Cub, Mark DeRosa, but both seem to be perfectly content as broadcasters for now.  Yesterday afternoon, word dropped that the North Siders had finally found their man and it was a name that came totally out of right field:

Mark Loretta spent fifteen years in the Major Leagues playing all over the diamond for five different clubs, from 1995-2009.  Along the way, he was named to two All-Star squads, even earning some MVP votes during his 2004 campaign with San Diego.  Oft-mentioned as a future management candidate, after his retirement in 2009, he came back to the California club to begin a career in the front office, becoming special assistant to the baseball operations crew in 2010.  Now, the Northwestern educated man is blowing back into the Windy City for his first opportunity to join a Big League coaching staff.

That's right - Mark's very first chance comes in a major market with a lame-duck manager, following a debilitating early playoff exit and two consecutive seasons of major coaching turnover.  Talk about baptism by fire!

It should be said that Loretta spent the 2009 season with the Boston Red Sox, when Theo Epstein was running the ship and Jed Hoyer was one of his assistants.  Additionally, he began his FO career with the Pads when Hoyer was running that show.  As you can see, there's some connection there.  Also of note, while Mark has no formal experience as a Big League coach, he did manage the Israeli national team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifying round.  So, that's something.

But, hey, if everything goes well for him in 2019, perhaps he can set himself up nicely as a successor to Joe Maddon, should either side decide it's time to part ways at the end of the season, or for further advancement in the front office if Theo and Jed value his communication skills.  No matter what, this is going to be a big season for the new Cubs bench coach.

Most importantly, after reading this announcement and immediately rummaging through my closet, I was pleased to discover that I had a few Loretta cards tucked away in my trade boxes.  One of these three contenders - clockwise from the top, 2000 Topps, 2004 Donruss, and 1999 Pacific - will be entered into the coaches section of my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  Hey - for me, making sure every new Cubs is properly represented in my favorite binder is critical!  Which one of the three cards do you think would best do the job?  I'm leaning towards the Pacific, but this Cubs fan is a little leery of allowing more Brewers content into my CATRC.

In the meantime, along with announcing the final configuration of their 2019 coaching staff, the club also made the public aware that they'd found a new mental skills coordinator in the same press release:

The position had been previously held by the universally respected, Ken Ravizza, who tragically passed away after suffering a heart attack back in July.  Ken followed Joe Maddon from the Angels to the Rays to the Cubs and is credited by players across the league for fine tuning their skills.  As announced yesterday, former Cubs and Cardinals hurler, Bob Tewksbury, will get a shot at filling Ravizza's enormous shoes and has previously served the Giants and the Red Sox in a similar capacity over the last few seasons.

Of course, this isn't a position on the traditional coaching staff, necessitating no new inclusion in my CATRC - Bob will be staying in the player section of the binder.  However, it is an excuse to show more Cubs cardboard on this Cubs cardboard-themed blog!

With that, until the Cubs acquire a player of consequence, I am up to date on the current Cubs roster, with both coaching and active players.  Here's hoping there's not another round of turnover next winter; of course, that specter looms large with the lack of extension offers put towards Joe Maddon.  At a certain point, this constant change in voice and leadership has take a toll on the Cubs, right?  Maybe Tewks can help counteract that?

Anyway, welcome to Chicago and to my CATRC, Mark Loretta!

Who's On First?

The Cubs have finally answered that age old question, posited by the eternally hilarious Lou Costello - "who's on first?"

Okay, in the Cubs situation, the question was more like, "who's coaching first?" but that doesn't flow nearly as well.

As part of the surprise cleansing and reshuffling of the coaching staff, former first base coach, Brandon Hyde, was shifted into the bench coach role in replacement of Davey Martinez, who finally got his chance at managing with the Nationals.  In the last few weeks, due to the lack of real hot stove season scoops, Cubs fans' minds have wandered, wondering just who might slot into that newly-opened first base vacancy.

Well, yesterday afternoon, we got our answer:

Former Padre, Ranger, and Dodger, Will Venable, officially hung up his spikes and joined the Chicago Cubs front office, as a special assistant to the GM, this past September.  It was a move that made a ton of sense, seeing as Will was drafted and developed under the Jed Hoyer regime and is thus quite familiar with the current FO.  Furthermore, as a Princeton graduate with a bachelor's degree in Anthropology, Venable added another brilliant mind to the highly analytical executive staff.  All in all, it was a match made in heaven.

Then, the Cubbie coaches started jumping ship.

Therefore, yesterday it was announced that the Cubs would be reshuffling their deck by moving Will out of the front office and back onto the field as Joe Maddon's first base coach.  Furthermore, the 1B coach is also expected to serve as the club's outfielders coach, which likely played into the decision to have the former fly-chaser and his career .988 fielding percentage move back down to the field.

Thankfully, I just so happened to have the above 2006 Bowman Originals single sitting in my trade stacks and I was able to immediately slide it into my Cubs' All-Time Coaches binder - an offshoot of my CATRC.  I must have acquired this card in some sort of repack, as I know I have never opened so much as a single pack of this one-and-done, semi-high end product.

It's not the most exciting card, but it gets the job done; plus, I appreciate the Spring Training/batting practice jersey appearance.  Additionally, courtesy of the back, I learned that Will was quite the all-around athlete - he has more hardwood highlights on the back of his baseball card than diamond credentials.  In fact, upon further research, he was recruited by Princeton as a basketball player exclusively and didn't even play baseball during his freshman year.  Maybe he could try to help out the disorganized mess known as the Chicago Bulls during the off-season?

Will Venable hoopin' with Princeton, image courtesy of Princeton Athletics

Now, the Cubs coaching staff is almost completely set - Venable at first, Brian Butterfield at third, Hyde on the bench, Lester Strode in the bullpen, Jim Hickey leads the pitchers while Chili Davis and Andy Haines handle the hitters.  At this point, the only vacant slot left is the quality control coach, as the aforementioned Martinez poached fan-favorite, Henry Blanco, and brought his to Washington.  I wonder who Joe Maddon and the Cubs might bring in to fill that position?

At any rate, welcome to Chicago, Will, and welcome to my crazy collection  as well!  Here's hoping that we don't hear your name too much during the 2018 campaign, as you seemingly only hear the base coaches names as the result of a bad send.

Fingers crossed that there's nothing but Good Will Sending!

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P.S. - today's blog entry is something of a milestone; at least, it's a notable number anyway.  This writing is Wrigley Roster Jenga's 666th post... Zoinks - the number of the beast!  This post needs Jesus!

Good night, everybody!  I'll be here all week; don't forget to tip your waitresses.

Hankering For a Big Helping of Chili

In between the close of the NLCS and the start of the World Series, Theo Epstein told us Cubs fans that Joe Maddon would have all of the coaches that he wanted back for next season.  The implied lack of turnover wasn't too surprising, given the immense success the franchise has had under their tutelage in the last three years.  However, one might notice that there was a deliberate loophole left in that statement... the ones that Joe *wanted* back.

Since that time, much-heralded pitching coach, Chris Bosio has been handed his walking papers.  His success in reclamation projects has been unparalleled in recent years; but, his magic and his act seemed to wear thin in '17.  Furthermore, John Mallee (hitting) and toothpick-chompin' Gary Jones (third base) have been given their walking papers.  Furthermore, Eric Hinske, the assistant hitting coach, took a promotion with the Angels as their primary batting tutor.  Now, according to the front office, the turnover comes mostly as the result of a desire to bring in a new crop of voices and the availability of other coaches.

In summation, the coaching staff of the 2018 Chicago Cubs is going to have a very different configuration.

With that, allow me to introduce you to the newest member of the Cubs; welcome to the club, Chili Davis! Get it?  It's a "two of clubs" from the 1992 U.S. Playing Cards Baseball Aces deck!  ba-dum-tiss

Of course, Chili had a long and productive career as a Major League player for the Giants, Angels, Twins, Royals, and Yankees, from 1981-99.  Seeing as his career spanned throughout the entirety of the "junk wax" collecting period, I had no shortage of Chili's to choose from in my trade box to move into my Cubs collection.

See?  And that was after just a cursory check.

Even though, in my years of hoarding trading cards, I never collected Chili Davis, the Angels, or the Twins, I have many Chili's to choose from for my Cubs coaches binder.  Since the slugger played in the 80's and 90's and was a semi-star, thanks to the overproduction so prevalent during his time patrolling the outfield, I am nearly overflowing with Chili!

via GIPHY

Once he hung up his spikes, Davis' .360/.451/.811 slash line and 370 home runs landed him jobs as the hitting coach for the Athletics and the Red Sox.  He's been known for his patient approach and inclination to work the count, holdover traits from his playing days - he walked 12% of the time and struck out in just 17% of his AB's.  The Cubs, in need of a hitting coach and having the same, "make the pitcher work" philosophy, pounced and signed him to a contract yesterday, satiating their sudden hankerin' for chili.

Meanwhile, Davis wasn't the only addition to the coaching ranks to be added on Thursday.  Also signing on the dotted line was Andy Haines, earning a promotion from roving minor league hitting coordinator to assistant hitting coach, taking over for the aforementioned Hinske.  This will be Haines' first stint in a Major League dugout.

Normally, even the most fervent of baseball addicts doesn't even get excited about a new assistant hitting coach hire; yet, I'm pretty pumped up.  Why, you ask?

Well, back in 2007, Haines cut his teeth with our local independent, Frontier League baseball club - the Windy City Thunderbolts.  In fact, he helped lead the traditionally second-division band of rag tags from irrelevance to their first league championship in his only year at the helm.  Not bad for his first year as a skipper, eh?  That performance afforded him opportunity in affiliated ball and now he's risen all the way from Crestwood indy ball to the glitz and glamour of the Major Leagues.

I must admit, I'll feel a good bit of local pride when I see him don a Cubs uniform for the first time.

Seeing as I almost never miss the 'Bolts annual baseball card team-set giveaway night, I just so happened to have his '07 managerial pasteboard in my collection already.  A second copy would be ideal, however (for now, at least), he'll transition from my T-Bolt memorabilia collection to my Cubs All-Time Coaches binder, with Chili Davis.

An interview with the new asst. hitting coach, from my 2007 T-Bolts program

Also announced with the Davis and Haines signings was the addition of Brian Butterfield, taking over the third base coach's box from Gary Jones.  Butterfield is a longtime fixture in Major League instruction, having served in various roles for the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, and - most recently - the Red Sox.  He'll be defecting to Chicago along with his former Boston staff-mate and fellow subject of this post, Chili Davis.

Unfortunately, since Brian's playing days were brief, in the early 80's, he never rose above A-ball, and the big card companies rarely show love to coaches, he doesn't have much of a cardboard presence and, thus, will remain unrepresented in my collection until I can track down one of his Best or ProCard singles.

A pair of Butterfield examples, courtesy of COMC.

That about covers the Cubs early off-season coaching shuffle... at least for now.  As of yet, there has been no replacement named for Chris Bosio; although Jim Hickey is seen as the favorite, especially considering his long run as Maddon's PC in Tampa Bay and the Cardinals taking Mike Maddux off of the market (Edit - after drafting this post, it was reported that Hickey has indeed signed on with Chicago). Additionally, bench coach, Dave Martinez, appears to be a finalist for the vacated manager's chair in Washington and may yet also be lost.  Only time will tell what other changes might be in store this offseason, but - as you can plainly see - that early reassurance of coaching staff stability has been completely shattered.

Not that the coaching likely had much of an affect on the Cubs meek NLCS loss, but it'll be nice to see some new blood leading the way for next year's club.  I'm excited to see the approaches of Chili Davis, Andy Haines, and crew and what changes that they might implement to the still well-oiled machine that is the Chicago National League Ballclub.  Maybe the strikeouts will start to dwindle?

In any case, welcome to Chicago (and to my Cubs binders) guys!

RIP Coach Amaro

 
This post is incredibly late - darn near two weeks past due, at this point - but, better late than never, right?

On March 31, longtime Big League player, scout, coach and minor league skipper Ruben Amaro, Sr. passed away at the age of 81.  The former Gold Glove shortstop for the Cardinals, Phillies, Yankees, and Angels was your prototypical all glove, no bat middle infielder throughout the 1960's, with a career batting average of .234 and OPS of .545.  Nevertheless, he was so reliable up the middle that he even earned some down-ballot MVP votes in 1964.

His teammates were quite fond of him as well,  as Yankee teammate Jim Bouton mentioned in  Ball Four.  “He’s the kind of guy, well, there’s a dignity to him and everyone likes and respects him.”

 Ruben with the Phillies on his 1962 Topps card

 Although Ruben may be best remembered for his days as a regular in the "City of Brotherly Love" lineup or for his injury-plagued stint in the "City that Never Sleeps," Ruben also has a very strong connection to the "Windy City's" Northside nine, as well.  In fact, the senior Amaro was a member of the coaching staff for one of Wrigley's most beloved squads.

After injuries effectively ended his playing career after the 1969 season, Ruben Amaro turned to coaching in order to extend his tenure in professional baseball.  All in all, I think we safely say that Ruben proved his worth, as the baseball lifer spent over 50 years in dugouts and diamonds across the country and across the world (he was elected to the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986) before he was through.

Initially moving to the front office with the Phillies, in 1972, Amaro became a Phillies assistant to Dallas Green, who was then the team’s director of minor leagues and scouting. Ruben and his former teammate eventually helped to lead the Phightin' Phils to their first World Series title in 1980, with Green as the field manager and Amaro as the Latin America Coordinator.  Shortly thereafter, when Green moved to the Second City to try and break another championship drought, Amaro followed his colleague to Chicago, joining the on-field coaching staff in 1983.

Anyone have an extra copy of this 7-11 sponsored team issue?

While we Chicago baseball fanatics may wax poetic about such luminaries as Sandberg, Sutcliffe, Smith, and Eckersley, the men behind the scenes were just as important to that team's surprising success.  Working as the third base coach and infielder tutor, Amaro and the 1984 NL East Division Champions came oh-so-close to slaying that Billy Goat.  As it was, Ruben used that success as a springboard into managerial aspirations, first with the Detroit Tigers organization, then the Petroleros de Minatitlán of the Mexican League, before returning to helm the Williamsport and Rockford Cubbies from 1996-98.

Sadly, despite his baseball acumen, Ruben Amaro never got the call to lead a Major League ballclub; although, he received an interview as late as the year 2000.  “I was not only Latin, but my family was also a bit dark,” Amaro said in 2011. “My time came too early.”  He eventually returned to the Philly organization to work under his son and the franchise's GM, Ruben Amaro, Jr., in various capacities.  It was the Phillies who owned Ruben's heart, though he did hold a special fondness for a certain other MLB city:

“I never wanted to leave the Phillies – never,” Amaro once stated. “The times I left, they were the biggest boo-boos of my life. Not so much the first time, though, because I joined Dallas Green with the Cubs and he built something, which I don’t think he gets enough credit for.”

 Amaro and Green share an embrace in the midst of their World Series celebration.

 Image courtesy of The Desert Sun.

Clearly, he held a special place in his heart for the Cubs and a healthy respect for the General Manager that lead the "Lovable Losers" out of the doldrums and into Chicago's hearts.  In an odd twist of fate, Ruben lost his battle with cancer just over a week after his longtime compatriot Dallas Green passed away due to kidney failure and pneumonia.  These long-time, well-respected baseball lifers will forever be linked in life and in death.

 In addition to his son, Ruben Jr., Amaro Sr. is survived by his wife, Lilia, four other children and seven grandchildren.  While most might remember Ruben Amaro, Sr. as a Philadelphia Phillie, to me and the coaches section of my CATRC, he'll always be an affable coach for Dallas Green's Chicago Cubs. 

RIP Ruben- sorry it took so long for me to properly acknowledge you.

From One Tony to Another

There have been many, many, many Tony's in my life.  I, myself, am the last (yea, it's been decreed by my significant other) of four consecutive Tony Burbs in a row; my great grandfather, grandfather, father and I all share that same first name.  Meanwhile, my best friend growing up had a brother by the name of Tony, who was also a junior - thus, two more Tony's.  As if that wasn't enough, I have a cousin who ALSO bears that same first name, albeit spelled "Toni."  

Boy oh boy, were family gatherings a blast - I think running into a room and yelling "hey, Tony!" just to see how many people looked up qualified as a party game.

Now, courtesy of the blogging network, I now have another Tony that I have to somehow keep straight in my head.   I'm talking, of course, about everyone's favorite Milwaukee Brewer fan, Tony L. - the proprietor of Off Hiatus Baseball Cards.

Courtesy of his running Meet the Brewers series of posts, I've learned more about the early days of my team's division rival than I thought I'd ever know.  Not to mention, the research he's poured into his musical trade roundups has kept me up to date with all the listening habits of our blogosphere brethren.  Additionally, a few months back, I also became aware of an absolutely massive haul of inherited cardboard that came his way.

Boxes upon boxes and binders upon binders were gifted to the lucky cardboard collector (that's all of our dreams, right?), including many off the beaten path oddities, much of which was offered up for trade.  I, for one, inquired on some Dover Reprint cards and Conlon Collection singles:

This perforated Eddie Miksis re-do of his 1952 Bowman card represented the only Cubs card that fit into my CATCR binder (as a "Cubgrade" to a Dodger card); that said, I was exceptionally grateful for his efforts in helping me find something in that cardboard mass that was useful to me.  That's pretty awesome, right there.

Accompanying Mr. Miksis in the bubble mailer when it arrived on my doorstep a few days ago, were these Conlon singles that fit into a different section of my collection.

None of these men ever played a game in a Cubs uniform; however, while I speak mostly of my collection of every Cubs PLAYER on this blog, I do also try to accumulate one card of everyone who has also managed and/or coached for the club as well.  Basically, I'm looking for any and all uniformed, on the field personnel.

All four of these men were once part of the Northside coaching staff - Tony was able to do some serious damage on my need list here!  

Now, I'm not going to lie, it's been a little while since this trade was conceived - I know it was before the MLB season began.  That said, he had a massive mountain to sort through, an actual personal life to live and I'm not about to rush someone who is doing me a massive favor.  Patience is a virtue, after all.

In the interim, we communicated back and forth.  During that time, Munenori Kawasaki earned a call-up to the Major Leagues and made his Cubs debut; therefore, I needed to track down a card of the Japanese fan favorite for my CATRC.  Tony stepped right in to save the day and offered up this gem:

Seriously, how can anyone look at that photograph and not immediately smile?  That, right there, is an all-time classic baseball card!

Now, as you can plainly see, Tony had already gone well out of his way to help me out here and offered up some excellent cardboard in the process.  All that considered, just as he was packaging up the goods to send my way, he offered to include a couple of bonus items:

First, this certified auto of former Cubs reliever Neil Ramirez, back during his days in the Texas Ranger organization. Neil, who has yet to fully recover from a litany of arm injuries last season, briefly spent some time on the Milwaukee roster after Chicago DFA'd him. As such, a couple of these Tristar Projections signatures were forwarded his way. Almost immediately after that, Neil was designated again and he now calls Minnesota home.

Since it's highly unlikely that Ramirez will ever have a Cubs card issued (despite appearing in 69 games as a late-inning option) and he wasn't around the Brew Crew long enough for Tony to develop an attachment, the latter was kind enough to throw this in my package.  I don't see this ink moving out of my CATRC binder... ever, probably.

Speaking of things that will never leave my binders, the second bonus item that Tony included absolutely, positively blew me away!:

I wish I could finish up this post using nothing but gasping face emojis because words cannot possibly describe how generous and frickin' amazing it was to find this in that mailer!  You are far too kind, Tony!

This super-vintage gem is far too fascinating to sum up here, so it will be getting it's own spotlight post here in the next few days.  For now, suffice it to say that Tony's grandmother, the Linda to which Guy Bush inscribed this postcard-sized photo, is thought to have contemporaneously obtained the John Hancock, in person during the early 30's.  

Good golly, Miss Molly!

They say good things come to those who wait and that has certainly proven to be true with this package - one Cubgrade, four new coaches and two autographs, one of which is of a pre-WWII star.  I don't exactly recall what I sent your way previously, but I hope it measured up to at least half as good as this mailing!

We Tony's have to look out for each other - it's part of the name.

ZOINKS! Like, This Post is Haunted!

"I'd turn back if I was you."

There's ghosts in this here post!  But don't worry, there's no need to summon Ghost Hunters or Ghost Adventures or Ghostbusters or whatever reality TV show ghost-hunting crew you want to name... what's that?  Ghostbusters wasn't a documentary?  Well then, this is awkward...

Anyway, the ghosts in this post are more of the baseball variety.  These ghosts are men who suited up for the Cubs and were placed on the active roster; yet, they never actually appeared in an official game.  Spooky!

I picked up this 1963 Topps Cookie Rojas card from my LCS in order to fill a gap in my Cubs coaches collection.  You see, the 5-time All-Star and 16 year veteran was signed on as a player-coach for the September stretch run in 1978 on the first day of roster expansion.  

As it turned out, despite sitting on the active roster for 30 days, Cookie never fulfilled the latter portion of that title.  The middle infielder was blocked by starters Manny Trillo & Ivan DeJesus, backups Mick Kelleher & Rudy Meoli and call-up Mike Sember.

Cookie was miffed at the Cubs for leading him on; nevertheless, he stayed on exclusively as a coach through the 1981 season.

This is the kind of ghost that I'm talking about, players who haunted the Major League bench for the Cubs and, yet, never were able to "cross-over" into the light... I mean, the field.  Picking up this card got me curious as to how many similar cases there have been:

Here are two, much more recent examples from just earlier this season.  They were added to and deleted from the roster so quickly that I wasn't even able to acquire a card for them; so, I had to swipe these images from COMC.  

Both of there bullpen arms were waiver claims; Varvaro from the Red Sox and Rowen from the Orioles.  Anthony was claimed, added to the roster and DFA'ed in May and promptly accepted an AAA assignment.  However, it was discovered that he was nursing a previously undisclosed injury and sent right back to the Sawx before the month was out.  We hardly knew ye!

I already covered Rowen's backstory here.  He was DFA'ed as a result of the trade deadline acquisitions and was quickly claimed by the Blue Jays.  Hopefully the guy gets to stick around there for a while and maybe unpack his bags for a change. 

Meanwhile, this next guy still has a chance to change his ghost status, Casper-style - I think.

Bard's rapid descent from productive bullpen arm to out of baseball has been well-documented.  Since he's a Theo guy, the Cubs claimed him off waivers and activated him going into September of 2013 to see if they could solve his control issues.  However, outside of a single bullpen session, Bard never made it to a mound at Wrigley Field and was granted free agency at the end of the year.

After completely falling out of baseball and spending his free time cycling around Europe, Bard underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery as a last ditch effort to figure out why he went full Steve Blass.

Now, I say I think he still has a chance at fixing his Cubbie ghost status because the club signed him to again to a minor league deal this past off-season.  However, he has no 2015 stats - but I cannot find any indication that the Cubs released him either.  Maybe he had an publicized set-back?  At any rate, I did find that he's Rule 5 eligible this off-season; so, regardless, the odds of him officially becoming a Cub are rather slim.

All of this being covered, we aren't out of the haunted house yet.  The most famous (infamous?) Cub ghost of all-time is this guy:

Thanks again, COMC!

Why is Mark more notable than the previous few names?  Well, despite getting the call to join the Cubs in 1987, never appeared in the Major Leagues whatsoever.  While our previous friends at least saw action in other cities, Marky Mark here wasn't so fortunate.

The skinny reliever was part of one of the worst Cubs trades of all-time, brought in when the future HOF'er Dennis Eckersley was sent to Oakland for a trio of unimpressive prospects (none of whom made the majors, btw).

His stay was expected to be brief that June, as injured pitcher Scott Sanderson was due back any day.  His time on the roster amounted to only four days and, despite being teased with warming up on at least one occasion, never did get sent in.  Who knew that the 25 year old would never again have that opportunity?

Somehow, someone managed to snap a picture before he disappeared

Image courtesy of Kasey Ignarski

It is here we can conclude our paranormal investigation; I can find no other examples of ghosts on the Cubs' MLB roster.  Now, that doesn't mean that there haven't been other cases.  In fact, I'd wager that there have been several more in the franchise's long history, especially in the earlier days of the sport with looser roster rules and shoddier record-keeping.

Is anyone else aware of any similar instances?  Let me know!

In the meantime, since these guys were never "official" Cubs players, they unfortunately do not reside in my CATRC binder (except for Cookie, due to his coaching days).  Ain't that a shame?  Perhaps I should start another side-collection...

Darn ghosts... stealing my money!

The Wright State of Mind

So, day three of "3 Concerts in 3 Days" kinda wore me out.  I was so tired from rockin' out to the Plain White T's on Sunday that I just couldn't muster the energy or brain power to post until today.

Nah.  In all reality, I just didn't feel like it.  You've heard of "hitterish?"  Well, I wasn't feeling "bloggerish."  Work has been stressful, I had a lot of housework to take care of... I wasn't in the correct frame of mind.

However, looking through my scans reminded me that I have some kinda cool stuff to show off (at least cool to me); so, I feel some inspiration coming on.

Excepting new acquisitions and call ups, I'm at the point where pretty much all additions to my CATRC have to come from oddball sets - Topps flagship missed quite a few guys and, y'know, didn't always exist.  But, that's a-ok with me because I adore such variety.

For instance, this Canadian snack company issue from 1983 is phenomenal - Expos, French AND English player information and obscure baseball lifer.  Mel coach for the Expos at the time; but, he also had a brief playing career as well - appearing in 58 games with the Cardinals (1954–55) and Chicago Cubs (1960–61), going 2-6 while surrendering 119 hits in 84 IP, and compiling an ERA of 7.61.

You can see why his career was so brief.

Mel during his days as a Cubs coach

Image courtesy of ootpdevelopments.com

After that, he stayed on with the Cubs org as a coach, surviving the craziness of the College of Coaches and rising up to pitching coach under Leo the Lip in 1971.  After stints with the Pirates and Yankees, Mel spent his last season in Montreal.

Sadly, it wasn't his last by his own choice - Mel was hospitalized one week into the '83 season and died of heart failure on May 16, in Houston, Texas, at just 55.

So, here we have Mel Wright's last (and only) baseball card, a final tribute of sorts.

On a less depressing note, here we have a "Diamond Greats" card of Bill Voiselle. The set itself was put together by a card collecting photographer named Jack Wallin,  The budget was pretty low for this home-grown set, as evidenced by the simple design and blank backs.

Also, as you can see, Mr. Wallin was pretty liberal with the term "greats," as Bill's career stat-line on the bottom-front of the card is almost the definition of mediocrity.  It's likely that Wallin targeted players he knew who's rights would be cheap to obtain rather than actual greats.

That worked out for me though; ol' number 96 doesn't have a lot of cards floating around. Sporting the highest number ever used until fellow Cubs Mitch Williams took #99, Bill burst onto the scene with the Giants in 1942 by leading the NL in innings pitched and strikeouts, a career-high 21 wins and making his only All-Star appearance.

 Several decades later, fellow Cubs pitchers saw Bill's #96 and outdid him by 3

After that debut, he regressed back to the mean and became a serviceable mid-rotation type.  However, by the time the Cubs got a hold of him in 1950 in a trade for Gene Mauch, he was unable to record a win in 19 appearances, which were to be his last in the Bigs.

More interesting than his career was why he wore such a high number. It was a tribute to the tiny town of Ninety-Six, South Carolina where he was raised and spent most of his life.

image courtesy of seriousjammage.com

So concludes today's edition of Wrigley Roster Jenga.  I hope this pair of vintage oddballs were as intriguing to you as they are to me.  After all, the major companies have put out some pretty cool sets; but, you need some oddballs mixed in there to spice things up, right?

I wish we could see more like these today but I'm sure Topps current stranglehold on the market puts the kibash on that real quick-like.

Oh well.

Coaches' Corner

I've been actively working on my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection for over 10 years now.

While the Cubs franchise has existed since before the Great Chicago Fire and has seen a couple thousand players come and go throughout that time, the collection is starting to hit a lull.  I've covered pretty much all of the players of stature and a great majority of players since Topps started up.

After that, it's really hard to find reasonably priced cardboard of players from the days of horse and buggy.  I can't exactly afford real Allen & Ginter or Gypsy Queen.

That's if there's even cardboard at all.  Cards probably weren't made of Joe NoName and his 3 at-bats for the 1890 Chicago Colts.  That said, I will search until I can search no more.

Thus, in order to keep from falling into an extensive funk,  I've started to explore another avenue of my archive:  coaches.

I've always kept cards of Cubs coaches when I've come across them, but I've never really actively pursued them.  It wasn't until the last month or so that I finally decided to start organizing them, research a full list of coaches and put them into their own little section of my CATRC binder.

Duffy and Tony here were among my first gets.

Dyer had a fourteen year MLB career that included a World Series title in 1969 with the Mets *shudder*  Clearly the Cubs didn't hold that against him when Lee Elia added him to his coaching staff in 1983.  Muser spent 4 years as the Cubs hitting coach from 1993-97 after a journeyman ten year, big-league career.

I must say, I've always liked the Pirates yellow batting helmets and the White Sox jerseys that incorporated red from the late 60s/early 70s.  They look so odd today.

Before Ruben's son was running the Phillies and after Ruben was playing for the Phillies, Ruben was coaching for the Cubbies from 1983-86.  Cottier's MLB career ended in 1969, courtesy of an Achilles tendon injury, leading to a long coaching career that included a stint as manager of the Mariners from 1984-86 and a lengthy stint on the Cubs staff from 1988-94.

I will always love the wood grain borders of 1962 Topps; it's iconic for a reason, after all.  Plus, any opportunity to add a card featuring a forgotten franchise like the Senators is a welcome one.

Sonny Jackson was a member of Dusty Baker's staff throughout his entire run (2003-06).  Meanwhile, Dick Cole's tenure on the Cubs staff came 40+ years earlier in 1951.  Unfortunately, that is not an authentic 1954 Topps card, but a Topps Archives reprint.  Nevertheless, those are two pretty iconic sets represented by these two cards.

Ray Schalk might be more of an icon on the south side of the city for his Hall of Fame playing career and being one of the honest members of the Black Sox, but he also plied his talents on the other side of town right after his retirement from 1930-31.  Who knew?

Herm Starette might have been recognized by TCMA in their 1978 set "Star of the 60's," but otherwise his brief playing career has been largely forgotten.  After all, it only lasted 27 MLB games, 46 innings. Regardless, he's a baseball lifer and besides the Cubs in 1987, he's spent time with the Braves, Orioles, Giants, Brewers, Expos, Red Sox and the 1980 World Champion Phillies.

One more for tonight:

Mark was the pitching coach under the infamous Mike Quade-era of the Cubs in 2010 and 2011.  He never made the majors as a player and, to date, he has not served on another big league coaching staff before or since his time with Chicago.  After all, the pitchers that the Cubs trotted out under his watch (John Grabow, Doug Davis, Ramon Ortiz... gag me) really didn't do much to boost his resume.

Still, gotta appreciate minor league baseball cards.  Unfamiliar teams and garish designs make up for the fact that this is a Cardinals card.

So, my coaching collection is off to a pretty decent start.  Besides these guys, I have about 47% of the all-time staff covered.  One of these days, I'll get around to updating my lists and include the coaches in case anyone wants to arrange a trade.

That said, my main focus is still on my Cubs player collection, this at least gives me a nice tangent to pursue when that trail starts getting cold.

I guess when it comes to adding coaches to my CATRC, that famous Fogerty tune becomes "put me in, I'm a coach and I'm ready to play!