The Monkey's Out of the Bottle

I have a laser-focused collection.

That's not to say that I don't enjoy miscellaneous Cubs cards, fun photography, and mysterious oddball pasteboards.  However, after nearly two decades worth of collecting the way I do, I don't think I'll be shifting my collecting focus anytime soon.  In short, I am set in my ways, I love my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, and that binder get 99% of my hobby time.

On the bright side, the fact that I am so preoccupied with one mission (collect one card of every man to take the field in a Cubs uniform) keeps me grounded.  I'd much rather spend $20 on a super vintage tobacco card than a blaster of random, modern day product.  On the negative side, it also keeps me grounded.  By that, I mean that I don't get much joy out of buying packs, blasters, and boxes of cards because I know that my collecting needs will almost never be met by such purchases.  After all, I'm not going to find a strip card of some Depression Era benchwarmer in a rack pack of 2020 Topps, am I?  Heck, even if there is a Cubs rookie or first appearance in a North Side uni in a new set, it's infinitely more economical to purchase them secondhand rather than play the Topps lottery.

When the new cards first hit the shelves each year, it should be an exciting event for any hobbyist, but my supremely narrow collecting focus keeps my exuberance mostly in check.  Parade, meet rain.

That said, I am not made of stone.  While both my brain and my wallet know that spending money on modern product will not provide much benefit to my CATRC, that doesn't keep me completely on the sidelines.  I'll still buy a stray pack or two each year - I have to see what the new stuff looks like in person, after all.  Therefore, when I found myself in Target over the weekend, I decided to loosen my collar a tad with a rack pack of 2020 Series One.

Now, like I said, modern products rarely have any carrots to dangle in front of my face and this year's Flagship is no exception.  While the checklist is 350 cards long, there is only one, single bullet point which captures my attention, #103 Danny Hultzen - it's like being a Rangers fan or something.  Anyway, despite landing fifteen cards in the set, Hultzen represents the only Cub making his first pasteboard appearance with the team, thus making it a chase card for my CATRC.

Despite this fact, I still plopped down the five dollar bill - despite the long odds of adding anything to my binder - because sometimes you just have to...

Little did I know, I was in for a surprise.  Without any further ado, let's bust into this 34-card pack of 2020 Topps Series One - my very first pack of cards on the calendar year:

Upon shedding the wrapping, it was Tony Gonsolin's face (or his trendy mustache and flowing mane) which initially greeted me.  I don't know who this guy is. but he's definitely got a good first name.

Second out of the packet was a card that could be of potential use.  The Cubs have brought in local hero, Jason Kipnis, on a minor league deal with a Spring Training invitation.  He represents a cheap (an emphatically important quality for the front office this winter), veteran stopgap at second base that could allow blue chip prospect, Nico Hoerner, to spend some time refining his game at AAA.  So, maybe I'll be adding this card to my CATRC binder soon and actually get something useful out of my "treat yo'self" impulse purchase.

Also, maybe the hometown hero can redeem himself for very nearly ruining the Cubs' party in 2016.

I think I lost about 5 years off of the back end of my life when I saw that ball leave the bat.  Yikes.  My skin still crawls when I watch the video 3+ years later.

Speaking of startling moments, the next card in the pack was a massive surprise.  Like I said, there was exactly one card on this fairly large checklist that I actually "needed" for my collection.  One.  One out of 350 possible pulls and I had only bought 34 cards.  Yet, only three cards into my first sampling of the product, there it was staring back at me:

Danny Hultzen makes his first appearance in a Cubs uniform; in fact, he makes his first appearance on a card as a Major Leaguer, period.  As you might infer, that means this card will slot right into my CATRC binder.

The lefty was one of the few bright spots for the Cubs during the latter half of the 2019 season.  The second overall pick (by Seattle) of the 2011 amateur draft was the only player taken in the first 29 selections who hadn't reached the Bigs. This draft class is widely considered to be the greatest of all-time - for apparent reasons and Hultzen was expected to be one of the bigger names from it.  However, while names like Gerrit Cole, Mookie Betts, Anthony Rendon, Francisco Lindor and Javier Baez went on to stardom, Hultzen battled an onslaught on injuries and washed out of baseball on two separate occasions.  Yet, come last September, there Danny was in a Cubs uniform, striking out the side in his maiden Major League appearance.

Some might question the validity of putting a minor league lifer who had only made six appearances in the preceding season onto the checklist of Topps Series One and - honestly - those people would be right.  It doesn't make sense - it's just a symptom of the over reliance on rookie cards that Night Owl eloquently studied not so long ago.  Plus, while he is back with the club for 2020, the chances of him making much of an impact are quite slim.  The new three batter minimum rule and his lack of a 40-man roster spot see to that.  You'd think Topps would want a proper representation of the Major Leagues in their Flagship set... but rookies.

Of course, with all that being stated, the homer in me is thrilled to find a proper Cubs card of the guy.  After all, LOOGY-type relievers rarely get any love and he looks so much better in Cubbie Blue than Mariners Teal.  Does this make me a hypocrite?  Probably.  Maybe.  Yes. C'est la vie.

While this pack was already a odds-defying, massive success, I was thrilled to discover another Cubs card just a few flips later.  Since "the Professor" is known for his intelligence and attention to the finer points of pitching, let's now take a moment to examine the design used for 2020 Topps.

In short, I like it.  While, like many who would bemoan this era of collecting, I would prefer a return to borders.  However, that horse is dead, buried and decaying.  Others complain about the sideways orientation of the nameplate and it's seemingly Bowman-inspired layout.  In regards to the former, I also agree, but I find this to be much easier for my brain to comprehend than having the last name printed above the first, like in 2019 Topps; so, at least it's an improvement.  In regards to the latter, some scream Bowman rip-off; but, to me, the layout and design harkens back to video games like MVP Baseball or to graphical elements used in mid-00's television broadcasts, which tickles my nostalgia bone.  

Also, I enjoy the color coding used in the nameplate  Any attempt to get more blue and red into my Cubs cards is welcomed.

As for the back, they're pretty standard fare, although the heavy reliance on gray is a bit drab.  Also, I find it odd that they included Danny Hultzen's minor league numbers rather than his MLB stat-line.  I'm sure it has something to do with print deadlines or whatever.

Okay, with that out of the way, let's see what the rest of the pack produced:

Here we have a pair of former Cubs, or at least a former Cub and a former North Side farmhand.  I don't miss Aroldis Chapman, but this otherwise standout pack had to damped my enthusiasm by reminding me that Eloy Jimenez is blossoming on the other side of town...  Oh well, nothings truly perfect, I suppose.

On the plus side, the latter does represent my first Eloy card whatsoever, so it'll fit in nicely with my "Coulda Been a Cub" side project.

Next up, a trio of cool photos, including a special "Maryland Day" Orioles uniform (anyone else think soccer when they see this?), a hovering Gregory Polanco, and an intimidating perspective not seen nearly enough on baseball cards.

Oh hey, this guy has been in the news a lot lately, hasn't he?...

On a brighter note, I think I might have the market cornered on the second generational talent in Toronto.  Well, almost - I'd just need Vlad Jr. to complete that "set."  Still, that's a lot of family ties for one pack.

That does it for the base portion of the packet.  Moving on, let's examine the "special" cards:

 

As I mentioned earlier, this particular pack of cards came from a Target, so here are my retail-only Turkey Red inserts - two regular and one Chrome.  Like the return of crimson birds, but a whole lotta meh here with the backgrounds and the players pulled.  Also, I'm just now noticing how poorly these inserts photographed, especially that shiny Sale.  Although, much like Chris' Sawx and Yordan Alvarez's Houston Astros, I probably should have seen that coming.

Zing.

And finally, to close out the pack-busting experience, here's a 35th Anniversary of 1985 Topps insert.  Seems like Topps likes to dip into the well of 80's nostalgia quit often; but, the '85 set is actually one of my favorite designs of all-time, so I'll let it slide this time.  I can't quite put my finger on why I get such a kick out of this set (perhaps it's the simple geometric design, prominent use of team logos, and bold colors), yet I find the originals representing a fair amount of 80's Cubs in my CATRC.

Of course, Pete Alonso is a fully-grown "Polar Bear" and not a "Cub."  Thus, as much as I will cape for '85 Topps, this one will be going into the trade stacks.

With that, we've seen all there is to see with this odd-defying hanger pack.  Within the plastic wrapping, I was able to uncover the one and only card from this product that I declared a target (and, again, within three flips) which served as a Cubgrade for my CATRC, one potential further addition to said binder, a bonus Kyle Hendricks, and an Eloy for my "Coulda Been a Cub" collation.  Considering my narrow scope of cardboard interests, that's an exceptional haul.

All in all, my dip into 2020 Series One went even better than I could have possibly expected and I'm thoroughly satisfied with the brief abandonment of logic that facilitated the purchase.  Granted, there's not a shred of doubt that I could still purchase the single Hultzen RC on Ebay or at my LCS for a fifth of the price I forked over for the pack, though nothing compares to that childlike thrill of pulling it yourself, right?  I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one who feels that way - I encourage you to share a story about the last time you experienced such a rush and/or your feelings about 2020 Topps Series One in the comment section below.

In the meantime, now my wallet and brain have to get together and work twice as hard to repress the urges of my yearning heart to try and replicate the magic.  What have I done?

Long Time Coming

As if yesterday's 10-2 drubbing at the hands of the rival Cincinnati Reds wasn't painful enough, the Cubs lost two of their marquee names, for at least the next few days, due to an outfield collision.  Jason Heyward and Kris Bryant crashed into each other while tracking a fly ball and the latter was taken out of the game as a precaution.  There were concerns about a concussion for the Cubs' MVP; although, preliminary examinations have cleared him to travel with the team.  Meanwhile, Heyward has apparently suffered from some nasty bruising and hurt his hip, as both men have been held out of the lineup for this afternoon's series-opener in Houston.  As of yet, neither player has been added to the Injured List and fingers crossed that neither injury is bad enough to require such a stint.

Regardless, with both Bryant and Heyward not playing, a roster move needed to be made to fully fill out the line-up card.  Luckily, the Cubs had a glut of middle relievers and an open 40-man roster spot; thus, such a switch didn't require much finagling.  As such, longtime Cubs farmhand, Jim Adduci, has been called up from AAA to take LOOGY Tim Collins' spot on the roster:

Adduci has been with the Iowa Cubs since signing a minor league deal over the off-season and, prior to that, has seen haphazard time in the Majors with the Rangers and Tigers since 2013.  Additionally, he's also spent time in Korea, adding some international flavor to the back of his baseball card. Splitting his time between the outfield, DH and first base, the bench piece has been good for .235/.286/.340 slash line throughout his Major League career - not the kind of guy you want filling in long-term, that's for sure.  However, he is a warm body, with Major League experience... beggars can't be choosers, after all.  He's also slugging .478 in the Pacific Coast League this season, for what that's worth.

It sure would be nice if he could continue slugging like that in the National League:

This is what a 479-foot home run looks like 😲

Jim Adduci's blast would rank as the second-furthest shot in the MLB this season. pic.twitter.com/Z6EAChl6Bg

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) May 23, 2019

Now, I hear what you're, no doubt, screaming at your monitor right now - "If Adduci was signed last winter, how can he possibly be a longtime Cubs farmhand?"  Well, that is an astute observation, imaginary blog reader, please allow me to elaborate.

Jim, the son of a Major Leaguer with the same name who is best remembered for his time with the Brewers in the 1980's, was drafted by the Marlins way back in 2003 - in the 42nd round.  The second-generation ballplayer was selected out of Evergreen Park High School, which is just down the road a piece from where I live.  The local product was then swapped to his hometown club, as part of a minor trade, a couple of years later and spent the rest of the decade as a trusted organizational guy, going up and down the Cubs chain as needed. 

The elder Adduci spent most of his MLB time with the Brew Crew

Adduci left the Cubbies as a minor league free agent after the 2012 season to find greener pastures and, now, after all this time, Jim will finally don a Cubs uniform in a bonafide, Major League ballgame.  That Cubs debut is going to come immediately, as he'll be starting in right field this afternoon in Houston:

Here is today's #Cubs lineup in Houston.

Game preview: https://t.co/1DDXDjiSpK pic.twitter.com/aJVQzAmnY4

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 27, 2019

Joe Maddon definitely likes to baptize his new guys by fire and the Cubs have a distinct lack of outfield options thanks to Bryant and Heyward playing bumper cars with their bodies yesterday afternoon.  While this situation is far from ideal, I must admit, it makes for a rather nice story to see a hometown guy make his long-awaited debut in the Cubbie Blue.  That being stated, I'm still hoping for a quick return from both Bryant and J-Hey.

Here's hoping that Jim does something Topps Now worthy with his opportunity - then, I can add a true Cubs card to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection for the guy.  For now, the 2014 Topps single you see at the top of this post will have to do.  Luckily, for me and my CATRC, I had previously started up a binder that I called my "Coulda Been a Cub" collection, which featured cards of players who were once under contract with the Northsiders, but never appeared in an MLB contest for the club.  As such, I had myself a primo Adduci already set aside - now, much like the player it represents, this single will be "called up" to my most treasured collection.

Welcome to Chicago (finally) and to my CATRC binder, Mr. Adduci.  It's been a long time coming.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Last winter, the Cubs signed Drew Smyly to a two-year, Major League contract.  The lefty starter was coming off a lost year due to Tommy John Surgery; although, by all accounts, his rehabilitation was right on schedule and maybe even progressing faster than expected.  In fact, it seemed quite likely that he would be able to make it back to the Big Leagues by late summer.  If not, his contract included a second year; so, even if 2018 was a setback and spent entirely on the disabled list, he would be a sure bet to back by the next spring.  Thus, I had no reason to doubt that Symly - being a lefty hurler with a significant amount of past success and still on the right side of 30 - would not eventually become an official Cub.

With those factors in mind and some Smyly singles dug up from my trade box, I made what I was thought was a safe decision to add Drew to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  Now, I have the UltraPro pockets organized in alphabetical order and the letter "S" is the most common surname in that binder.  Thus, whenever I add a new card, I have to slide each card over to the next slot, one by one.  It's a labor of love, but it is still sort of tedious work.  That said, it's a small price to pay to add a new card to my favorite collection.

In retrospect, that was an impatient, "oopsy doodle" on my part.

via GIPHY

Ultimately, while Drew Smyly was in the mix for a September call-up, as a LOOGY reliever, it was decided that he was not quite ready yet.  Then, instead of revving up for a Cubs debut in 2019, the would-be reinforcement for the Chicago starting rotation was swapped to the Texas Rangers in November as part of a transaction designed to help bankroll the team option exercised over Cole Hamels.  Now, Hamels vs. Smyly is an easy decision to make; that said, I was a little disappointed that I would have to remove the latter from my CATRC three-ringer.

Instead of my marquee binder, the zero-year Cubs printed of Smyly in 2018 Topps products will be filtered into my "Coulda Been a Cub" collation.  First world problem?  Absolutely.  Nevertheless, it was annoying having to re-sort my collection.

Fast forward to the Winter Meetings, that were held about a month after Drew was shipped down south, it was deja vu all over again:

While rumors were flying about meetings with Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, the Cubs stayed under the radar and inked Kendall Graveman to a two-year contract.  Graveman is a sub-30, starting pitcher with a track record of past success and is coming off of a year lost to Tommy John Surgery... stop me if you've heard this tale before.

Of course, the former Blue Jay and Athletic is a righty moundsman; but, otherwise, the similarities are striking.  Is this duplication all that strange?  Simply put, no - this is the kind of "buy low" forward-thinking depth move that all clubs seek out.  Plus, pitchers are fickle and pretty much always needed across the Major League landscape.  Thus, this move is completely understandable, especially when you consider that the aforementioned Hamels is due to become a free agent in 2020 and Jose Quintana will be entering a team option year.

However, in the words of 80's one-hit wonders, Great White, I'm "once bitten, twice shy."  Do I add Graveman to my CATRC?  Do I wait until he actually suits up and takes the mound at Wrigley Field?  Decisions, decisions...

via GIPHY

I was able to kick this can down the road a little bit after the acquisition was made, seeing as I was unable to uncover a Graveman card in my trade stacks, in either my Jays or A's sections.  Although, that didn't stop me from looking for a potential inclusion.  Thus, when I came across his 2015 Topps rookie card on Ebay for chump change, I couldn't help but pull the trigger on the lucky find.  After all, while it's not the same shade, Jays blue blends a lot better into my pages than A's green and yellow.  Now, I'll have something ready to go if and when his rehab concludes and his return to the Bigs is officially made.

In the end, I've decided to hold off on immediately tossing Graveman into my CATRC book.  After Smyly left me frowny, I couldn't justify going through the procedure until it was a sure thing.  The Cubs signing of Kendall was made with an eye to the future, I guess it's appropriate that I bought his card with the same idea in mind.

If you were in my shoes, how would you handle this situation?  Would you throw caution to the wind for the sake of instant gratification and insert Kendall?  After all, lightning doesn't usually strike twice.  Or, would you play the long game, wait, and risk losing the card in the interim?  Organization isn't exactly my strongest quality.  Please feel free to weigh in on the matter in the comment section below.

At any rate, good luck in Texas, Drew Smyly, and hopefully we see you on North Side of Chicago sooner rather than later, Kendall Graveman!

The Prodigal Son Returns

'Twas two days before Christmas and all through Wrigley Field, not a creature was stirring.... except for Theo Epstein.

On December 23, 2011, just a few months after taking the gig as the Cubs GM, Theo Epstein swung the first trade of his regime's reign.  The "Boy Wonder" signaled the tear-down of a hapless and directionless franchise by swapping lights-out reliever, Sean Marshall, to the Cincinnati Reds for a reclamation project by the name of Travis Wood and a pair of minor-leaguers.  At the time, it was a much-maligned deal as Marshall was a strong fan-favorite, Wood had already bombed out of the Cincy rotation, and the prospect of a complete and total rebuild promised years of bad Cubs baseball to come.

Fast forward to today - Sean Marshall was out of baseball just two years later, Theo rebuilt a juggernaut of a franchise, and Travis Wood's relief arm and home run swing helped lead the "Lovable Losers" to their storybook 2016 World Series victory.  I'd say that it's worked out pretty well for Chicago.  Theo's first trade marks a seismic shift in Cubs history, with the spotlight shown brightly on the major pieces.  However, if you're like me, you might be wondering, "whatever happened to those minor leaguers that made the trip with Woody?

Dave Sappelt was an outfielder who popped up from Iowa a few times in the early stages of the rebuild as a spare part.  After two nondescript years as a fifth or sixth outfielder, his Major League career was done.  Nothing to see there.  On the other hand, the second player in question eventually rose through the ranks to become a regular presence up the middle and cherished by the fans.  Of course, I'm talking about Ronald Torreyes:

Unfortunately, the famously diminutive utilityman achieved that niche as a member of the Yankees.  After topping out at AA in the Cubs chain, Theo sold one of his first acquisitions to the Astros for international bonus pool money.  After a few more roster maneuvers, Ronald found a home in the Bronx as a defensively-inclined middle infielder with a slightly above average stick.  That said, as valuable as those skills are, that set is not what endeared him to Yankee rooters.

"Big Toe," as he came to be known, has a fantastic sense of humor and brought an infectious energy and enthusiasm to Yankee Stadium:

The moment you've been waiting for. Commercial #1:

Big Toe has big dreams. pic.twitter.com/GQ9bMy0Xtc

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 19, 2018

And I can't think of another way to put it, he's just so darn cute when compared to his lumbering, NBA-sized teammates:

Granted, most of us would look teeny-tiny when compared to giants like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton; but, standing at 5'8", Torreyes is one of the game's shortest players.  After looking at this picture, don't you just want to pick up Ronald and put him in your pocket?

Theo Epstein must feel that way, as he just went out and picked Brian Cashman's pocket (where I assume Torreyes resides during the offseason).  That's right, as of yesterday afternoon, Mr. Epstein has once again traded for Ronald Torreyes and returned him to the Chicago Cubs organization.  The Yanks had just designated the fun-sized and fun-loving infielder for assignment and, in exchange for cash of a player to be named later, the Cubs saw fit to bring him back to the org to bolster their depth on the dirt.

Luckily for me, I just so happened to pull one of  "Big Toe's" few mainstream baseball cards (bench players rarely get love from the old bubblegum company) in a pack of 2017 Heritage and set it aside for my Coulda Been a Cub Collection.  It looks like I can now remove it from that binder and place it within my true, blue Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, a new addition to which is always an exciting event (for me, at least).

In all honesty, it's a very minor move and it's quite possible that Ronald doesn't survive the roster machinations throughout the winter and spring training to make it into my CATRC.  That being acknowledged, the Cubbies do need a back-up infielder who can play shortstop, especially if they do the right thing a jettison the wife-beating Addison Russell before the tender deadline this weekend.  Perhaps this move is a sign of more significant things to come? In the meantime, I'm just going to leave this here:

To be sure, Ronald Torreyes is more of a depth/utility acquisition for the Cubs, who desperately needed someone who can play shortstop in a pinch. But, just for funsies, career slash line:

Torreyes: .281/.310/.375, 82 wRC+
Addison Russell: .242/.313/.392, 88 wRC+

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) November 28, 2018

On a less serious tone, it would also feel right to see Ronald's name officially etched into the roster tome, seeing the significance of his first tour of duty in the Chicago system.  Plus, he seems like a genuinely fun dude and we hear in the Second City still hold a special place in our heart for such personalities, i.e. Munenori Kawasaki.  I truly hopes that he sticks around, both for baseball and non-baseball reasons.

via GIPHY

Maybe I'm just overly excited about this trade because of the dearth of movement across Major League Baseball so far this off-season.  Unless you're a fan of the Braves, this winter has been a very boring one in terms of player acquisitions.  Are Bryce Harper and Manny Machado negotiations holding everything back?  Is this a continuation of the trend, which began last year, brought on by the latest MLBPA negotiations?  Am I jonesing for the Cubs to make a big move and shore up their second base and/or catching situations?  At least one of these three questions is a definitive yes - I'll let you guess which one that is.

At any rate, welcome (back) to Chicago, Ronald Torreyes, and welcome (for now) into my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  Here's hoping your defensive skills, non-zero bat, small shoes, and large personality make it all the way to April on the Cubs' roster!

What Coulda Been on Catalina

More than three years ago, during the earliest days of Wrigley Roster Jenga, I purchased a heavily discounted box of Conlon Collection from one of my local card shops.  For somewhere around ten bucks, I was able to gleefully tear through 36 packs of the 1992 edition of the black and white set and add several new-to-me, short-term Chicago players to Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  All in all, it was easily one of my favorite pack ripping experiences in my collecting life; in fact, it was only one of two occasions, that I can recall, where I did not immediately regret spending my hard earned money on a full box of cardboard.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that Conlon might be my favorite baseball card set ever to come off of the presses.  As a wide-eyed student of our national pastime's history and accumulator of the obscure, it doesn't really get much better than the early-90's checklists based around the photography of Charles Conlon.

Anyway, a few nights ago, I spent a few minutes of downtime flipping through the remnants of that long-since rifled through box that still sits on the shelving unit underneath my computer desk.  It was during that idle reminiscing that I re-discovered a card which would prove to be a fine addition to one of my side-collections.  Hell, if history had played out a little differently, it would have been a fine addition to my MAIN collection.

Lefty O'Doul - one of the greatest stars in baseball history who is not in the Hall of Fame.

The live-armed southpaw came up to the Bigs in the early 20's and showed some promise on the mound with the Yankees and the Red Sox before blowing out his arm.  In those pre-TJ surgery days, Lefty did the only thing he could do to extend his career in the game - convert to the outfield.  After several years of proving himself to be a capable hitter in the bushes, O'Doul made his grand return to the Show in 1928, winning the National League batting title with an astounding .398 mark in his second year back.  For the next seven years, he starred for the Giants, Phillies, Dodgers, and the Giants again, posting the highest career batting average for someone without a plaque in Cooperstown .349).

Since he was already 31 by the time he re-emerged from the minors, the brevity of his second wind has kept him from enshrinement.  Even still, there's no doubt that this original Rick Ankiel was one of the greatest hitters of his generation.... and, had things shaken out a tad bit differently, he could have done it all with the Cubs.

via GIPHY

That's right, the pre-Lovable Loser Era Cubs had every chance in the world to re-launch the career of the great Lefty O'Doul.  I had been previously unaware of this massive oversight and if it wasn't for the page-turning book, The Cubs on Catalina, by Jim Vitti, I may have never learned about it.  Actually, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing...

The Cubs and Catalina Island have a long and storied history together.  For about 30 years, the Chicago National League ballclub would pack up their bags, hop a train, grab a trolley, and float on a boat all the way to the tiny, rocky island off of the southwest coast of California, which just so happened to be owned by the Wrigley family.  While it might be better remembered today for it's infamous wine mixer, it's legacy comes as the Spring Training home of the Chicago Cubs, from the 1920's through the early 50's.  It was here that hope first sprung eternal.

In 2003, Sporting News and SABR Award-winning author, Jim Vitti, published the book you see above which to preserve this unique portion of baseball history by interviewing the local islanders and the surviving players who trained at the tiny island habitat, as well as compiling photographs.  Fourteen years later, I was gifted this same tome of knowledge by my father-in-law for Christmas and I've hardly been able to put it down since.

The capers recorded in these pages are certainly worthy of preservation - i.e., the time Ronald Reagan got into a bar fight with a bunch of Chicago sportswriters, the story behind "Snipe" Hansen earning his mocking nickname, or how rookies would lose hours of their life trying to find the bowling alley on a steamship... there's certainly no lack of material.  It was while reading one of these tales that I was surprised to see the name of Lefty O'Doul come up.  What in the world did this near-HOF'er have to do with my Cubs?

Before politics, before acting, he was a Cubs broadcaster.

As I mentioned, after lefty's arm had flamed out in 1923, the ballplayer returned to the minor leagues to convert himself into a full-time position player.  After two seasons of thrilling Pacific Coast League fans in Salt Lake City with batting averages approaching the hallowed .400 mark, William Wrigley was sufficiently impressed with O'Doul's rejuvenation to buy his contract from the Bees, at the hefty cost of $50,000.  Going into the 1926 season, the reclamation project was brought to camp on Wrigley's island with Wrigley's ballclub and given every opportunity to work his way onto the Opening Day roster.  Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.

No records exist of his performance in camp that spring, although we know the end result.  The new skipper, Joe McCarthy, was looking to put his stamp on the organization and was uninterested in the has-been.  As first baseman, Charlie Grimm, recounted years later, "Marse Joe, sad to relate, made a monumental mistake that spring" in cutting O'Doul.  Well, "Jolly Cholly" wasn't wrong.

Four Hall of Famers?  That's a pretty decent middle of the order...

After two more years of paying his dues in the PCL, Lefty came back up in 1928 and hit the ground running.  In 1929, the Cubs made their way to the World Series against the Athletics with a lineup that included Gabby Hartnett, Hack Wilson, Rogers Hornsby, Kiki Cuyler, and more. Simultaneously, O'Doul was a Phillie with a .398/.465/.622 slash, winning a batting title and bashing 32 home runs along the way.  Can you imagine how much scarier that Cubs lineup would have looked with prime O'Doul in the outfield?  Forget "Murderer's Row!"  Maybe the North Siders wouldn't have choked away the World Series win that October had they hung onto the batting champion...

From there, all Lefty did was hit .300 for five straight years, win a second batting title in 1932 (.368), and  go to an All-Star game before age caught up to him.  Then, he returned to the PCL to win 2,000 games in the as a manager, and also served as an early ambassador for the game in Japan.  What a career!

According to Cubs historian, Warren Brown," Later on, when O'Doul broke back into the National League and either led it in hitting or caused damage to some Cubs pitching hopes, Wrigley would sigh:  'Oh, that O'Doul... my O'Doul!'"  The chewing gum magnate must have uttered that phrase a lot, as his "one that got away" smacked Cubs pitching around, to the tune of a .324 career batting average against.

Mr. Wrigley looks happier here than when Lefty would come to bat.

And so, that's the story of how one of the greatest hitters yet to be enshrined in Cooperstown almost became a Chicago Cub.  The sprawling history of the franchise once tagged as "Lovable Losers" is littered with such oversights and/or regrettable decisions - Lou Brock, Greg Maddux, Josh Donaldson, etc. come to mind.  Though, to be fair, any club as old as the Cubbies is going to make a lot of mistakes.  At least Brock and Maddux had the opportunity to showcase some of their talent in Chicago; meanwhile, the latter of which, like Lefty, never suited up in a Major League Cubs uniform.  It is around such situations that I've been building a small side-collection - my "Coulda Been a Cub" binder.

The "Coulda Been a Cub" collection is based around players who's rights were once owned by the Chicago Cubs and who eventually saw time in the Major Leagues.  The caveat is that none of their MLB service time was actually accrued with the club in question.  These men were simply a phone call away from the Wrigley roster - training camp cuts, minor league free-agents, trade flips, Rule 5 selections, etc. - but things just didn't work out.  It is in this three-ring holder that I'll be storing my re-discovered Lefty O'Doul Conlon card - he'll keep Donaldson, Scipio Spinks, Josh Hamilton, Ray Jablonski, Jon Garland, Jim Dwyer, and friends (like the ones below) company.

 Hideo Nomo started 3 games for the Iowa Cubs in '99 and Shingo Takatsu was invited to Spring Training in '08, long after the team left Catalina for Arizona.

Meanwhile, somewhere out there in the vast multiverse, is an alternate reality in which Joe McCarthy did not pre-judge the hero of this post and recognized the potential in the former moundsman.  In this dimension, Lefty broke camp with the Cubs in 1926 and led the squad to a World Series victory in 1929.  In this plane, this 1992 Conlon Collection baseball card doesn't look like this:

It looks like this:

And I bet that Lefty would have totally nailed the Catalina f*cking Wine Mixer too!

Smyly Face

I love the Winter Meetings.

As someone who has always been fascinated by player movement and who collects baseball cards based around roster construction, there are few more exciting times of the year for those like me.  The wheeling and dealing has been going full-steam now, since the much ballyhooed- trade of Giancarlo Stanton and signing of Shohei Ohtani (who's apparently injured? Yikes).  So far, as part of the winter festivities in Florida, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have given Cubs fans the gifts of Tyler Chatwood and Brandon Morrow.  These two exciting additions fortify the starting rotation and the decimated bullpen, which brings a smile to my face as I add their cards to my CATRC binder.

Speaking of which, Theo and Jed still weren't quite done bringing "smiles" to Chicago just yet.

Last night, while I was holed up in a movie theater, finally viewing Thor: Ragnarok as prep for the upcoming Avengers: Civil War (great film & surprisingly funny!), the Cubs front office brass made their third big move of the winter season.  As I watched the God of Thunder ascend to the throne of Asgard, Drew Smyly reportedly inked a two-year deal with the North Siders, worth $10 million guaranteed.  Luckily, I had this 2017 Bunt single in my trade stacks, along with a handful of other cards featuring the Cubs newest hurler.

While Smyly is an accomplished starter and the Cubs are still looking to fill a slot in the rotation, this move appears to be more about 2019 than 2018.  After all, Smyly underwent Tommy John surgery last June, which ultimately lead to his being non-tendered by the Mariners without having pitched a single frame for the club.  Thus, the earliest that we can expect Smyly back on the mound and in a Cubs uniform is after the All Star break (and probably later than that).  Accordingly, his contract is structured so that he'll receive a $3MM salary in '18, then $7MM in '19.

So, with a club that's become World Series or bust, why bother with a rehab project like Guy Smyly here?  Does this big market contender really need to go "dumpster diving?"  Yes - absolutely.

The longtime top prospect in the Tigers system has proven to be an effective mound presence, when healthy.  He holds a career 3.74 ERA and is just a year removed from a 30-start, 175.1 IP, 2.0-WAR season in 2016 - with pitching being such a desired and expensive commodity, locking down another rotation option is never a bad idea.  Not to mention, after having spent several years with the Rays, he is quite familiar with the Joe Maddon and his new, old pitching coach Jim Hickey.  Lastly, though this move is definitely more about next year than this one, perhaps Smyly can come back by September and provide some relief for what is sure to be a beleaguered bullpen, one of the downfalls of last year's Cubs team.

All in all, the Cubs secured themselves a potential bargain.  Of course, the deal is still fraught with risk, but that's what the market is like right now.  Here's hoping Smyly is feeling smiley come next fall.

While the move to sign Smyly was pretty much out of left field (I can't recall any reports linking the two together), we Cubs fans knew that another addition to the pitching staff was likely to be made before the general managers packed their backs and departed Florida.  In fact, GM Jed Hoyer told us so himself:

Cubs GM Jed Hoyer thinks they'll add at least one more pitcher before the end of the winter meetings. https://t.co/fLcaOz4dbp

— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) December 12, 2017

However, that being acknowledged, I don't think that the Smyly signing will be the final move.  I mean, the Cubs still have a rotation gap to fill and have been linked to Alex Cobb, Danny Salazar, Danny Duffy, and (as per yearly tradition) Chris Archer in the last 48 hours.  Furthermore, they have also previously stated a desire to add one or two more late-inning options (besides Morrow), with names like Addison Reed, Alex Colome, and Jake McGee being connected to the club.  The way I see it, Smyly is like that scratch off lottery ticket that you pick up on your way to the register at the grocery store, just because.  

Hmmmm... might as well.

That said, I could also be way off base - I'm no insider, I'm just a rabid Cubs fan with a blog about baseball cards.  I guess we'll just have to see how the last two days of the Winter Meetings play out, huh?

At any rate, welcome to Chicago, Drew Smyly.  Fingers crossed that you rehab goes as planned and you give Windy City sportswriters plenty of opportunities to make terrible puns based on your last name.

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

I Like Surprises

Surprise mailings are the best kind of mailings.  Seriously, whenever I come home from a long day at the office, dealing with cranky kids and even crankier computers, to find an envelope or bubble mailer resting quietly, with my name on it, in my mailbox... suddenly, it's like I'm a kid on Christmas morning again and all of my worries melt away.  For the few minutes in between carrying my treasure to my card space, ripping through the seal, and sifting through the contents, all is okay in the world.  I'd like to think that most of us online card collectors feel the same way.

Adam, from Cardboard Clubhouse, must feel that way, seeing as this is the second time in recent history that I've been the beneficiary of an unannounced gifting.  While he did give somewhat of a notice on his blog post from a few days ago, I got the same bubblies in my stomach when I saw my area code on his list of outgoing mail.

This mailer was no disappointment either, Adam truly knows how to get my Cubbie Blue blood pumping:

Ah - the Contenders brand, back when it flew under the Playoff banner and Panini hadn't yet taken over.  Adam must know that I love minor league and collegiate baseball cards, as the unfamiliar uniforms and teams add some extra zest to the product (even if they were then unlicensed).  They're even better when they depict future Major Leaguers, before they made it big, like Tony Zych.  Zych never made the ultimate ascent in Chicago; but, he did see time with the Seattle Mariners in each of the last two seasons, after his contract was purchased in 2015.  As such, this Zych will slide into my "Coulda Been a Cub" binder, quite comfortably.

Moving backwards in time, we have a pair of Carlos Zambrano's from the latter days of Upper Deck baseball.  Now, the first thing that struck me was, "why does Big Z have two base cards in 2008 UD?"  Was one a photo variation or some kind of parallel?  Not exactly.

It's super hard to tell, thanks to the silver foil text on the front; however, once you flip these bad boys over, the answer becomes much clearer.

The one on the right is Carlos' true base card, while the one on the left is the team checklist.  As someone who's never really cared for checklists, I have and always will approve when card manufacturers attempt to make their checklist cards appear to be more like "normal" baseball cards.  After all, I have no use for 2.5" x 3.5" record keeping; I guess that just personal preference.

Let's roll back the clock a little bit further, to the mid-90's, for the meat of the mailer:

Adam included a nice sampling of 1995 Pinnacle and 1993 Donruss in this padded mailer.  The Pinnacle set from that year is a garish, foil monstrosity with a highly intrusive nameplate that lazily only gives the player's last name.  Yet, despite all of that, it was one of the first sets I saw at the onset of my collecting days, so I'll always feel a twinge of nostalgia for those cards.  Meanwhile, on the other hand, 1993 Donruss is a simple, bare-bones design that gets the job done without any flair.  It's definitely among my favorite collations from the latter Junk Wax Era.


Sticking with the mid-90's, but switching out our cleats for ice skates...

Here we have a pair of Blackhawks cards, from when the franchise was beginning their slide into irrelevance, by way of 1994 Donruss.  This set seems almost more like something Stadium Club would have put out in that time than it does Donruss.  On that note, it's a nice, clean set that lets the photograph do the talking.  Unfortunately, in this case, neither of these two photos are particularly eye-catching; but, the cards still look nice overall.  At any rate, they'll still fit perfectly well in my Blackhawks collection.

To wrap things up, we go back to the diamond and then go backwards in time by another decade plus.

Yay - vintage!  Adam was kind enough to include some 1984 Topps, as represented by the Penguin, and some 1978 Topps, as represented by a rookie-year Dennis Lamp.  It may make a certain "night owl's" head explode, but I'll always think of Cey as a Cub first, as a result of his being the third baseman for the beloved '84 NL East Champions.  As such, any day I can add a new Cubs card of the Penguin to my collection is a good day and I did not yet have his 1984 single.

Meanwhile, Lamp looks like he smelled something nasty, just as the photographer snapped his headshot. Maybe he was just resentful that he'd have to share his rookie card with three other guys, of whom only he and, to a lesser extent, Roy Thomas (8 seasons, 3.1 WAR) proved to be credible Big Leaguers.

With that, I've reached the bottom of the bubble mailer and Christmas morning is over.  Well, not entirely, I still get to sort these new additions to my collection and put them in their proper places, not to mention write this blog post that you're currently reading.

Thanks, Adam, for thinking of me and taking the time to put this unexpected and generous package together - it was greatly appreciated.  I'll make sure to craft a return gifting ASAP, to give you that Christmas morning feeling - as soon they finish the renovations on my local post office, that is!