Anybody Want to Trade?

I made an oopsy.

As you know, my collecting goal is to obtain one card of every man to ever suit up in Cubbie Blue.  Seeing as the franchise history extends back into the Ulysses S. Grant administration, that leads to a large swathe of my Cubs All-Time Roster needs being much more obscure than your average Topps or Panini pasteboard.  More importantly, at least to my wallet, this means that many of my wants are expensive antiques that I can't justify dropping beaucoup bucks on without some careful financial planning.

In the midst of a total household remodel, I've been selling a lot of old furniture and knick-knacks on Facebook Marketplace.  This stuff would have been simply dropped off at Goodwill, under normal circumstances; however, with the local thrift shops not accepting donations (or even being open) during this pandemic, I figured I'd try to get the junk piling up by our front door out of the way via capitalism.  Thanks to a Covid-captive audience, that mass of lamps, desks, end tables, etc. was quickly transformed into some rainy day cash.

The wife and I treated ourselves to some date nights through the drive-thru, birthday celebrations, and some new, more aesthetically pleasing wall decorations.  Although, at the end of our clearance sale, there was still some leftover fun money for splurge of a card purchase.  As I usually do when I find myself with bonus bucks burning a hole in my pocket, I opted to cross a pre-war need off of my cardboard shopping list:

Of course, pretty much anyone who knows anything about cards is familiar with the most popular tobacco releases from the first decade-plus of the 20th century - the T206 Honus Wagner has made sure of that.  One "Flying Dutchman" contemporary set that doesn't get nearly as much attention as those brightly colored portraits is the 1912 Imperial Tobacco (C46) release, as seen above.  Not only do they lack color, but the brown, wood grain border of these Canadian cards combined with the dark black & white photography create a rather dreary and bleak-looking product.  Plus, the checklist is absolutely chock full of minor leaguers, focusing on players active in the International League at that time.  Thus, they don't seem to generate nearly the same level of interest as the much more celebrated T206's, T205's, Hassan Triple Folders, etc.

One thing that they do have going for them, compared to their brethren of the era, is a backside dedicated to player bios, rather than advertising space:

This is especially helpful considering the large amount of obscure bush-leaguers which populate the checklist.  The bio truly shines a light on some people that time has forgotten.

Speaking of forgetting, I probably shouldn't have forgotten to double-check my research before pulling the trigger on this purchase.

When I saw this "Phelan" card pop up in my saved Ebay searches, I got a bit excited.  First of all, it was only fifteen bucks, a price point I rarely see tobacco cards offered at unless they are literally missing chunks of cardboard or held together with century-old tape.  Furthermore, it showed up under my saved search for "Art Phelan," a third baseman who played with the Cubs from 1913-15 and who I knew appeared on some tobacco issues back in his day.  When I read that notification, I got caught up in the thrill and quickly jumped, purchasing the pasteboard with nary a second thought.  This listing popping up, in my price range, just as I found myself with some extra funds seemed more kismet than coincidence.

This is where I made my oopsy.

Purchase prints and posters on Houzz

Art Phelan, appearing on one of those contemporary cards, as a Cub

Not even ten minutes later, a creeping doubt began to seep into the back of my brain.  You might notice that both the nameplate on the front of the card and the write up on the reverse only mention the ballplayer's last name, "Phelan."  There's no mention of the first name anywhere on the card.  Although the listing clearly stated "Art Phelan" in it's title and description, the dark thoughts reminded me how easy it would be to misidentify a minor leaguer from before "the Great War" had even taken place.  Although I hoped that I was just being a pessimist, or maybe even feeling a twinge of buyer's remorse since I rarely splurge with double digits on a single card, dread quickly overwhelmed my initial euphoria.

via GIPHY

Sadly, a Google search proved Luke Skywalker correct. 

While Art Phelan was a former Cub with a five-year Major League career John Phelan - better known as Jimmy - shared no such qualifications.  Though he was a ten-year professional, this Phelan never played in the Majors, let alone with the Chicago National League Ballclub.  His career .241 batting average probably had a lot to do with his lack of ascension, especially considering the era in which he played.

Anyway, cue the sad trombone - I was tricked by a Phelan *womp, womp*

 Art - not Jimmy - Phelan on his T207 (left) and Fatima (right) cards.

The fault is completely mine, I should have been more careful about my purchase.  After all, even though the listing was incorrect, I highly doubt the seller was being spurious - there's not exactly a demanding market for the other Phelan, so why intentionally misrepresent.  As a result, I've been quite bummed about my impulsive mix-up, especially considering how rarely I treat myself to one of these comparatively high-dollar acquisitions for my CATRC binder.

On the bright side, tobacco cards always seem to generate interest, even on the low end.  With that in mind, is there anyone out there on the blogosphere who wants to trade for this antique oddity?  Maybe you just so happen to have the correct Phelan on his T207 or Fatima release (off condition, of course).  In the likely event that you do not and are still interested in obtaining this woodgrain, Imperial beauty, I'm interested in any pre-war era Cubs card that features a player still needed for my CATRC.  Please see the "Cubs" tab found at the top of this page for my collection record and who has yet to be obtained for my most hallowed tome.  If I don't have someone from that era, I'll take them in whatever uniform you have to offer - beggars can't be choosers, after all.

Have you ever allowed your excitement to get the better of you when it comes to a hobby purchase?  Did you ever pull the trigger on a card of the wrong player?  Perhaps, in the heat of the moment, you got tricked with a reprint versus the real deal?  Still, you might have accidentally clicked "purchase' before reading the full description of an item and gotten something completely different than you thought you were.  Personally, I've done all three and have screwed up in countless other ways.  Please feel free to vent with me in the comment section below.

In the meantime, I've learned a lesson and next time I decide to treat myself, I won't let my exuberance overwhelm my sense of reason.  Oopsies happen, but this one was particularly frustrating.

Darn tricky Phelans...

Burbs Bait

The wife and I had a big night planned this past Saturday in order to properly celebrate her day of birth - dinner at her favorite restaurant, a night out on the Northside of the city, a burlesque show and good times to be had by all.  However, as fun as that all sounds, the anticipation was killing her Saturday afternoon and she was feeling antsy.  Since antsy is pretty much my constant state of being as well and we had plenty of time before we had to get on the road, we both decided to make  a quick trip to the local Savers thrift shop to kill some time.

Thrift shops and secondhand stores are our favorite places to go when we're bored - after all, you can't do much damage to your wallet (unless you're REALLY trying) at such an establishment.

I have to say, this restlessness turned out to be a good thing for both of us.  First of all, her birthday celebrations were only enhanced by what seemed like nearly an entire wall of nothing but rubber ducks:

For those that may have missed that post, my wife collects these funny little quackers with the same fervor that I do baseball cards.  Therefore, this back wall, where Savers bags up all their miscellaneous toys in plastic wrap, was an absolute gold mine for her ever-growing flock of duckies.

I must admit, the collector in me quite enjoys finding new birds of a feather for her as well - I mean, look at those things, they're just plain fun.  I'm especially partial to the chromium water fowl, who doubles as a "magic 8-ball."

However, bath toys were not the only item that caught our eyes at this particular display.  No, no - clearly someone on staff knew that the "Burb Herd" was making a visit to their store, because they brought out the "Burbs bait."  Along with the bags of rubber ducks, there was an assortment of saran-wrapped, trading card goodness hanging from this wall of pure awesomeness:

Of course, I couldn't help but grab a little sample for myself - even though Savers tends to overprice their goods, more so than the local Goodwills.  In fact, I almost put them right back on the rack and walked away, but my better half thought I was being silly, so she snatched them out of my hands and made her way to the cashier's line in the middle of my waffling.  Bless her soul.  For five bucks a pop, I suppose it's still a worthwhile gamble to grab a pair of the dozen or so bags of baseball and football cards that were accompanying my wife's new favorite birdies.

It may have been her birthday celebration, but what could a little gift for myself hurt?  Clearly she had no objection.

At that point, neither one of us could wait to get home to rip into our new bounties.  So, we cruised our way back to the homestead so that we'd have a little bit of time to savor our new collection additions before it was time to get ready for our downtown shenanigans.

The cello-wrapped repack on the right was chock full of nothing but Topps Attax game cards, a set from which I had absolutely zero cards before this weekend.  Thus, this was a more than welcome sight, even if one of the Cubs included was the ever-douchey Matt Garza.  Still, a new Cubs card is a new Cubs card and I have always had a thing for game cards like Attax, MLB Showdown, Hot Button Baseball, etc.  In fact, I have an entire post dedicated to that subject.

Luckily the soul-patched, Matt Clement-wannabe wasn't the only Cub to be found lying in wait, ready to "attack:"

Along with Garza, we have former top prospect Tyler Colvin, hot and cold slugger Alfonso Soriano and the shiny, foil parallel of number 17.  It's pretty tough to see in the scan, but there's definitely a striking difference between the base and the foil cards in Attax.  Also, the foil parallels, while pretty, don't seem to be particularly rare, nor do they do anything to boost the player's desirability in the game itself.

They still look cool though; so, there's that.

Beyond the uniformed Cubs, this custom repack contained a fair amount of future and former Cubs within it's plastic-y confines:

The three cards at the top of this scan are also foil parallels (I pulled their bases, as well).  I've chosen to highlight mostly significant pieces from the Cubs of 2015-16, plus franchise-favorite Derrek Lee.  However, there were more than a few once-upon-a-time Cubs from further in the past, as well.  All in all, my oddball intrigue was significantly piqued by this "Attax Repax."  Bag one was definitely worth the price of admission.

Furthermore, if anyone out there happens to be working on a team set (or complete set) of this once off, mostly-forgotten, game set.  I have plenty of dupes and cards which otherwise do not interest me to go around.  Let me know.

That stack is just the traders

Would repack number two be just as fun, intriguing and productive towards my collection?  I mean, there's only one way to find out right?  Time to rip into that plastic wrap and find out just what hides within.

While repack number one was exclusively cards from Topps Attax, repack number two contained much, much more variety:

For instance, we have short-term Cubs Austin Jackson making his second appearance in this post, this time on a lovely, minor league, TriStar Obak single, commemorating his time with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.  Long-time readers of this blog know that I have a thing for bush league cards of evenutal MLB Cubs; thus, this colorful oddball will make a swell addition to my Nothing Major binder.

Accompanying Austin, we have the oldest card in the pack, a well-weathered/loved "Kong" Kingman from 1976.  This card may have seen better days, but it's hard not to crack a smile when pulling honest-to-goodness vintage from an unexpected source.

Back to that Nothing Major concept, here's a pair of "cool" Dairy Queen Team USA oddities from 1992.  Honestly, before this pack-ripping experience, I had no idea that Topps and the eatery behind Dilly Bars had partnered up to honor USA baseball. I always enjoy a baseball card learning experience!

Both Barberie and Steenstra eventually graduated to the Big Leagues and worked their way over to the Windy City for a brief time, but didn't do much of note in a Cubs uniform.  Nevertheless, if minor league cards are desirable, cards that go back to even before a player's professional days are even more fascinating in my eyes.  These will be joining that Austin Jackson in the same binder.

Oh, look - more game cards.  While pack A was entirely made up of Topps Attax, pack B had a smattering of Wizard of the Coast's MLB Showdown, the original baseball card game of my generation.

While the company behind the ever-popular Pokemon cards tried to extend their influence into baseball, the product didn't generate nearly as much interest and eventually faded away.  That said, it's cards are among my favorite oddballs, with their (mostly) clean photography and deep, varied player selection.  I don't have too many cards featuring Todd Hollandsworth from his time as an extra outfielder with the Cubs, after all.

Those were definitely the highlights of the repack for me - there was a good amount of other less exciting base cards that fit into my Cubs collections, but nothing else that I would call "blog-worthy."  But, there was still plenty of trade bait that I though might be worth sharing on my little corner of the internet:

X gon' give it to ya, in the form of die-cut parallels from Upper Deck's bizarre and mostly superfluous X brand.  I don't know what the whole x-theme had to do with baseball, but it sure did provide us with some interesting die-cuts - DMX and Deadpool references not withstanding.

Also among the traders:

There were some oddballs, parallels and singles from rarely seen sets nestled along with the X's.  I have to say, my favorites out of these puppies are the Wonder Bread Canseco and the Topps T205 Doc Hoblitzell - on the latter set, if anyone has the Cubs' Dave Shean from that checklist up for trade, please feel free to contact me!

By the by, that Kevin Mailloux from Bowman Platinum on the bottom right is an x-fractor, as if segment of the post needed anymore x-themed content.  It's rather difficult to tell from this scan, but it's quite lovely in person.

The rest of repack number two was made up of unassuming base cards from the past fifteen or so years.  Notably, the accumulation was completely devoid of the ubiquitous junk wax that normally populates such a thing - so, that was pretty nifty.  Also, just a reminder, if anything in those last two scans catches your attention, it's yours if you let me know.

Thanks, Savers!

With that, we've reached the conclusion of my Savers experience.

In summation, I was able to add several new oddballs and minor-leaguers to my binders without breaking the bank, some decent trade bait to my stacks of enticement, and, most importantly, I was able to find some bonus birthday gifts for my wife at the very same time.  I'd say that's not bad for an impulsive trip, born out of pure, antsy boredom, to the local thrift store.

Of course, the ducks will soon be completely taking over our living area, but shelf space ain't all it's "quacked" up to be anyway...

...On that cringe-inducing note, I'll just see myself out.

My Hit Parade

I don't get much luck when it comes to pulling hits in card products.  In all of my years in this hobby, I can probably count on one hand the amount of autographed or memorabilia-embedded gems that I have personally pulled.  Luck just hasn't been on my side, for whatever reason.

Likewise, luck was definitely not on my side Saturday morning, when I decided to head 20 minutes out to one of the neighboring villages for their community-wide garage sale day.  I live for these kind of events.

Unfortunately, the weather was not on my side and my hopes for baseball card bargains were dashed with lackluster conditions.  While it wasn't pouring, the steady drizzle and constant threat from above seemed to keep most people from setting up camp.  Drat.

Oh well, at least my failed adventures put me within shouting distance of a card shop that I don't often frequent.  I figured I'd sooth my disappointment with a couple of packs of Archives and move on with my weekend.

Also, some Pro Debut.  I mean, that stuff never pops up retail, so when in Rome...

Since the main attraction for me was Topps latest release, I saved those packs for last and ripped into the Minor League product first:

Oh hey, look at that, a couple of Cubs prospects, both from the AA level Tennessee Smokies.  I was kind of hoping for a Willson Contreras, but these two will do.  

Black was the return from the Alfonso Soriano trade of a couple years ago and it currently on his third go-round through the Southern League.  That said, he still has a chance of cracking the Cubs bullpen at some point.  Meanwhile, McKinney came over with Addison Russell from Oakland and is one in a very crowded outfield prospect picture.

LOVE these inserts!

Promo night uniforms are all the rage in minor league baseball lately and fans have been eating them up.  It's about time we saw a card set devoted solely to these gimmicky, cheesey and awesome bush league stunts.  My only complaint about these is that I have no idea who this Dodger prospect donning a Hawaiian shirt is - neither the front or back gives any clue.

However, I quickly forgot about that inconvenience upon seeing the next card:

Oh sweet an autograph!

Oh wow - I actually know who this guy is!!

Hot damn - look at that serial number - it's a Christmas card!!!

Well, that was quite unexpected and it certainly brightened my mood quite a bit.  Even if the Archives packs were total duds, I think I'd have been pretty happy with my overall results.  They certainly started out inauspiciously enough:

My only Cub from either pack was this 1991 version of slugging first baseman Anthony Rizzo (who was two when the original product first hit the shelves, in case you were wondering).  Not too exciting, but definitely better than being shut out.

However, I wonder why Topps completely changed the team-name banner at the bottom right?:

As you can see, the color went from red to blue and they forced the city name in there as well (the font is also slightly different, but that's always difficult to replicate perfectly).  Very odd.  Then, of course, they also updated the anniversary banner in the upper left, which I thought was a nice, subtle added touch.

Otherwise, Topps pretty much cloned this bad boy.

Now, like I said, that was it as far as Cubs content goes.  However, that doesn't mean there wasn't anymore interesting stuff contained within these packs:

Say what?!  Another autograph?  

This one of a former first round draft pick, 1974 AL MVP, 2 time All-Star who played 16 years in the Big Leagues?  Jeff doesn't get a lot of love in modern day product either; this is why we love Fan Favorites isn't it?  Not too bad for a purchase that was meant to be a consolation prize. 

To sum it all up, I pulled two autographs in just four random, conciliatory packs, along with three new Cubs cards for my collection.  That's probably a lot better than I would have done at the garage sales anyway.

Meanwhile, though they were thrilling to pull, I'm not exactly wed to the Judge or the Burroughs (or the Ogden Raptors Hawaiian shirt insert either).  So, if they caught your fancy, please let me know.

In the meantime, maybe I should go buy a scratch off or something - I've clearly inherited some good luck somehow and I have to milk this streak for all that it's worth.

Diamonds are a Girl's (and Guy's) Best Friend

So - on New Year's Eve I finally proposed to my girlfriend of a few years.  It was a long time coming and I really can't believe it took me so long to work up the nerve to do so.  Ok, well, it was mostly working up the capital that was the actual reason for the delay.

I practically fainted when I first stepped into a jeweler.

Anyway, in return for putting a sparkly, black diamond onto her finger, my FIANCEE (that's weird to write) bought me some diamonds of my own.  Rather, a big ol' box of cards the depict people playing on a diamond.

Nailed that segue!

Yea, I knew I picked the right one.  She works at the local Goodwill and is in their corporate track; the other day, when she was taking inventory of the store, she noticed an impressive stack of card boxes.  Of course, she knows I collect baseball cards this far into our relationship - I could only hide my childish tendencies for so long.

Not only did she by me a box; but, she took the time to sort through all the boxes (there were at least half a dozen) and sort all of the baseball cards, plus a handful of football selections, into one after she clocked out.

Hot damn - is that love or what?  Of course, I had to promise to pimp her generosity on my blog (yup, she knows about that too) and tell the entire internet that I have the best fiance (still weird) in the entirety of the world.  I absolutely do.

As an aside, I don't know about you all, But rarely do I find trading cards at thrift stores.  I figure it's because plenty of people don't understand how overproduced the stuff from their childhood was and that their 1990 Donruss and Mark Grace rookies aren't worth a damn; I know I've seen plenty such people walk away from my LCS looking quite disappointed.

As such, I expected this box to contain pretty much nothing but junk wax.  However, it wasn't really about the contents for me, anything cool was a bonus, it was about the thought and effort that went into this impromptu gift from my better half.

Even better, it wasn't all 1989 Topps!  Of course, there was still plenty of that sort of junk.  But, there was actually plenty of super cool stuff within that fit into my collection:

As you can see, the oddballs were out in full force.  Whoever started this collection must have eaten a lot of Hostess products because there was damn near a complete set of those goodies in there.

Additionally, there were a good amount of those Swell issues that you see on the upper left and a couple of those Classic trivia cards as well.  I normally loathe those Panini stickers; but that's because I thought that they were all mini and flimsy and difficult to store and such.  I didn't realize that the Canadian edition from 1991 was standard size and printed on cardstock until I got my hands on that Magadan... love it!

Score did caricature cards of the All-Stars for a few years and I've always adored them - they may just be base cards and they may be a little goofy, but damnit they're fun and baseball cards are supposed to be fun!  This Eck will find a nice hom in my misc. former/future Cubs box.

Score also did some more conventional designs to honor award winners in the 1993 set and these three men all have Cubs connections as well.  Believe it or not, there's still '93 Score cards that are new to my eyes.

We've also got Joe Carter having some fun with "Big Mac," a couple of special, foil-adorned Stadium parallels and the only vintage card found in the entire box.  If there's only going to be one, might as well make a pillbox Pirate.

As you can see, there were plenty of novel singles to be found in this Goodwill gift; however, my favorites were yet to come:

Minor League singles!  There were only a handful of these; but, the ones that I did get all played in the Big Leagues for the Cubs at some point in their career.  Thus, they will make for swell additions to my "Baby Bears" binder (Cubs as minor leaguers - official collection name still undecided).

It wasn't just baseball cards that found their way into my binders though:

As I mentioned earlier, my fiancee spent a good 30 min collating all of the baseball cards in the massive influx of card boxes into a singular unit.  Even so, there was still a little space to be had; therefore, a small stack of football cards filled the extra space.

As you can see, she did pretty well in her random grab.  I was able to cross 6 names off of my Bears All-Time Roster chase - three depicted in the proper uniform.  As for the other 3, Stargell played in exactly one game for Chicago and Epps played in just 8 himself - correc tme if I'm wrong, but I highly doubt they have any Bears cards.  Heyward was the senior Windy City veteran of the group, competing in a full season with the Monsters of the Midway; so, he does actually have a few for me to chase.  In the meantime, this will make a nice placeholder.

Even still, after all of this production, there was still one more suprising addition to be discovered:

 Somehow, a NASCAR card managed to sneak into the baseball and football cards.  NASCAR singles are pretty tough to come by in this neck of the woods and I've recently decided to reboot my old motorsports collection in the mold of my Cubs/Bears/Blackhawks binders - one card of every driver I can get.  Cale Yarborough might me one of the top 10 best NASCAR competitors all-time, 83 wins and 3 championship titles, yet I did not have his wonderful cowboy hat represented in my collection yet.

However, it must be noted that this card needs verification.  It may very well not be what it claims it is:

Don't worry though - I checked myself and his cowboy hat does NOT come right off. Cale checks out.

Those were the highlights (there were plenty of unassuming junky base cards that I won't bore you with) of what made it into my collection; however, that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of enticing trade bait to be had as well:

These are samplings of what was to be had for each set represented.  If you want what's pictured of have any other needs for these oddball sets, send me a list because I just might have it.  They were all well represented in this surprising gold mine.

More oddball stuff, all up for trade; well, except for that glorious Pacific Crosetti Pilots single, that's already been sent off in a care package.

Also, does anyone know the story behind that Babe Ruth oddity on the bottom right?  It's printed on pretty thin stock and doesn't really contain any identifying information.  Curiousity is getting the better of me here.

We've also got some cool minor league off-beats to offer.  Unfortunately, those Brewer police department-issue cards have already been enclosed in that same package.  Sorry to tease and for my my lack of forethought when it came to picture taking.

Some parallels...

...and some more fun stuff.  Maybe I should just start my own binder of off-the-wall nutball stuff like Metal Universe and Topps Kids.  That sure would be fun to flip through, wouldn't it?

And there you have it, the Goodwill gift that just kept on giving.  If there was anything in the pictures above that caught your eye, please let me know; I sure wouldn't mind off-loading some clutter.

After all of this digging, sorting and cataloging, I was absolutely ecstatic that my fiancee was kind enough to take all that time after a long work day to fill a box full cards to indulge my "dorky" hobby.  The fact that it was actually stuffed with stuff I didn't know I needed was just a bonus (an exponentially more exciting bonus).  I knew I picked the right woman ;)

Savers in Motion

There are three kinds of places that I love going to more than anything in life: garage sales, flea markets and thrift stores.  I'm probably the most exciting 20-something on the face of this here planet!

However, I've come to terms with my inherent boring nature and learned to embrace it.  So, I have no problems telling all of the internet that the highlight of my weekend was a trip to Savers - which is a national chain of thrift shops.

Now, normally, I can find a couple of cool LPs or 45's, some miscellaneous knick-knacks or a gag gift or two; however, baseball cards are usually nowhere to be found.  This, I figure, is a result of people thinking their junk wax is an untapped goldmine and trying to pawn them off on the LCS. This is a scene that I've seen plenty often enough.

While I did find a couple nice albums (Donnie Iris and Scandal), some clothes and an amusing book that might offend more religious folks, I was very surprised to also happen upon this:

A plastic baggie of baseball cards??  This is my second favorite thing to find in a plastic baggie!!  (The first is a sandwich, what the heck did ya think I meant?)

Not just yellow-bordered Donruss crapola either; I don't have any 1996 Sportflics (I mean Sportflix... because X is cooler to 90's kids) in my collection and rarely do I see it pop up.  This Savers repack contained a nice stack of said set, plus this card was visible on the back:

A fun set of which I have no cards from and a guaranteed Cub too?  I'll take that deal every time.  Mark Parent was only a Cub for two seasons (1994-95) and served as a backup catcher; so, a card in Cubbie blue is a rare sight, indeed!

Unfortunately, that was the only card in the whole pack that had the right uniform on it; that said, that doesn't mean I wasn't able to find a few former/future Cubs to stock my player collections with:

As you can see, you get the player's last name when you tilt it one way and a notable stat from their previous season when you tilt in the opposite way.This was cool technology back then kiddies!

He might have earned his fame in Toronto, but let's not forget that this World Series hero got his start on the North Side of Chicago and landed the Cubs Rick "the Red Baron" Sutcliffe!

Ugh, a Cardinal.  But, at least this guy was able to get out of his deal with the devil and spend the 2006 season in Chicago.

On second though, that wasn't so pleasant.  Brought in to be a pinch-hitter, that .307 avg turned into a whopping .205 and his lasting impression here was getting pummeled by Brian Anderson in the benches-clearing brawl that ensued after the Michael Barrett/A.J. Pierzynski bout.

Michael Tucker didn't really have a notable career at Wrigley Field either.  He served as an extra outfielder for a team that choked down the stretch in 2001 and the Cubs then traded him back to the Royals in the off season.

Still, something new for my collection.

The rookie cards from this set are probably my favorite part about it.  First off all, the transition between the bat to the ball background seems smoother than the normal cards backgrounds.  Plus, they just look cooler to me.

I don't always have to have a rational reason, right?

Shawn Estes might have been a young hurler with a ton of promise back in 1996; but, as a Cubs in 2003 he was the obvious weak link in the rotation.  As the fifth man, he posted an ERA 5.73 and somehow lasted for 28 starts.

The club succeed in spite of his turns and, thus, I'll always remember him fondly for his association with that "almost did it" Cub team.

Here's the rest of the '96 Flix that fell out of the baggie.  Does anyone want to call dibs on them?  I'm not really wed to the ones with Cubs connections either; so, don't be afraid to lay claim to those too, if you're so inclined.

Yes, I know.  Organization is a skill I really need to work on.  My girlfriend reminds me every day.

That was it for Sportflix, but there was a healthy assortment of some more recent product as well.  For instance, this mix of 2008 Upper Deck.  No one that I collect though - anyone need help building the set?

Also nestled in there was a small trove of...

...recent editions of Allen & Ginter.  Now, none of these are guys that I collect and I don't particularly care for these sets.  But, I know that some go ga-ga over Ginter; so, does anyone need some full-size...

...or minis?  Let me know if any of these interest you!

We close things out with a couple of future Cub relievers who had spotty (at best) records with the Chicago National League ball club.

All in all, there wasn't that much "oompf" in this particular repack, but it was worth it for the novelty factor alone.

Plus, that wasn't the only baseball-related trinket that I uncovered during this particular expedition to Savers.  In fact, the other purchase that I made was much more interesting.  However, that one will require a little bit lengthier of a write-up; so, I'll save that one for tomorrow. See ya then!

I know - this is the most intense cliffhanger since "who shot JR?" Right???