Seeing Red... Turkey Red

As the title of this post alludes to, while perusing the aisles of the LCS by work earlier this week, I found a wonderful thing:  a complete set of Turkey Red.

Now, I'm not talking about the progressively more boring Topps reboot; better than that.  On the other hand, I'm not talking about an original set either; that would be a rather unprecedented find and I don't have a house to mortgage.

What I found was the full, factory sealed 1911 Turkey Red Reprint set produced by Renata Galasso from 1982.  Score!

While this aren't the real thing, they are absolutely the next best thing.  They reduce the size from the original cabinet sized cards to traditional baseball card size and do an absolutely wonderful job recreating the vivid and warm color lithographs on the front.  They are probably my favorite reprint set of all-time, no exaggeration.

Since cards from the deadball era are exceedingly expensive and rare, the time period runs rather thin in my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  This set did a lot to change that problem!

Retail, full sets appear to be selling for anywhere between $50-75; but, thanks to packaging it with some other items and for being a loyal customer, the proprietor let me take them home for $30.  The other items were also really cool and will be shown off early next week, I know you're just dying to see them.

But, enough describing how beautiful the cards are; let's take a look at the names I can now cross off of my CATRC wish list:

Leading off, we have one William "Kitty" Bransfield, who served as the Pirates' regular first baseman from 1901-04, including during the inaugural World Series in '03.  After the 1904 season, Kitty was traded to Philadelphia, where he stayed entrenched until midway through the 1911 season.

With his star rapidly fading, Chicago bought his contract that September as player/manager Frank Chance had reduced himself to a part-time role and Vic Saier proved inconsistent.  He only got into 3 games as a Cub, but he definitely made the most of it.  In 12 PAs, he batted an even .400 with 2 walks and 2 doubles.

You might say that, as a Cub, he was the cat's pajamas. Hey-o!

On the right, you'll see Tommy Leach.  He enjoyed a particularly long career, playing from 1898 to 1918 at third base and center field.  Like Kitty, as a member of the Pirates, Leach participated in the first World Series and knocked four triples, a record that still stands 111 years later.

Partway through the 1912 season, the Cubbies landed Leach for Solly Hoffman and King Cole and he served as a regular outfielder for the next 3 seasons.  He even lead the league in runs scored in '13 with 99.

The Cubs cut ties after the 1914 season and he moved on to Cincinatti.  After nearly being named the manager of the Chicago Federal League entry, he got one last curtain call with Pittsburgh in '18 before calling it a career.

Next up, is not the swashbuckling Pirate nor is he a Daydream Believin' pop singer; but, nevertheless, he is Davy Jones.

This Davy Jones was nicknamed "Kangaroo" because he hopped from team to team quite often. After signing with the Chicago Orphans (Cubs) in 1901, he soon hopped to the old Milwaukee Brewers.  The next year, he hopped from there to the St. Louis Browns before hopping right back to Chicago!

One of baseball's first platoon players, Davy batted .275 for the Cubs from 1902-04 before hopping off to Detroit.  He found his way to to the South Side of Chicago and to Pittsburgh in the Federal League before an honorary curtain call in '18 back in Detroit.

In that final showing, Davy was pulled out of the stands by his friend and Tiger manager Hughie Jennings to play in the last game of the war-shortened regular season.

To the left, to the left (Beyonce reference? C'mon Tony...)  is Mike Mitchell.  In his time with the Reds, Mike led the NL in triples twice from 1909-10 and was noted for having one of the best outfield throwing arms of his era.  His record of 39 outfield assists during his rookie year of 1907 was not broken until 1930.

But, by the time the Cubs acquired him prior to the 1913 season in the same trade that saw Joe Tinker's Cubs career come to an end, Mitchell was breaking down.  His power numbers declined drastically and he was exposed to waivers, where he was quickly snapped up by the Pirates.  He was out of baseball by 1915.

Next on the horizon (yay puns!), is Ed Lennox.  A third baseman by trade, he spent just 27 games with the Cubs in 1912.  He batted .235 with 1 homer and 16 RBI over the course of 101 PA.

His MLB career lasted sporadically from 1906 to 1915, where, in addition to the Cubs, he spent time with the Dodgers, Athletics and the Pittsburgh Rebels of the Federal League.

That's about all that I can find out about this guy, there is very little information floating around out there.

Here we have a fine "action shot" of Buck Herzog avoiding being picked off at first at the hands of Tim Jordan.  Of the two, only Herzog spent any time with the Cubbies.

Herzog was a long-time NL infielder, playing with New York and Boston (2 stints each) as well as the Reds from 1908 through 1919.

The Cubs acquired his services for the last 2 years of his career and he "rewarded" them with a .225 average in 143 games from 1919-20.  He was clearly on his last legs.

This is another guy where there just isn't a lot of biographical information to be found.

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That does it for today's posting.  These lovely Turkey Red reprints certainly brightened my mood, as did the other sets of cards that I'll be bragging about soon.  That said, the beautiful weather in Chicago today (70 degrees and sunny) has brightened my mood much, much more.

If you survived this past winter in the midwest, surely you understand why this is such a big deal.

So, I'm getting off the computer and going to have a picnic... or something... anything outside!

Helllllloooo Bowman

Surely a whole box of discounted baseball cards from the early '50's is much more fun than a visit from everyone's favorite 90's sitcom nemesis right?  Seinfeld segue!

In this box of gold, I found a couple more short-term Cubbies - courtesy of Bowman - at my LCS.

A couple days ago, I teased with the first card I found in the box (John Cusick, not John Cusack).  So, I don't mean to downgrade these next cards by going from the big screen to the small screen with my references.  It's just that one of them features a TV (yes, '55 Bowman).

Here we have the immortal George Freese; ok, not really immortal - but this card will last on forever I suppose.  The third sacker had 3 separate stints in the big leagues, all very short and several years apart.

He originally came up in 1953 with the Tigers, but his tenure consisted of exactly one at-bat.  So he got more than Moonlight Graham or Adam Greenberg, however it was obviously rather short.  Although, the Cubs apparently saw enough and purchased his contract.

But, he never saw big league action during this stint, as he was included in a trade package to the Pirates to acquire none other than the legendary slugger Ralph Kiner.  I'm sure this is something that he bragged about for years; one isn't often traded for a HOFer.  

The book was closed on his Cubs career before it ever started, or so we thought.  After batting .257 in 51 games with the Pirates in 1955, the Cubs took him right back in the minor league draft.  Unfortunately for him, in the minor leagues he'd stay for the rest of the decade.

Then, he got one last shot in May of 1961 as the Cubs briefly called him up to fill in.  Appearing exclusively as a pinch hitter, he did his part by batting .286 - nothing to sneeze at.  However, when the calendar turned to April, the glass slipper broke and George Freese was done in the majors.

The Cubbies brought him back a few years later on their big league coaching staff, from 1964-65, and he later managed in the Dodgers farm system.

I couldn't resist adding another piece of arguably the most iconic baseball card set of all-time, especially for just a buck.  The card is in excellent shape, considering it is 60 years old this year.  Welcome to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection George!

This card of Frank Hiller dates from immediately after his departure from the North Side of Chicago.  Originally coming up with the Yankees in 1946, the Cubs purchased Hiller just before the 1950 season when the Yankees deemed him a lost cause. 

He served as a somewhat useful swingman for 2 seasons, posting a 18-17, 4.16 ERA in 294 innings; think of him as a Glendon Rusch-type pitcher.  But, seeing as the Cubs teams of the early 50's had some sort of aversion to useful players, Hiller was traded to the Reds for a washed-up Willard Ramsdell.

As it turned out, the Cubs really didn't lose anything anyway.  He was Reds tenure was brief and though his numbers were virtually the same, he was sent back to New York, but this time to the Giants. 

After posting an ERA over 6 in 1953 for the New Yorkers, he was traded back to the minors (PCL) and never made it back up.

His career might not have been too special, but it lead to a nice piece of cardboard.  It's already part of an iconic set, but the pose and color are also exceptional.  A few wrinkles and banged up corners put it on discount, but that doesn't bother me any!

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That did it for the old school Bowman and for that particular LCS.  But, the story doesn't end there; later in the week I took a trip to the LCS by my job and found a gold mine's worth of new All-Time Roster additions.

These players are even older than the ones above!

I'll have more on that tomorrow; now, I'm off to bed because I have to get up early in the morning and head to the office (ain't no rest for the wicked).

Hot Tub Time Machine

The title of this particular post works two-fold; let me explain.

I wouldn't just Say Anything after all.

First, the concept of a time machine is fitting for the card that I am about to show off.  It is older than nearly all of the actors in that movie, after all.

Second, this highly underrated and crass comedy features one particular actor that shares a very similar name with the following former Cub infielder:

I had to do a double take when I pulled the card out of a box of vintage Bowman at my LCS because I initially read the back as John Cusack.

We all know that John Cusack never played Major League Baseball; although he did portray White Sox shortstop Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out.  On the other hand, John Cusick barely played in the MLB anyway.

Courtesy of scottcrawfordoncards.com

Cusick toiled in the farm systems of the Phillies, Cardinals and Yankees for several seasons before finally making his debut with the Cubs in 1951.  He quickly earned the nod as the starting shortstop for the club, on one of the woeful 50's Cubs rosters, but his weak bat quickly relegated him back to the bench by July.

In 186 plate appearances over 65 games, he batted .177.  That wasn't going to fly, even in a lower offense era at a defensively-minded position.  So he was shipped to the Braves for Bob Addis going into the the 1952 season, as this card notates.

In Boston, he again earned the starting shortstop job before losing it mid-season due to his strikingly similar .167 batting average in 49 games.  He was cut after the season and no one ever came calling again.

Maybe some Chernobly would have improved John's performance?

Courtesy of Prop Bay

And thus, the flame was extinguished on John Cusick's MLB career. Not a notable name, but one I needed to add to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, nonetheless.

Cusick might not have given much to the Cubs, but the box that I found his 1952 Bowman card in gave an awful lot to me!  In addition to this one card, I pulled a few others.  All of them were in excellent shape, reasonably priced and will be discussed in another post.

But, that's all for today; work is calling my name.  However, I did just land some free tickets to today's game!  Here's hoping Jason Hammel gives me a Cubs win on my first game of the 2014 season!

Go Jason, Go!

Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)

So, as I'm sure you've noticed, I've been really slacking on my blogging lately.  I apologize to the hundreds of hungry readers out there who are obviously dying to hear about my latest acquisitions (at least in my mind); but, I have a good reason.  I'm movin' out!

I'm in the process of moving into a new apartment with my girlfriend.  This is a huge milestone in my life and our relationship, so here's hoping that we're a better match than Milton Bradley and Chicago.

Thus, rather than ripping open packs of baseball cards, lately I've been packing up all of my belongings and readying for the big move-in date this weekend.

That said, I still have found some time to sneak in some trips to the LCS too.  I need to decompress after all.  Shhhhh.

So, I'll try to get a post in ASAP, maybe even later today.  But, I just wanted everyone to know I wasn't dead.  Rather, instead of playing Wrigley Roster Jenga, I'm playing Giant Cardboard Box Jenga!

Fifties Friday

Grease up your hair, break out the Elvis records and grab a malt because we're going back to the 1950's here at Wrigley Roster Jenga!

Yesterday, after I had finished digging through the TCMA and SSPC piles at my LCS, I also noticed a box of cards labeled "1950's" Cubs.  This is a decade that is relatively thin in my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, so I was easily roped in.

The prices were a touch high for my taste, but the cards were in immaculate condition and most were those coveted "high numbers," so I really hesitate to pull the trigger on anything.

But, I've been good; I deserve a present from myself every now and then, right?  So I compromised and only bought three of my desired targets.  Three is a good baseball number; three strikes, three outs, three outfielders... it felt right.

All three of my purchases happened to be from the 1957 Topps set.  This was no coincidence as this release is one of my favorite vintage sets.

Without further ado, let us now examine the three new Cubs players that I have obtained:

Poholsky was a can't miss prospect in the Cardinals organization with an impressive pedigree.  Today, that would ensure that said prospect will lead the team to the playoffs year in and year out and eventually end up in the HOF.  But, Poholsky doesn't play today, now does he?

In the bush leagues, he posted 16–3 and 18–6 seasons in the for the Cards' affiliates and compiled an overall minor league record of 80–54 (.597).  I'd buy that stock.

But, after his initial call ups in '50 and '51 he posted mediocre numbers.  Then, Uncle Sam came a-callin' and Tom served with the Army during the Korean War for the next two years.

He came back with a bang in '54, posting a 3.06 ERA in 25 starts, but it soon unraveled from there.  His stats regressed back to mediocre and after a few seasons in the Cardinals rotation, he was traded to the Cubs for one last go-around in '57.

The Cubs do what they always did at that time and tried to draw blood from a stone.  He went 1-7 with an ERA near 5, which earned him a ticket out of town by trade with San Francisco and he never saw the majors again.

For all his gaudy win totals in the minors, Tom Poholsky never had a winning season in the bigs.

Here we have one of my favorite names in baseball history.  Vito Valentinetti sounds like it should be the name of some big Hollywood star or some hopeless romantic artist deep practicing in Florence.  

Plus, who doesn't love a little alliteration?  Say that five times fast.

Vito was a well-traveled relief specialist throughout the 1950's and he spent some time on both sides of Chicago.  He originally came up with the White Sox in '54 for a brief cup of coffee.  The Cubs then drafted him out of the minors for the '56 season, where he rewarded them with a 6-4 record and a 3.78 ERA in 95.1 innings.

Nine games into the '57 season, he caught the attention of the Dodgers and he was traded for Don Elston.  He never played for Brooklyn though, as Cleveland purchased him soon thereafter.  Thus, like many relief pitchers, Vito went on a nomadic ride through the Majors, hanging on through the '59 season.

All in all, Vito had a rather insignificant career.  However, our next and final subject seemed to be destined for much greater things.

While another Lennon went on to much greater fame in the 1960's, Bob Lennon seemed destined for super stardom himself, once upon a time. 

"Archie," as he was often called, displayed absolutely prodigious power in the minors, smashing 278 dingers in his 16 year career.  But, it was his 1954 season that truly captivated the baseball world.

Lennon went yard 64 times that season with the AA affiliate of the NY Giants and won the triple crown by batting .345 with 161 RBIs.  Truly one of the best seasons ever seen at any level of professional baseball.

Remember that this was 7 years before Roger Maris surpassed the Babe and 60 homers seemed an unbreakable record.  But, maybe Bob Lennon was just the guy to do it.

These astounding achievements earned him a call-up with the fabled '54 Giants during their pennant drive and Lennon seemed unstoppable.

Unfortunately, Lennon turned into one of the biggest busts in baseball history.

After 3 at-bats without a hit that year, he was sent back down to AAA, where he wouldn't emerge from again until 1956.  Then, he got into 26 games, but batted below the Mendoza line and went homer-less.

The Giants had seen enough by that point and shipped him to Chicago for peanuts.  Lennon played in just 9 games for the North Siders and was gone by mid-may.  However, he did manage one round-tripper before he was demoted, in Ebbetts Field no less, off former teammate Sal McGlie.

The man who once seemed destined to be the Babe's equal, ended up with just one homer in his MLB career.

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Fittingly, these three cards provide a pretty good summation of the Cubs teams of the 1950's; a bunch of no-namers, former stars and reclamation projects.

Under the ownership of P.K. Wrigley, the Cubs were nothing more than a revenue stream and the once great dynasty began it's long decline into "Lovable Loser" status.

Although the fifties were an unpleasant era in Cubs history, these vintage cards are still very much beauties in my eyes!  Plus, my Cubs All Time-Roster Collection doesn't separate the good from the bad.

Good thing because there is definitely more bad than good in Cubdom!

The Strike is Dunn! (Done)

Yes, that's right.  I, Anthony B., was on strike from Wrigley Roster Jenga and I refused to blog until the Cubs won a game this season.  But, thanks to an outstanding Cubs debut from Jason Hammel and the first signs of life from this crummy offense, I am proud to announce that I have crossed the picket line and will be back to posting as regularly scheduled...

Ok, you caught me; I wasn't really on strike.  I just neglected to write anything last night because it didn't even cross my mind until late at night.  Plus, while suffering through that 6 hour slogger last night, I really didn't feel inspired to write anything nice about the Cubs anyway.

But Tony, you might be asking, why did you spell Dunn that way in the title?  Is this some sort of terrible, eye-rolling pun?  You know Adam Dunn plays for that other Chicago team right?

Well, yes it is one of my patented, God-awful puns and I am well aware that Adam Dunn is a pale hose.  However, Ron Dunn was definitely a Cub (and only a Cub in the majors) and his card has eluded me for some time now.

That is, until today.

There he is, in all his 70's porn-stache glory, none other than Ron Dunn.  This SSPC release from 1975 has been my Moby Dick for a while; I have been able to obtain every other card from that set but this one.

Why?  I don't know; Dunn himself was nothing special.  From 1974-75, he held a spot on the Cubs bench as the Cubs transitioned from yearly contenders in the early 70s to cellar-dwellers by the mid to late 70s.  His career batting avg from .241 over the course of 55 games; not good but not embarrassingly bad I suppose.

But, my hunt is finally over and I can finally add Dunn to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  Welcome to the club Ron, it's very exclusive!

This card was just one of a bunch of SSPC and TCMA cards that were stashed beneath the counter of my LCS, so of course I had to keep looking after that.  I wasn't disappointed either.

Harry Craft - an alumnus of the infamous College of Coaches.  

Since my All-Time Roster Collection also includes managers and the College of Coaches were all technically managers, Craft now occupies a spot in my binder.

For those who don't know, the College of Coaches were an experiment by Phillip Wrigley in the early 60's to try and jump-start his second-division ballclub; y'know, rather than pay attention to player development, opening his pocketbook or signing better players.

The concept was that rather than one manager, the Cubs would employ a group of several men who would rotate through the "Head Coach" position as well as every other spot on the staff.  They would even rotate throughout the minor league system too.

Needless to say, it was mass chaos and abandoned much later than it should have been when Leo Durocher was hired in 1966.

Mr. Craft was able to parlay his time in College into a real managerial gig with the new Houston franchise in 1962, as pictured on this particular card.  He only lasted 2 years, but he'll always be known as their first manager.

I always love to obtain a card featuring a defunct/re-named franchise as well.  I've been fascinated with Browns, Senators, Colt .45's, etc. since I first started collecting; they add a little more history to my collection.

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Well, I managed to make it 34 days until I missed a day of posting; I think that's a pretty decent stretch.  That said, I'm going to do my best to make sure that I keep from falling into bad habits.

So, I'll see you all tomorrow; same bat-time, same bat-channel... err... bat-blog?

Stub's Hub

Amazing.

That's really all I can say about this trade package that I received from Stubby, a regular commenter on this and many other card-centric blogs throughout the internet.

All told, in exchange for a simple Cubs pocket schedule, I received from Stubby over 20 new players for my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection (many vintage), knocked out nearly half of my 1980-Present subset, a good 30 more notable/interesting cards and a nearly complete set of Cubs from 2014 Topps Heritage.

It was like trading Hee-Seop Choi for Derrek Lee all over again.

Not that I intentionally fleeced him; I thought that this was the only card that I'd be receiving:

For one of the faceless middle relievers that has passed through the Cubs roster over the last 30 years, I thought that this was acceptable.  Stubby is from New York and Cubs schedules aren't exactly flooding the Big Apple.

For such a relatively recent Cub (2001-02), Mahay has been difficult to track down.  This is because he was a scab during spring training in 1995 (as an outfielder), thus he is not a part of the player's union and has been left out of most major releases.  Since the Topps Total card above is worth less than a buck, we called it even.

I knew something was up when I got a box instead of a PWE.  Stubby upped the ante, he turned it up to 11, he leveled up... you get the idea.

Look at this stack of vintage Topps from the 60's and 70's:

All of these were new names to add to my aforementioned roster collection.  Special bonus points to Don Bryant for being my first Seattle Pilots card; I always love a good "defunct franchise/team" card.

But, wait; there's more!

The targets here were Ron Tompkins, Earl Stephenson and Dave Lemonds.  Of the three, only one played for longer than two seasons in the majors, Stephenson (4), and none of them were a Cub for longer than one.

How's that for some short-term Cubs?

Although these next two aren't actually vintage, they do depict some old-timey Cubbies:

As I've mentioned several times, the Conlon Collection is one of my favorite sets of all-time, any year of it for that matter.

For one, it spotlights players who had few or no cards issued during their career, as illustrated by Lefty here, and it feature clear, crisp photography and classy black borders (Keep It Simple, Stupid)

A mediocre pitcher for several seasons in Philly with flashes of greatness, Lefty tried to make a comeback with the Cubs in 1927 after being out of the majors for three seasons.  He was sent back down to the bush leagues after two seasons and, except for 17 games with the Yankees in '31, his MLB career was over.

Babe "Blimp" Phelps looked like a failed prospect when he left Chicago in 1934 after two seasons of uninspiring numbers.  But, he used us a springboard for a mid-career renaissance and had 3 All-Star seasons with Brooklyn.

Switching gears, Stubby also threw in a bunch more recent Cubs that had eluded me in my side quest to obtain a card of every Cub since 1980, besides Mr. Mahay of course.

The Brad Woodall might just be my favorite; with it's chrome elements and my love of minor league cards, it's hard for me not to gush.  Speaking of minor league cards, I have to wonder what Derrick White is yelling about.

Also, let's hope that our 2014 Topps Heritage Rookie Star turns out better than our 2012 version!

Even after all of that, there was still more fantastic cardboard pouring out of the box.  Including a couple guys who I thought I'd never actually be able to obtain.

These are some of the best made custom cards that I've ever seen.  The design is meticulous and well-executed, the photo selection and colorization (in the case of Gabler) is exceptional and really pops.  The actual cards themselves are put together so well, that I thought that they were giveaways from some sort of special convention.

Ironically, I had only recently been lamenting the fact that Jophery Brown never had a card released in his honor.  His pitching career flamed out after only 3 games in 1968, but he is notable for being a stuntman for more than 30 years afterwards.  Jurassic Park, Speed, Scarface, etc... what a resume!

Surely a personality like that deserves some cardboard recognition, right?

Gabe Gabler was slightly less notable, he batted 3 times in 1958 over the course of 3 games without reaching base or taking the field defensively.  With a line like that, it's no wonder he never had a card.

Thanks to Stubby and his card-crafting skills, these two will no longer be black holes in my collection.

After all of that, he still managed to top himself; this fell out of a top-loader marked "open this last"

Is this a reprint?  It has to be, right?  No one gives something like that away for (essentially) free.

Nope, it's absolutely the real thing and this minor league, regional release from Remar Bakery is a beauty that dates back to 1947.  Who wouldn't want to have a vintage oddball like this in their collection?

Lillard didn't last very long in the Bigs, 20 games with the Cubs in 1939 and some token appearances for St. Louis the next season, but this card sure has lasted a while!

He also had the best uni-brow this side of Wally Moon.  It's too bad you can't see it on this card.

There was still plenty more cool stuff to be found, but these were some definite highlights.  I have to say that this is the best haul that I have ever had come in at once and I am eternally grateful to Stubby for this package; your generosity knows no bounds!

I'm now at over 60% complete on my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection and nearly done with my Cubs from 1980-Present side quest.  All that I have left in that mission are:

Gene Krug - 1981

Bill Johnson  - 1983-1984

Johnny Abrego - 1985

Mike Maksudian  - 1994

Ramon Tatis - 1997

Steve Gajkowski - 1998-1999

Richard Barker - 1999-2000

Doug Creek - 1999

Raul Gonzalez - 2000

Mike Mahoney - 2000, 2002

Mike Fyhrie - 2001

Jeff Beliveau - 2012

Lendy Castillo - 2012

Chang Yong-Lim - 2013

And all it took was one pocket schedule.