Pierre Today, Gone Tomorrow

I'm several days late on this, I know, but it seems like that's kinda my thing.

Juan Pierre recently announced his retirement from the game, calling it a career ranked 18th all-time in stolen bases with 614 and a .295 career batting average through 14 seasons and 6 different teams; not to mention a World Series Championship.  One of those teams was the Cubs, though it was only for one year in 2006.

On the left, we have Juan's 2006 Topps Flagship issue and on the right is his photoshopped card from the Factory Set

After a terribly slow start in Chi-Town, Juan ended up leading the NL with 204 hits and stealing 58 bases.  He was a spark plug at the top of the Cubs lineup and did a much better job than Corey Patterson had the previous couple of seasons. Unfortunately, the offense behind him was lackluster after Derrek Lee was lost for the season in May and nothing was done to replace him.  A month late trade for an over-the-hill Phil Nevin was the best you could do Jim Hendry?!

Compounding the issue, his other stats were pretty pedestrian, he didn't hit his stride until the season was already lost and his extraordinarily weak throwing arm cost the club several runs throughout the year.  Thus, the Cubs let him walk that winter.

While Topps went the Photoshop route, Fleer went the lazy route

(I honestly don't know which way I actually prefer)

The Cubs played a pretty high price to acquire him from Florida as well.  Ricky Nolasco was the centerpiece and has gone on to have a pretty good MLB career; he'd have looked really nice in the rotation of the 2007-08 one-and-done playoff teams - maybe they wouldn't have had to give up Josh Donaldson to get Rich Harden... but I digress.

To make matters even worse, Sergio Mitre had a few more good seasons as an innings eater and Renyel Pinto became a key cog in the Marlins bullpen for the next several seasons.  Oopsy daisy.

Another strike against him in Cubdom was his role as a key contributor to the Marlins incredible comeback against the Cubs in the 2003 NL Championship series.  All he did was bat .303 in 36 ABs and mashed the double off of Mark Prior in the 8th inning of game 6 that begat the ensuing historic rally.  No doubt it was his performance in that heart-breaker of a set that put him on the Cubs radar.

Juan Pierre as a Marlin only helped to break Cubs fans' hearts

Now after all that, why would I have such a soft spot for this guy?

Well, as a runner, I always appreciate players who wreak havoc on the basepaths.  It was always exciting to watch him as he took his lead off from first, twitching with anticipation.  Juan was a genuine pest for the opposing pitcher and the Cubs have lacked that sort of game changing speed for many years before and since.

Not to mention, he always played the game with class and grace, despite the vitriol he received from the LA press for not living up to the large 5 year, $44 million contract he signed with the Dodgers after leaving the Windy City.

Initial lack of production, a hefty contract and the acquisition of Manny Ramirez fueled the fire in LA

He also had a little tradition that I thought was really cool before the NL told him to quit it in 2006:  he always wore a camouflage shirt matching the color of his team underneath his jersey.  For whatever reason, I latched onto it myself and immediately ran out to the local army surplus store and bought my own.

Scraggly, teenage me at the Wrigley garage sale in 2006; can I take a picture or what?

In addition, at the time the Cubs acquired him, I remember that he told the press that as soon as he heard the news, he went into his closet and pulled out an Andre Dawson jersey just to see what he would look like in Cubbie blue.  I thought that was just the coolest thing; he was both enthusiastic to be a Cub and aware/respectful of the franchise history.

But, it wasn't just me; though he was a bit bit of a baseball nomad, he seemed to be pretty well-liked everywhere that he went.  Even the Dodger press grew to like him after a little while.  Juan was known for his work ethic and for his durability (5 years in a row of playing 162 games and only twice playing less than 130).  Thus, Rockies, Marlins, Cubs, Dodgers, White Sox, Phillies and Marlins fans again enjoyed having him around.

Juan originally came up with the Rockies back in 2000

Plus, he really showed off his aforementioned class through his Twitter account on the day he announced his retirement.  He tweeted out though-out and genuine "thank you" messages to each of the organizations and fan-bases that he played for.  He also expressed his one regret in what turned out to be a very successful MLB career:

He's got jokes too!

I'll close out this post with my favorite card of Mr. Pierre, even though it doesn't depict him in blue pinstripes.  It features him in the jersey of the franchise that he will likely be most identified with, the Marlins, during his second go-round and sunset season:

This 2013 blue sparkle parallel really gels with the oranges and yellows of the Miami uniforms quite well.  I might typically find the recent phenomena of parallel madness rather annoying and silly, but I must admit that sometimes it produces some pretty spectacular pieces of cardboard.

So, here's to you Juan Pierre!  You may have only lasted for one season on the north side of Chicago, but you and your speed sure did leave a mark on the Great American Pastime!

Coaches' Corner

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

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

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

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

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

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

Duffy and Tony here were among my first gets.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One more for tonight:

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

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

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

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

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

Coke, No Pepsi!

Cheezborger!

Ahem... Perhaps that iconic bit of Chicago-inspired SNL history is lost on you, just like the minor-league signing the Cubs made a couple days ago:

Or maybe you did know; he was a fairly big-name amongst relief free agents on the market this off-season.

At any rate, the Cubs were able to snag the lefty on a non-guaranteed deal when Phil allegedly had MLB deals on the table.  So, much like last years signing of Emilio Bonifacio, it seems like all Phil has to do is look like a semi-competent pitcher this spring and he'll make the roster.

 You can find Emilio all over the diamond on the other side of town this year

Plus, the Cubs surprisingly cut their only experienced situational lefty, Wesley Wright, this winter.  So, while his overall numbers were pretty bad last year for the Tigers (3.88 ERA in 58 innings), it appears as though he was over-exposed to righties (126 AB vs. righties, 108 AB vs. lefties).  He figures to be the favorite for the LOOGY.

I guess he wasn't the "Wright" fit

Meanwhile, I'd like to take this opportunity to discuss the other non-roster guys I have cards for, lest they be cut before I get the chance:

About a month ago, it was reported that the Cubs had signed Feliciano to a minor-league deal; but, as of today, it still has not been announced.  But, until I hear otherwise, I'm considering him as part of the organization.  There's a lot of mileage on that arm and he hasn't pitched much in the last few years due to injury, but it doesn't hurt to let him compete with Coke for that LOOGY spot.

Bard is a Theo guy and essentially took last season off from pro baseball after a series of setbacks in the Rangers organization.  This is actually the second time he's been acquired by the Cubs, as Theo and Jed claimed him off waivers in September of 2013, but he never appeared in a game.  If he can finally harness his control with a little Bos-mosis, he'd be a compelling darkhorse bullpen piece.

Adron (apparently pronounced as "Adrian") is a one-dimensional speedster who's greatest achievement in baseball thus far has been appearing on an inordinate number of 2012 Topps Heritage floating head rookie cards.  The Cubs outfield is very crowded, but if he hangs around in AAA until September and the Cubs are in contention, he'd make a nice addition to the roster as a pinch-running specialist.

Joe is actually not a non-roster invitee, but a waiver claim.  However, I'm including him here because he is far from being guaranteed a roster spot.  He's another lefty to add to the mix, coming over from the Rangers organization.  I would have considered him the favorite for the LOOGY until the Coke signing, seeing as he'd likely be lost to waivers if run through again.  But, the water is a lot more murky now.

I'm doubly prepared to add Herrera to my CATRC if he should break camp with the team.  The defensive-whiz is pretty weak with the stick (.233 is 90 AB in '14) and the Cubs middle-infield is almost as crowded as the outfield (Castro, Baez, LaStella, Alcantara, etc.).  But, if an injury were to occur, he may very well head to Chicago.  Also (should he stick around long enough) like Chambers, he'd be extremely useful off of the bench come September.

These two guys are much more "prospecty" than those we've already discussed.  Corey came over from New York in exchange for Alfonso Soriano and just broke Hunter Pence's arm.  Armando came over from Cuba in 2013 and is darn near ready for the Show.  It's highly unlikely they come north, but it is quite possible that they end up in the Bigs before 2014 is over.

Meanwhile, these two prospects are not breaking camp with the big league club;  Bryant for service time reasons and Almora for more minor league seasoning.

Surely you know the scoop on Bryant at this point.  MLB's top prospect will probably be called up as soon as three weeks on the MLB calendar go by so as to secure an extra year of club control.

Almora's bat hasn't developed as quickly as hoped and he's ticketed for AA to further flesh it out.  Patience will be his main concern in West Tennessee.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you have it, my non-expert, incomplete and slightly rushed opinion on the Cubs non-roster invitees.  Non-expert because I am a baseball card blogger, not a beat-writer.  Incomplete because there are several other non-roster invitees (Hunter Cervenka, Anthony Carter, Donn Roach & Germen Gonzelez) come to mind, but I don't have any cards of these guys.  Rushed, because I'm going to the Windy City Brewhaha this afternoon and I really need to start getting ready!

I'll be spending all afternoon tasting craft beer; what a labor, right?

I'll leave you here with this, the classic Saturday Night Live skit alluded to in the title of this post;  I really need to get up and shower and stuff.

Beeler?... Beeler?....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Always Look on the Whiteside of Life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image courtesy of GoSportsCards

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

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

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

Wrigley (Roster Jenga) Renovations

While I may be back, my blog isn't entirely so...

                                                                  
                                                                  Thanks to NBC Sports Chicago for the photo


You may have noticed that all of the pictures attached to my posts have disappeared.  This is the result of accidentally deleting the photo folder to which they were all attached.

Ugh.

So, much like Wrigley Field, I'm rebuilding these posts from the ground up and I will NOT be working 24/7 to get them completed.

Just like the City of Chicago said no to the Cubs today.

So, please excuse the junk, dust and rats the size of pigs as I get everything back to normal.

Thankfully, while I do have plenty of junk and dust, the rats are actually also the Cubs issue.

Ick.

Don't Call it a Comeback!

No, really, don't.

It's kind of a tired narrative with my blog at this point; this will be 3 or 4 times now.

Due to some upheaval at work, I've been working 12 hour days everyday and only getting every other weekend off, so I haven't really had time to do anything but sleep and eat lately.

However, things have calmed down a bit (for now) and baseball season is inching ever-so-closer; thus, my motivation is slowly starting to return!

After all, as a Cub fan, it's hard not to be excited about this season.  With all these new additions to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, baseball season might actually matter in Chicago for the first time since I graduated college!

We have the great Madd-ini leading the way now (we shan't mention the Ricky Renteria controversy and tampering charges)!  What better man to skipper this club than the guy who took the Rays and all their young talent from after-thoughts to an AL East powerhouse?

Sidenote, with the dearth of managerial cards in today's baseball card landscape, I was somewhat surprised and mildly ecstatic to find this card sitting in my "extra" box.

For once the Cubbies landed their big free-agency fish!  With Lester fronting a rotation of Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel, Kyle Hendricks and one of T. Wood, Wada, Doubront or Turner, this staff has potential.

I haven't been this excited about their rotation since the days of Prior, Wood, Zambrano, Clement and Maddux... let's just hope these guys don't break my heart too.

Catchers were apparently buy one, get one free this winter.  Well, not really, the Cubs opened up the checkbook for both of these guys.  But nevermind that.

All-Star Miggy provides a slightly better offensive resume than the soon-to-be-traded Welington Castillo and Mr. Ross brings veteran leadership and some playoff experience that the now folk-hero John Baker lacked.  His successful track record working with Lester certainly doesn't hurt either.  Meanwhile, both are substantial upgrades on defense and pitch-framing.

Also, though I think that Ross is my favorite card from flagship last year, it would look so much better with a Cubs ring!

A real, bonafide lead-off man!  This is something that the Cubs really haven't had over the course of my fan-hood.  Juan Pierre might have been the closest and really, he was only fast.  No more shoe-horning the likes of Corey Patterson, Ryan Theriot or David DeJesus into that spot.

Hopefully he can handle centerfield at Wrigley, his defense might be his only knock.

Furthermore, though I usually find the 2010 National Chicle set to be rather ugly, the mountain backdrop on this card makes this card pretty easy on the eyes.

HEY STELLAAAAA!!!!

Sorry, but this scene from A Streetcar Named Desire is all I can think of when I hear his name.  But Tommy's lefty bat and his on-base skills look to be nice weapons off of the bench or as a potential starter in the infield if Javy Baez needs more time in the minors.

The Cubs had to give Arodys Vizcaino back to the Braves to get him, but the Cubs bullpen race is pretty narrow and crowded even without him.  It's nice to be dealing from strengths for once.

Might I also add that getting this Heritage High-Number single for a quarter was a pretty Stella-r find.  *rimshot*

Speaking of the bullpen, the Cubs went out an added a former closer onto the staff.  He won't be unseating Hector Rondon, but his high-leverage experience and success can only help fortify a group that climbed up 12 spots in the bullpen rankings (15th) from the 2013 misfits with their 3.61 ERA.

He's coming off of Tommy John surgery, making him a nice low risk/high reward project.  Plus, he seems to be a rather interesting personality with an impressive beard.

Gone are the days of having to rely on Joe Mather, Lou Montanez or Ryan Kalish to come off of the bench and do something.  Thank goodness.

Even though he had a down year last year for San Diego and Seattle, Norf adds some pretty decent pop in a pinch.  As a fifth outfielder, he'll slot in quite nicely.

What a busy offseason; not San Diego level, but quite the overhaul nonetheless!

Between all of that and some other really intriguing card acquisitions, I couldn't help but find some motivation for blogging again.  After all, neither my girlfriend nor my cat really appreciate this sort of stuff as much as you all do.  I need an outlet!

In the meantime, I'll try not to disappear again; "try" being the operative word.