Bearing Down on Garage Sales

Some people go crazy over Christmas and start immediately shoving it down our throats before Thanksgiving is even upon us.  Some people are bonkers for Halloween and start planning out their costumes while it's still 90+ degrees outside.  Still others obsess over St. Patrick's Day and drink themselves under a rock every weekend...

...wait a minute, that's probably just alcoholism - anyway...

My holiday of choice is none of the above.  In fact, my Christmas is not even a real, nationally recognized day of celebration.  The day I look forward to every year is Garage Sale Day - the day upon which the entire community can set up a yard sale without the normal cost of a permit.

Ever since I was a tiny kid and searching for deals on old Beanie Babies, this has been a day that I've circled on my calendar.  It's an endless sea of opportunity to find wild, obscure and off-beat knick knacks that one can't simply pull off a shelf at Wal-Mart.  Also, there's usually good deals to be had on stuff I collect, i.e. baseball cards.

I think I have a problem though, not only do I eagerly anticipate the arrival of my community's Garage Sale Day; but, I also notate and often attend the surrounding towns' version of this event.  Hi - my name is Tony and I'm addicted to resales and tchotchkes.

At least I'm aware of my conditions?

So, today, in the next town over, I got up nice and early to go on the prowl for Beanie Babies... errr baseball cards.  Unfortunately, although the sales were plentiful, I was not able to dig up a single baseball card... not even the obligatory stack of junk wax.  Sad days.

That said, I didn't walk away empty handed.  While there were no BASEBALL cards, I was able to find a few trading cards to stoke an emerging collection of mine:

Yup... because watching the Cubs over the past few seasons hasn't been torturous enough, I still haven't given up on the Bears either.  Even after the tire-fire that was the Trestman Era.

One of the last stops on my trip scratched my card itch, even if they didn't feature diamond stars.  On their 25 cent table, there was a partial set of this 2007 Upper Deck release, a promotion through Jewel Osco to celebrate the Super Bowl participants.

This team was the most fun I'd ever have had watching football and, even though it was a no contest loss, the Devin Hester return on the opening kickoff was one of my favorite moments in sports history.

So, who was left in the partial set?

Easily the biggest name left over. It's too bad the Bears couldn't get him a Superbowl ring that season; however, I think it's safe to assume that Brian has a ticket to Canton anyway.

"Peanut" had a great career here in Chicago, it's just too bad that he couldn't stay healthy these past two seasons. Then again, I don't think anything could have helped this team in that time. It's going to be weird seeing him in a Panthers uniform.

Tommie Harris was another guy that just couldn't stay healthy. He was such a key component of the defense and his being hurt come the playoffs really didn't help their chances... or their chances in subsequent campaigns.

Vasher also played defense; but I'll always remember him for a special teams play the season before, when he returned a touchdown for 108 yds - an NFL record that would stand alone until Devin Hester, the Windy City Flyer and my favorite player of all-time, emerged and tied it a year later.

Finally, we've got Ricky Manning, Jr., who I completely forgot existed. That's not so much a testament to his abilities on the gridiron as it is my turrble memory. This is a statement that I'm certain that my girlfriend will attest to.

As you can see from the perforation marks on the borders, these cards were distributed and sheets and sold for a buck and some change at local Jewel Osco locations.  I was not collecting football cards at that time and I was only passively collecting baseball cards as college was just around the corner; thus, I do not remember this promotion (there's that memory again!).

These two sheets included one for defense, which is the partial that I grabbed, and one for offense.  Here is how that sheet would have appeared at your local grocer back in 2007:

Image nabbed from Amazon

Looks like I'm missing another possible Hall of Fame in Lance Briggs, a man my teenage lady classmates swooned over in Hunter Hillenmeyer and 2012 Superbowl champ with the Ravens Brendon Ayanbadejo.  I guess I'll have to keep my eyes peeled at future garage sales.

As for the offense sheet, I have no idea who was on that - I cannot find a large enough image on the internet to decipher nor can I find a checklist.  One would figure names like Rex Grossman & Devin Hester are on it and I can make out a kicker on the tiny image I did find; so, Robbie Gould made the cut as well.

These cards will make excellent additions to my burgeoning Bears collection, which, like my CATRC,  is a quest to add one card of everyone who has played for the Monsters of the Midway.  Also like my CATRC, it's a fools errand; every single nameless guard does not have a card and there have been far less football card sets across history produced than baseball.

Nevertheless, one rainy afternoon last October, I decided that my CATRC was getting stale, so why not start one up for my second favorite pro sports franchise?  I guess when this one gets boring, the White Sox better watch out.  A large dimebox at the LCS provided an ample to start to this mission.

Anyway, next time I have nothing to say about baseball, I'll bust open the Bears binder and show off the gestation of that amass of cards.

Lastly, while I was unable to find any baseball cards at the Garage Sale Day, that doesn't mean I wasn't able to find anything baseball related:

A full-size plastic batting helmet for 50 cents?  Why the hell not?  I'm often told I shouldn't be allowed outside without a helmet anyway.

Then again, after yesterday's no-hitter by Cole Hamels illustrated the excruciating dearth of offense this Cubs team has been going through, I don't know that I want to go outside wearing Cubs swag.  I mean, this team is young and still growing and shows plenty of promise, so I'm far from actually upset and I still have high hopes for the long run, but it's still frustrating.

Deep breaths, Tony; you're using run on sentences again.

I can neither confirm nor deny that this frustration has led to two consecutive posts involving football.... yes I can; it does.

Fingers crossed that the Cubs will stop playing down to their opponents and cease being beat up by the likes of the last-place Phillies.

At least I have garage sales to keep me sane, even if my baseball team of choice does not.

Outfielder or Half Back?

Lately I've been monitoring Ebay for cheap vintage cards.  When I say vintage, I'm not talking about 70's Topps here - I mean 50's and earlier vintage.  At 68% percent of the way through the Cubs All-Time Roster, most of the players that I have yet to acquire played in the days before the microwave oven.

Obviously, the prices for even the commons of these sorts of card are a bit steeper than modern cards - antiques and all that.  But, since I'm a low-end collector who gets the card more for the player than for the resale value, I can usually find weathered vintage for the price of a McD's dollar menu lunch.

The latest such find was delivered to my doorstep yesterday afternoon:

It may look like Rocky Balboa after a few rounds with Ivan Drago; but, it's in one piece and you can still tell who it is.  A 1948 Leaf for three bucks shipped?  I'll take it even if it's seen better days.

There are several obvious flaws with this aged piece of cardboard:  paper loss, an unidentifiable stain on the upper right, rounded and sheared corners, etc., but the first one I noticed wasn't a result of time.  Rather, Leaf's colorizing folks seem to have gotten the Cubs color scheme backwards - never in team history has the Cubs symbol had blue lettering with a red circle.

I guess this would be the equivalent of today's photoshopping faux pas.

It's a good thing all of the text on the back is still there and legible because I didn't really know anything about Mr. Aberson other than his name.

It looks like the hometown kid had a notable start to his career as during his initial call-up, he knocked in all of the team's runs with a grand salami in a late-season Cubs win.  In total, he batted .279 in 161 PA's during his 1947 audition.

It was all downhill from there.  Aberson only got into 16 more games across the next two seasons where he batted well under the Mendoza Line, well before the Medoza Line was a thing.  What a hipster.

After a couple seasons in the high minors, he retired to pursue his first love.  What was that, you ask?

Cliff during the 1946 NFL season

Image courtesy of fanbase.com

Why football of course!

Actually, before Cliff had ever even swung a bat in the Major Leagues, he had already played on the national level in pro sports.

While serving for the Army Air Force in the Central Europe Campaign in the waning days of WWII, his skills on the gridiron, he attracted the attention of a pro-scout who immediately recommended him to one of the biggest names in the history of the NFL:  Curly Lambeau.

That's right - this Cub was also a Packer... boo! hiss!

I'm not sure, but I doubt this statue was earned for his discovery of Aberson

Image courtesy of dailyreporter.com

The halfback got into 10 games with Green Bay in 1946, posting 161 rushing yards on 48 attempts with 184 passing yards, while still playing concurrently in the minor league system of the Cubs (who had signed him after an open tryout just before he entered the service).  Eventually, he had to make the tough decision as to which sport he wanted to stick with.

"I actually prefer to play football," Aberson told The Sporting News late in 1947. "But the future in baseball is much greater, and your playing days should be longer. I didn't hesitate a minute when the opportunity came to give up football for a chance in the majors."

This is the same reasoning we hear today from men such as Jeff Samardzija chose the National Pastime over America's Game.  Some things never change, huh?

That said, as his career on the diamond was dying, he must've regretted that choice somewhat.  So, after he decided to give baseball up for good in 1950, it was in order to try out for the old Chicago Cardinals.  Unfortunately, it wasn't to be and he did not make the squad.

This got me thinking though; had any other Cubs player participated in both the NFL and MLB?  The answer is yes, but just one more:

Paddy Driscoll is the only other such Cub - no Bo Jacksons or Deion Sanders to be found here.  I've profiled Mr. Driscoll on this blog before here, so I won't go into too much detail, but, he is extra notable for having played for the both the Cubs and the full-grown Bears.

Oh and yes this football card reps John in my CATRC binder because he has had just one, count 'em one, baseball card ever produced and I am far from being able to afford or justify buying a 1919 Zeenut card.

On the flipside, Cliff had just that one baseball card and no football cards - since, you know, he was barely there and football cards weren't really a thing yet.  So, I took to the Rookies smart phone and whipped up a quick card to fill in that gap:

Ugly as sin; but, alas, we cannot ignore history.  Paddy had a card for each stage of his sporting career - fairs fair.

Also, this seems to be the only image that has survived from Cliff's time in the NFL.

Most importantly, I learned all of this just from finding a beat up, ancient card on an online auction site that I was able to bring home for the cost of a large Red Bull - like which, this stimulated my mind too and I don't feel like I'm going to have a heart attack at any given second.  Win/win.

This is why I love bargain hunting - or, as my family refers to it, being a cheap ass.

*P.S., sorry if I was overly harsh on ya'll Packer-backers - I'm just a jealous Bears fan!

The Force is Strong With This One

Man - so I went about a full year without making any trades (gosh, I am socially awkward) and then I went and made two within the same week. Plus, I've already got a third one brewing right now.  I guess I feel the need to make up for lost time (a lot of it).

JediJeff of the wonderful 2x3 Heroes, who I've come to find out used to live in the next town over from me before I moved, called dibs on the Fleer throwbacks from this post and I was happy to send them over to him; his Throwback Thursday posts need fuel after all!  

I wasn't expecting anything back, but lo and behold, an envelope showed up in my mailbox yesterday from the fan of the other team in town.  In it were plenty of Cubs cards to add to my collection:

Every time the Cubs go on a cold streak or pry defeat from the jaws of victory against teams like Milwaukee or Cincy, I remind myself that most of them only just shed prospect status.  Then I remind myself that at least they aren't prospects like Ty Griffin.  This #1 pick never got past AA - but, still a cool card for the college uniform.

Sidebar - the Cubs' 1988 draft is vomit-inducing.  Only three players even made the Majors, Kevin Roberson, Chris Pritchett & Jesse Hollins, Roberson being the first in Rd. 16 and Pritchett not even for the Cubs.  These three combined for a -1.6 WAR across just 230 games... and I thought 2005 was bad.

If you've read this blog for a while, you know that I adore Conlon Collection.  The photography is amazing, the layout is simple and the player selection is vast.  After all, outside of pre-WWII vintage (some not even that), these are often the only cards available for these guys.

I mean, how often does Charlie Root show up on cardboard?  The Cubs' all-time leader in wins (201) got some love from TCMA back in the day, but that's about it.  On the other hand, the HOFer Hartnett shows up every now and then in modern products; however, he's no Sandberg or Banks.

Well speak of the devil - a new Ernie is still always welcome to my collection and Panini's Hometown Heroes might be one of my favorite recent sets.  The bright colors and relatively simple layout seem like a combination of '58 and '65 Topps; the best of both worlds, at that, and two of my favorite releases all-time.

Again, the player selection in this set is top notch.  I mean, adding Banks to the checklist is far from going out on a limb, but the last time the 1989 Rookie of the Year had a card printed in his name, he was still an active player.

These are my first two cards from 2015 Donruss.  I don't hate the set like what seems to be a majority of the blogosphere, but I don't love them either - I'm lukewarm.  It just doesn't really bring anything new to the table and is too similar to last year's collection.

However, I need to beef up my Soler PC and this shiny Preferred insert is pretty neat.  I love the inclusion of a subtle, secondary photo on the bottom right - it's a unique little quirk.  The Sandberg is cool too; but, I have to wonder why they photoshopped the color of his number and the striping on his pants from red to blue... that seems to make zero sense.

More Ryno!  I'm fairly certain that I already have the All-Star card on the left; but I'm definitely not going to complain.  Plus, the Studio is definitely new to me and the fact that the photos in this set looks like high school yearbook glamour shots adds a campy charm that I've always enjoyed.

Every set needs something that sets it apart from the rest.

A couple of cards from sets that I don't really have much of.  The 2008 Documentary card is, I think, only the second from the release that I've added to my collection.  I like the idea of the set, even if the execution left something to be desired (why not use photos from the game depicted?).  Plus, they picked a good year to do that set because 2008 was a year in Cubs history that deserves to be documented game-by-game.

But not the playoffs... God, not the playoffs.

Speaking of 2008, Jimmy Ballgame really grew on me that season.  Despite his contentious at best relationship with Chicago baseball fans and his apparent declining skill-set and the time of his acquisition, he ended being a key piece of the offense that year and had some of my favorite moments of the season, i.e. his two homers in one inning against the White Sox and his big homerun against his former club, Cardinals.

Both of those 2013 rookie "stars" ended up with the Cubs.  Chapman was a throw in with Arodys Vizcaino when the Cubs traded Paul Maholm to Atlanta, but made only a few token appearances out of the pen before being relegated to the Indy leagues.  Neal was a waiver claim in the thick of the "roster jenga" years,

Neal was interesting to me because he suffered a season ending injury in only his 2nd game with the club.  That injury occurred on a play that also saw Matt Guerrier's season come to an end and Dioner Navarro taking a serious enough blow that the Cubs needed to call-up a third catcher,

1 play - 3 injuries.  That's rough.

Some Fleer Ultra was in the mix as well.  Shawon was an early favorite of mine as a kid, mostly because of the odd spelling of his first name, but still a favorite.

Jose will always hold a special place in my heart for being the main piece in the trade that brought Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton to Wrigley Field in 2003.  12 years later and that trade still blows me away.

We close out the envelope with some more glossy 90's pieces.  I love that bunting shot on the Chico Walker card!

Overall, this was a fantastic return for a few throwbacks that didn't even fit into my collection.  JediJeff, you are a very generous man and I look forward to trading with you again in the future,  I will forever be setting aside my throwbacks and White Sox cards for ya!

Macho Machado Man

So, I think Allen & Ginter dropped today?  I don't know; maybe it did.  Did anyone else hear this?

Jokes aside, while the card collecting world has entered it's annual fit of Ginter love, I'm not partaking because I've always been a bit underwhelmed by the brand.  Most likely, it's due to my collecting habits; but, the graphic designer in me is a bit bored by the repetitive designs necessitated by the source material.

Thus, instead of posting my latest finds from Topps' millionth different "throwback set" (Heritage, Archives, Ginter, etc.), I'm showing off the latest autograph that I added to my CATRC on the cheap:

Roberto Machado is far from a big-name (and actually named Robert) and since the card comes from an unlicensed set, I was able to add this signature to my binder for a whopping 65 cents.  Sorry Roberto - your card collecting stock is worth ten cents less than a Milky Way at my local corner store.

This despite being hand-numbered 317 out of a scant 6,995.  So exclusive,

I'm being overly sarcastic again though; I do like this card.  Royal Rookies is one of many oddball sets that I've always been attracted to - life is boring in a Topps-only world.  Even if their design looks like it was created in Microsoft Word circa 1998 - it's kitsch-y

I've seen this set of prospects dated as both 2000 and 2001 and since I did not really collect much at that time, I have no idea which is correct.  But apparently each pack came with an on-card auto like this one; so, that's cool.  Even if it ended up being an obscure no-namer.

No Google Images, not THAT Machado...

Image courtesy of blacksportsonline.com

It's too bad that Machado didn't live up to his prospect status.  In fact, "Macho Machado" wasn't a prospect at all when this set came out, having played in the minors since 1993 and making MLB cameos every year since 1996.

He still carved out a longish career as a defensively-minded back up catcher, lasting in the Bigs through 2004.  His Cubs tenure started in 2001 as part of the squad that choked away an almost certain playoff spot and ended when he was traded to Milwaukee the next June.

Machado had already been represented in my CATRC collection in the proper attire, though he doesn't have many Cubs cards at all.  In fact, the one that I already had is the only other one that I'm even aware of:

Well, it's a parallel - so, technically there's a separate base card out there too, but that's splitting hairs.  It's a beaut of a parallel though, that rainbow foil looks surprisingly good under the lens of a camera.  this one is even numbered too; however, it's a slightly more rare /40 than my new Royal Rookie.

I was a bit conflicted in replacing this card in my binder; but, a Cubs autograph trumps a Cubs parallel every time.

Sidenote - here is where I'm going to go on my semi-regular rant about wanting sets like UD 40-Man and Topps Total to make a reappearance.  What other set would include a guy like Machado and I would love to see backup catchers, middle relievers and utility infielders get their share of the spotlight for once.

It would make my goal of collecting one card for every Cubs player much, much easier.

So, in summation, Topps produces several sets focused on looking back in time.  It's a market steeped in nostalgia and tradition, I get that, but can we maybe drop one of them and add a set that actually fleshes out the present day?  Am I asking too much?

Backup catchers need love too!

Gifted by Gavin

A few weeks ago, I idly mentioned to Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown fame that I had a card on his want list that I was willing to send his way, not really expecting to hear back.  I had never had direct contact with him before and I didn't think he'd seen the message; so, I forgot about the proposal entirely.

Well, silly me, not only did Gavin receive my message, but he had been trying to contact me and simply could not locate my e-mail address.  Turns out I have made my contact information quick difficult to locate - d'oh!

Thankfully, he finally tracked me down and we executed the proposed trade... well, he did.  His part of the deal arrived promptly; however, I'm still trying to get his return package in the mail.  You see, a torn hamstring makes it really difficult to go through my storage and gather the cards needed for his haul.  I promise I haven't forgotten Gavin!

In the meantime, let me show off Gavin's goods:

This was the centerpiece of the deal.  Seeing as I'm a cheap-ass and I don't like harassing people, I don't have a lot of autographs in my collection.  That said, that doesn't mean I don't like to have them,  So, even though he amounted to squat in the Bigs, I'm happy to swap this Signature Series beauty into Orie's spot in my CATRC binder.

Meanwhile, I'll be making a more conscious effort to add inexpensive John Hancock's to said binder.

Here we have a couple of hurlers who failed to deliver on their immense promise.  Even so, both players hold a soft spot in my heart for being a part of the team that really cemented my Cubs allegiance - the 2003 squad.

I love the firework motif on the Woody card - too bad I didn't have this one around for the fourth!  Also, I wonder if Prior received a certificate and a pizza party from UD for making the honor roll, like I did way back when?

Two players for the price of one!  Neither one of these players really delivered on their promise either, I'd say the scales for each were exceptionally different.  Pie was a prospect flameout from when the Cubs were fascinated with "toolsy" athletes and Sori was never, ever going to live up to the expectations cast when he signed his mega-deal in 2007.

A couple of new Sosa's for my player collection.  Though I was only a casual fan at the time, living in Chicago during the '98 season made it impossible for this kid not to be fascinated with Sosa.  I was too young to understand the implications of steroids; so, I'm immensely grateful that I got to experience the home run chase with that purity.

Fleer Emotion seems to be a cult favorite around the blogosphere.  I'm not as big of a fan as others, mostly Fleer Adjectives would have been a more accurate name for the collation and that annoys me more than it probably should.

Also, speaking as a mass media student, I quite like the filmstrip set-up of the "Fame Game" insert.

Gavin closed off this package with a 2012 gold parallel of Shawn Camp.  Campy looked like a golden pickup and a surprise workhorse for the Cubs bullpen that season, leading the league with 80 appearances.  This workload weighed heavy on him in the season's second half, though he still posted a 3.59 ERA in his 77.2 innings.  But, it caught up to him the next season, with that ERA ballooning to over 7.

This card gets bonus awesome points for the sweet 1912 throwback jersey they sported against the Giants that June.  It's a good thing they didn't turn out "Camp-y!"

N'yuck, n'yck, n'yuck.

Thus concludes Gavin's generous trade package.  It's my first trade in several months, maybe even close to a calendar year, so it's nice to shake off the cobwebs and communicate with people.

Gavin, I promise to have your stuff in the mail by the end of this week; I'm now off of my crutches and raring to dig through my trade box.  Thank you for your patience!

Goodbye Edwin, Hello Raffy

So, after a bit of a blogging vacation due to the lingering effects of a killer Rise Against show at Northerly Island on Friday night, I'm back with the best news of the year:

THE PLAGUE KNOWN AS EDWIN JACKSON HAS BEEN EXCISED!!!!!!

Parting is such "sweet sorrow"

OK - so that is a bit harsh.  By all accounts, E-Jax was a great teammate and a wonderful human being.  But, while I wish him all the best, He has been the biggest bust of the TheoJed era (though the Ian Stewart/DJ Lemahieu trade looms larger and larger) and he was one damn expensive mop-up man.

It's too bad the Jackson era didn't go better; however, it is what it is and the Cubs needed to move on.

His DFA was necessitated by the activation of former All-Star reliever Rafael Soriano, who's arrival was pretty much a forgone conclusion when the Cubs signed him to a minor league deal in May.  All he had to do was look somewhat competent and he did much more than that.  In 7 games across AA/AAA, the shutdown reliever with closing experience didn't give up a single earned run and struck out 7 in 7 innings.

7 games, 7 innings, 7 strikeouts.  That's a lucky number 7 jackpot!

Welcome to the CATRC binder Rafael!

The bullpen, which had already been looking pretty solid, is now that much better with another viable option late in games, rather than an albatross that can't be trusted to hurl meaningful innings.  Especially so with the recent hiccups by the normally lights-out Pedro Strop - though all relievers experience that every now and then.

Here's hoping that Soriano Squared is just the first roster reinforcement before the trading deadline; a bat or another rotation arm wouldn't hurt.  Maybe the front office can even find a bad contract swap for EJ for a player better-suited to fit this roster.

At any rate, it's pretty nice to see meaningful baseball in the second half here in Chicago!

We'll close things out with my favorite Rise Against song, a song I was mildly surprised they included in their set, since I'm still a little buzzed with excitement from the weekend show:

A Pickle Strip

While I may be making this post around lunch time and I could really go for a good sandwich right now, this post has nothing to do with condiments one might find one such a meal.  In fact, it has everything to do with my latest "super vintage" baseball card acquisition:

Meet "Pickles" Dillhoefer - misspelled and listed here as a catcher for the Philadelphia Quakers (aka the Phillies) and one-time backup catcher for the Chicago Cubs.

As you can see, the backs are blank and the fronts feature a basic drawing of the subject at hand - we're far from the days of Topps Stadium Club here.

This is my second "strip" card from the first half of the 20th century - the first featuring a player with an equally awesome nickname.  If you are unfamiliar, back in the day, one could purchase a strip of cards from the local candy or corner store and then individually cut off the individual pictures to create a stack of baseball cards.

Obviously, the young lad who cut this strip up wasn't particularly skilled in the means of cutting.  but, that's what allowed me to add this gem from 1919 into my CATRC for less than I might pay for a well-made sandwich.

For frame of reference, here's my card compared to an example in much better condition:

Image on the left courtesy of vintagecardprices.com

We can see that the child from 1919 lopped off nearly all of the white borders that were intended to frame the painting of "Pickles" and there are a few small spots of paper loss.  All that being said, this matters little to me.

I can't find what specific company was behind the release of these tiny oddities (1-3/8" by 2½"); but, they are cataloged as part of the W514 Strip Series, which was released in several waves from 1919 to 1921 featuring a multitude of baseball subjects.

Speaking of the subject, "Pickles" has long been a specified target for my collection due to his colorful name; the first time I perused the Cubs' All-Time Roster, this name jumped out at me.  As one might assume, William Martin Dillhoefer earned the nickname "Pickles" as a play on the "Dill" in his last name.

However, his playing career was not nearly as colorful.  The backstop came up to the Cubs in 1917 at the age of 23 as the third string catcher, behind Art Wilson and Rowdy Elliott.  Even so, he managed to get into 42 games and make 104 PAs; but, he could only muster a .126 average - weak even for the Deadball era.

William popping a squat at Wrigley (then known as Weeghman Park)

Image courtesy of Chicago Daily News.

It was here that "Pickles" gained his most notoriety.  After that audition in 1917, he was packaged with Mike Prendergast and sent to Philly in exchange for future manager Bill Killefer and HOFer Grover Cleveland Alexander.  Yikes.

I know that trade looks lopsided on the surface, but when you consider that "Pickles" only played in 8 games for the Quakers, Prendergast was out of baseball by 1920 and "Old Pete" had 183 more wins in him for the Cubs and Cardinals.... we have a deal that Philly might like to "Phorget."

Grover came to Chicago in a deal that actually worked out well for the Cubs!

In the winter before the 1919 season, Dillhoefer was again sent packing - this time to the Cardinals - where he moved up to the second-string catcher.  It was in St. Louis that he was able to get his hitting abilities up to snuff, batting .245 in his 3 years in town.  Despite his barely adequate bat, he endeared himself to the Cardinal faithful with his hustle and high spirits.

Sadly, it was then that tragedy struck.  In the winter between the 1921-22 seasons, "Pickles" married his school teacher sweetheart and he immediately contract typhoid fever during the honeymoon.  Just as he appeared to be coming out of the illness, Dillhoefer took a sudden turn for the worse and died after a three-week battle at the age of 28.

William's obituary

Courtesy of TheDeadballEra.com

That sad note concludes the story of William Martin Dillhoefer, better known as "Pickles."  It's a shame that a young man with such a fun nickname had to go out in such sad way.

But, he is now properly remembered in my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection (CATRC), courtesy of this excellent, antique strip card from way way back in 1918; a fact that makes this cardboard rectangle the fourth oldest card in my collection.  You can find the first, second, and third by clicking on those links.

Any day I can add a card older than my grandfather to my collection is a great day - even more so when it is a subject that I targeted back when I first started my CATRC circa 2003.  On that note, let's wrap up this post on a high.

Maybe I should finally make that sandwich too.