Neon Angel - a Trade Post

We're back to pop music references for post titles, Neon Angel was the title of Cherie Curie's (The Runaways) autobiography.  This is how my mind works; although, sometimes it doesn't work at all.

A few weeks ago, Tom of the excellent blog Angels in Order contacted me about arranging a trade. This is something I'm always up for and I whipped up a set of my best Angels and sent them on their way. Then, I completely forgot about it.

So, when I found a padded mailer in the mail box the other day, it was like a surprise Christmas! Cards you aren't expecting are the best kind of cards, right? Nevermind that I'm absent-minded.

Anyway, this was my first swap with Tom and when I saw this card on top of his stack, I knew it wouldn't be the last:

Shiny and colorful, what more could one ask for? Adrian Cardenas only played one season (2012) with the Cubs and retired after discovering he no longer felt any passion towards the game. At the time, a lot was made of it.

This orange refractor is easily better than the base chrome version I had in my CATRC and, thus, in it goes.

That wasn't the only card that found its way into that binder though:

I've long seen these Toys R Us Stadium Club cards pop up on blog after blog; but, I had never even once seen them in person.  As a lover of oddballs with a nostalgic attachment to day after Christmas trips to Toys R Us to spend gift money, I badly wanted to get my hands on some.

Now, I can cease my lust. These two beauties easily replace the cards that had represented the above players before.

Also, my lasting memory of Jim Bullinger is that after I pulled his card from a pack way back when I was a kid, I was so excited to get a Cubs card that I ran to tell my grandfather.  His only response was a muttered, "I hate Jim Bullinger."  I guess Jim had a particularly rough outing that day.

This may just your run of the mill, junk wax era base card, but it's one that I still needed. This is the only mainstream baseball card that Jim Essian got as Cubs manager. His tenure was rather forgettable as the interim replacement for Popeye, so it's understandable.

Therefore, we have a nice Cubgrade for the manager's section of my CATRC.

These were the only cards that weaseled their way into my main collection; however, that doesn't mean there wasn't a trove of other interesting pieces.

At first, I thought the two cards above were duplicates; after all, they are damn near identical.  It wasn't until I set the bottom one on the table that I realized I was quite wrong.

When it hit the table, it made an audible clang.  As it turns out, the foil image of Sammy Sosa is actually a coin that's been embedded into the card, a fitting idea for a set titled Pinnacle Mint.

Now, I knew these sorts of "relics' were floating around on the market today; but, I had no idea that they had roots back in the mid to late 90's.  Who knew?

I'm a sucker for black bordered cards and the marble texturing of the background really makes these cards pop in my eyes.  Also, it's really nice to see Gabby Hartnett on a modern card, as the HOFer seems to be oft-passed over for modern cards by Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, and  *ahem* Fergie Jenkins.

These two Mark Grace oddballs are a welcome sight as well.  That's my first Starline card on the right and this Post set was the very first set that I collected when I was a kid.  Nostalgia strikes again!

Furthermore, oddballs are the spice of the card-collecting life.  One can only look at Topps products for so long without getting bored.

Which is why I hope against all hope that, someday, Panini can get an MLB license.  However, I seriously doubt that will happen anytime soon.

I've always had an affinity for Triple Play though.  Many collectors seem to hate it because it's gimmicky and, granted, there are a lot of nightmare-inducing cards in the checklists.  That said, I enjoy it because it's different, and it's goofy/fun.  Card collecting isn't a serious business after all.... well, at least it shouldn't be.

Here we have a couple of oddballs from the various box sets put out by Fleer in the late 80s/early 90s that shine the spotlight on Cubs, one franchise icon and one flash in the pan.

I'm curious as to how Jerome Walton was included in a set called "League Leaders;" the card bears no mention of him leading the league in anything.  I know he set the franchise record for consecutive hits in 1989; does it have something to do with that?

Furthermore, today it was reported by Michael Sneed of the Chicago Sun Times that Ryno was in town yesterday for a private lunch meeting with Tom Ricketts and Theo Epstein.  Is a reunion in the works after the unceremonious end to his Phillies tenure?  Finger crossed!

These  Cover Glory inserts from 1999 Upper Deck Collector's Choice have long been of interest to me, as are any cards that commemorate specific moments or events.  I picked up a copy of the Sammy Sosa card at a local garage sale many moons ago and I thought he was the only Cub included in the set.

Thank you Tom, for saving me from ignorance and sending me this card that shines the spotlight on the greatest game pitched in Cubs history!

Here we have a couple of Cubs cards that aren't completely Cubs cards.

If you notice, there's an Orioles logo at the bottom of the Flair Sammy Sosa and, though the Soriano card actually includes a Cubs logo, he's clearly pictured in a Nationals jersey.  These cards are phonies!

Not that that really bothers me in anyway, that's just where my mind wandered off to as I was typing. Again, when my brain works, it works in bizarre ways.

 There was also a healthy smattering of faux-vintage, including these 2009 Upper Deck Goudey nods.  Also, that Woody on the right is another phony; he's listed as an Indian.  Gasp!

Plus, a nice smorgasbord of Topps Heritage releases; it's like a sampler platter of appetizers at your local eatery... and I love sampler platters!

 

Prospects!  And since they're Cubs prospects from the previous decade, that means they're failed prospects!

Even though they never ascended to the Majors, these cards will find a spot in another collection of mine, my aptly titled Failed Prospect Collection, guys who the Cubs drafted that never cracked the roster.  They'll fit in quite nicely with Ryan Harvey, Bobby Brownlie, Matt Creighton, Mark Pawelek, Hayden Simpson... OK, this is getting depressing.

Also, I had never heard of Ferenc Jongejan in my life.  I never knew the Cubs had a Dutch prospect - you learn something new everyday.

Here are some Bowman prospects who did, in fact, crack the Major League roster, with varying degrees of success.

Randy Wells had a brief, but serviceable tenure in the back end of the Cubs rotation, Matt Szczur is currently racking up crazy frequent flyer miles going back and forth between Chicago and Iowa this season, Eric Patterson managed to be the least successful Patterson brother and let's not talk about the D.J. LeMahieu trade, OK?

There ends the best of the bunch and what a bunch it was!  Thank you very much Tom for the generous trade package.  I can only hope you got as much enjoyment out of my Angels as I did out of your Cubs.  Let's do this again sometime, eh?

A Berry Busy Day

There are three points in the baseball season which provide the most roster movement and thus prove to be of great interest for my CATRC and I:  the end of spring training, the non-waiver trading deadline and the waiver deadline/September call-up period.

Well, of those three periods, the waiver/call-up period took the cake for busiest time of the year here at Wrigley Roster Jenga HQ.  In a span of just a few hours, the Cubs added three new names, via both avenues, to their all-time roster, with more potentially on their way come the end of the MiLB season.

First, the call-ups:

Quintin Berry was signed to a minor league deal last week and it was pretty obvious why.  In 117 career MLB games, he has swiped 21 bases and not once has he been caught.  Additionally, he put up 35 stolen bases this season while playing in AAA for the Sawx.

If you haven't connected the dots yet, Quintin is Berry, Berry fast and will be a pinch-runner extraordinaire, a la Dave Roberts of the 2004 Bostonian squad.

Seeing this coming a mile away, I was able to score this super shiny refactor from the 2006 edition of Bowman Chrome for just 17 cents with free shipping on the same day he signed.  Shiny and cheap, what a combo!

One last thing about Berry, if and when the Cubs first wear their blue alternate uniforms this month, can you guess what that will make Quintin? Huh? Huh???????

A blue Berry!!!! Wocka Wocka.

I hope nobody severely injured themselves while reflexively smacking their forehead.  Let's get back to our regularly scheduled program:

While I knew Berry was destined for September duty when he inked his minors pact, I was completely blindsided when I read that Trevor Cahill was getting the call as well.  Still, I guess I'm batting .500; so, I'll take that.

After an exceptional sophomore season in 2010 (18-8, 2.97 ERA, All-Star), Cahill has quickly faded to mediocre and then to downright awful.  He went 3-12 with a 5.61 ERA last season in AZ and was even worse this year for Atlanta, with his ERA ballooning to 7.52.  Yikes!

When the Cubs signed him (just a few days before Berry), it looked to me like minor league depth and that maybe he'd get a chance next spring as an NRI.  Well, what do I know?  Maybe some bullpen work will serve him well.

For now, this card from the controversial 2010 Upper Deck set will represent Trevor in my CATRC, in hopes that he can reclaim just a little bit of the success he had that season.

But, the Cubs didn't just call up depth pieces, they also swung a fairly significant trade too:

Austin Jackson cost the Cubs only a PTBNL and some international spending money.  With Jorge Soler out with an oblique injury and a plethora of defensively challenged outfield options, this deal may loom large.

Even though he hasn't had the same kind of success in Seattle as he had in Detroit, he at the very least upgrades the outfield defense.  Not to mention, perhaps a move from the pitcher-friendly Safeco Field will do him some good as well.

This is the second deal the Cubs have made with the Mariners in the past week, having rid them of Fernando Rodney for cash considerations last Thursday.

Most importantly, since Austin was added to the fold before the end of August, he is officially eligible for postseason play.  But, in order to make that happen, someone had to be designated off the roster:

Sorry Mike, but the Cubs just couldn't wait for you to regain your stroke any longer.  It seems likely that a rebuilding club will claim him though, so here's hoping he lands on his feet somewhere.

Meanwhile, as I mentioned, both Berry and Cahill were minor league signings and thus were not already on the 40-man roster either.  Thus, there will be some more goodbyes before the day is over.  After James Russell's performance last night, I sure wouldn't mind if he got the axe!

That wraps up the flurry of roster moves made by the Cubs in the last 24 hours; however, that doesn't mean more call-ups are on the way.  Prospects like Carl Edwards, Jr. and Christian Villanueva have been floated around to further flesh out the bullpen and the bench once the Iowa Cubs conclude their season.

The mood is tense!

For a roster junkie like me, this time of year can be pretty interesting and 2015 certainly didn't disappoint me,  So many moving pieces and so many new faces!

I selfishly kind of hope that they add a couple more new names just so I can add some new cards to my CATRC... but, only if they help out the roster of course.

Plus, it's really nice that these kinds of move actually matter for the Cubs again this year, postseason eligibility, roster-strengthening and all that jazz.  It's a good time to be a Cubs fan!

Me and Julio Down by the Ballyard

First off - let's take not of the elephant in the room:  Jake Arrieta is a beast and tossed a no-hitter against the Dodgers last night!  It seemed like a matter of time with him - he took 3 no-hit bids into the 8th inning last year, after all.

Anywho, in today's 24hr news cycle, that's already old news and a few great blogs have already covered the event - including Wrigley Wax and Mint Condition.  So, I'm going to go with my regularly scheduled post today.

...mostly so I can keep my streak of posts with pop music references in the title going (3 strong!).

Conlon Collection continues to be a goldmine for my CATRC.  Every time I think I've chipped out all of the players I need from it's checklists, I find a couple more hidden nuggets - including, this here Julio Bonetti card.

Julio was a pretty interesting, mostly forgotten character in the annals of baseball history.  First off, he is one of only 7 Italian born Major Leaguers and the only one to play for the Cubs.

Initially coming up with the lowly Browns in 1937, he spent two seasons as a swingman for St. Louis with an ERA darn near 6 before the Cubs purchases his contract as minor league depth.  Playing for the old PCL L.A. Angels in '39, he showed off newfound pinpoint control, at one point going 64 consecutive innings without allowing a walk and pitching a shutout with just 66 pitches!  Where the hell did that come from?

Julio as a Cub in 1940

This surprising performance allowed him to break camp with the Cubs in 1940.  But, his first start was the complete antithesis of his Angels performance - allowing three runs and four walks in just 1 1/3 inning for an ERA of 20.25.  He never again appeared in a MLB uniform, getting just that singular game in a Cubs uniform.

Unfortunately for Julio, things only got worse from there.  After another year and a half pitching for the Angels, Bonetti was accused of accepting a rather large amount of money from gamblers for betting on horses.  In an era not that far removed from the Black Sox scandal, he was quickly banned for life, despite never actually being charged with betting baseball or fixing games. He fought the decision until his dying day in 1952, when a heart attack claimed his life at the age of 40.

Julio joined these two as Cubs to be banned from baseball for gambling/game fixing

So, even though his entire Cubs career spanned an inning and some change, this card still slots nicely into my CATRC.  A Cub is a Cub, no matter for how long and I'm always happy to check another name off of the list.

It's a shame that his career and then his life both came to such an abrupt end.  Don't gamble, kiddies!

Instead, grow out an impressive black, bushy beard, build up enough arm strength to muscle 96 mph fastballs in the 9th inning, sport a mustachioed pajama onesie in press conferences and be Jake Arrieta.  Unless you can be Batman, always be Jake Arrieta!

That man is a beast.

Kiss From a Rose

Besides being the name of an excellent 90's R&B cut by American one-hit wonder Seal that helped distract from how bad of a movie Batman Forever actually is. this post title is also the reason why the man on the card below has any significance in Cubs history:

No - Seal's birth name is not Reggie Patterson, so guess again.

Mr. Patterson was "kissed" by a certain Rose way back in 1985:

Yes, it was Reggie Patterson who was pitching when Pete Rose "kissed" a fastball to tie himself with Ty Cobb for the all-time hit record.  Did you think I meant "kissed" romantically?  That would have been weird, but equally talked about.

In trying to defend their surprising NL East title from the year before, the Cubs starting rotation quickly became decimated with injuries - at one point, all five starters were on the DL at the same time!  Thus, hacks like Reggie were needed to eat innings and give up milestone accomplishments.

That said, a Cub is a Cub, no matter how bad, so Reggie and his 5.20 career ERA need to be represented in my CATRC.  For a long time, his spot was filled by this card:

Now, this card is fine and all; but, it has three things going against it:

1. It's not a Cubs card
2. It's a multi-player card and I prefer my CATRC pieces to spotlight just one player
3. It's a White Sox card

Just kidding on that last one.  I actually quite like that it shows off the Southsiders' "leisure suit" jerseys of the late 70's/early 80's, which they just threw back to a few nights ago.

Anywho, that 1986 Fleer common is his only Major League Cub card and it has eluded me (for no particular reason) for many years, as I documented in this post here.  Then, I find a stack of 20 of them in a 4/$1 box at my LCS.  Life is a funny thing, isn't it?

But, I felt weird buying just a singular card for the price of a gumball; so I decided to add a few more to my stack, on top of the Cubgrade:

The card on the right is the new one here - I've had the one on the left since I purchased the 2004 Daytona Cubs team set (new) as one of my first independent internet purchases.  I was a mature high school sophomore, huh?

Like the Patterson, I consider this to be a "Cubgrade" addition as well.  I love minor league cards; but, while this busted prospect might have been a draft pick at the time, the 2000 Topps card lists him as a CHICAGO Cub, a Cubgrade over DAYTONA Cub.  Into the binder it goes.

However, that single-A card will slot nicely into another collection I've been building - stay tuned!

*Sidenote - It took 8 years and a switch to the outfield for Montanez to finally crack the Bigs and it wasn't even for the Cubs - it was in Baltimore.  He did eventually make his way to Wrigley though as roster filler in the dark days of 2011.  *Shudder*

Scott Downs is a guy I don't have too many cards of and I really liked the image choice on this 2001 UD card - a set I've always appreciated.  So, I picked this up too for a potential swapping into my CATRC binder. 

It wasn't meant to be though.  I didn't notice it at the time; but, it's not technically a Cubs card.  See that shiny Expos logo in the bottom right corner?  Curses - foiled again.

*rimshot*

 
I also picked up these two cards for no other reason then that I liked them.  Oddballs are always fun, especially the oh-so-90's Classic game cards.  I just couldn't say no to this one, even if it was Derrick May.  His rookie cards will still be worth a fortune some day - I know it!!!1!!

*sigh*

Also, the blue borders of 2003 Topps might be hit-and-miss on the blogosphere; but, I've always thought that they look wonderful on the Cubs cards and since I only have one other Paul Bako Cubs card, I decided to make it mine.

Along with a new storage box, that wrapped up my purchases from the LCS that day.  The cards may have been a touch over-priced; but who am I to quabble when my purchase would have been $1.25 without the box?  Gotta keep the LCS in business, after all.

We'll close out today's edition of Wrigley Roster Jenga with this video because I know you've been humming it to yourself since you clicked on the link to begin with:

Can You Hear the Drums, Fernando?

The end of summer has been pretty busy round these parts; so, sadly, I haven't had the time for blogging.  However, that hasn't stopped me from playing with my actual cards.  In fact, I've done some major restructuring with my mass of cardboard and even added a few more collections in the process.

However, that isn't what brought me back to the internet today - it was the Cubs latest trade acquisition that did that:

Fernando Rodney saved me from the blogging doldrums!  Since saves have been pretty hard for this former closer to come by this season, that's not insignificant.

The Cubs bullpen has been a touch shaky lately and a club always needs a few extra arms, so the Cubs sent a little cash to Seattle for the embattled (5.68 ERA,6 blown saves) reliever last night.  It's a low risk/high reward trade, as he'll likely be used for low leverage middle relief.

Hopefully, this at least works out better than the Rafael Soriano experiment - like Raffy, Fernando was an All-Star in Tampa under Joe Maddon.  Since we seem to like bringing in aged Tampa closers lately, does this mean a Troy Percival signing is next? Maybe Grant Balfour?

In order to make room for "he who shoots a bow and arrow into the sky after each save," the Cubs had to flush someone off the roster:

Brian has gone down the Schlitter.  The reliever has been resilient, hanging on in the organization since the 2008 Scott Eyre trade after multiple injury issues, but has been gasoline on a fire more often than not in his big league time.  His number was up.

See?  No big loss there.

The 2013 Archives card from the top of this post will go into my CATRC to represent the Cubs' latest scrap heap find; thankfully, it came in the box featured in this post - a gift that just keeps on giving!  However, it wasn't the only card of Rodney that I had lying around:

I also had this 2007 Topps base card just sitting in my trade stacks.  Now, I much prefer the faux-vintage Archives card as compared to the hard to read text and random colored boxes of this one, so it wasn't going to usurp for CATRC inclusion.  However, it will proves useful for one of those aforementioned new collections from the top of the post.

This accumulation was inspired by Red Cardboard and it involves jerseys.  I'll unveil it at some point next week to great anticipation, I'm sure.

In the meantime, here's hoping the Cubs can get things going on the west coast.  This road trip has led the Cubs up against some top flight pitching and it ain't about to get better with Kerhsaw on the mound tonight.  Anything can happen though, right?

Baseball Cards on the Big Screen

As detailed in yesterday's post, I had the (mis)fortune of attending the final Crosstown Classic baseball game of the season.  While the Cubs took that 3 game set and split the season series with the Sox in total, it was an ugly loss and the dregs of each fan base populated most of the park.  

That said, I had the opportunity to attend a baseball game on a sunny, weekend day, take in a churro and a bucket of popcorn, get a free baseball card and (begrudgingly) appreciate a masterful performance by Chris Sale.  

I really shouldn't complain.

There was one other cool thing that I caught on camera.  All throughout the pre-game build-up, the White Sox paid tribute to the players of yore on both sides of town by creating a little montage of baseball cards on one of the jumbotrons.  Check it out here:

Please excuse the shakiness of the video - my hands are about as steady as Michael J. Fox's during a snowstorm.  I thought this was a neat little touch and something a little bit different than the normal birthday wishes, greetings, subliminal advertising or whatever it is they usually run on those things.

This would be a cool idea for each home series, hint hint White Sox promo people.

I would have included this in yesterday's post; however, apparently Google Drive and/or my wi-fi could not handle this 45 second file in a timely manner.  It took until this morning to finally upload.
I wasn't aware that I was asking my internet connection to handle Titanic, but I digress.

Here's hoping the Cubs can start another winning streak against the Tigers tomorrow, a team that I dislike immensely more than the White Sox.  This is a product of going to college with an abnormally large amount of Michiganders with big mouths; thus, I loathe everything Piston, Tiger, Lion, Red Wing, Wolverine, etc. related.

At any rate, I'm glad that I actually care about baseball in August again!

Crosstown Coupons

Go to a Cubs vs. Sox game they said, it'll be fun they said...

Even if the Cubs had successfully pulled off the weekend sweep, the experience would have been relatively unpleasant.  Drunk and obnoxious non-fans make things worse for everyone... and they show up in droves to these games.

Add in the fact that Chris Sale took a no-hitter into the 6th (I don't think I could take two of those this season) and the Sox staff struck out 18 Cubs in total in a 3-1 defeat and I walked away pretty hot (97 degrees) and miserable.

On the bright side, I walked away with a couple of these oddball baseball cards that double as coupons for frozen treats.  Of course, I pocketed them and didn't get myself any ice cream; perhaps I should have though.  Did I mention it was hot?

The White Sox, like many teams across baseball, have borrowed the "sausage" race between innings promotion from Milwaukee.  However, instead of using encased meats. the promotional team uses sausagey looking likenesses of White Sox greats of the past.  This year, they've been using members of the 2005 WS Champion team.

In years past, they've done the Winning Ugly-era:

Fisk at his wurst - as in bratwurst.  Even a free gallon of milk doesn't offset his inhuman-looking face of terror.

I got this one from a White Sox game way back in 2013; so, they've been doing this sort of promotion for at least that long.  I certainly don't remember it extending much beyond that.

Anyway - these type of coupon cards make for interesting oddballs, no matter the case. So, I'll happily add them to my miscellaneous cool things collection, since they aren't Cubs.

In the meantime, I'm going to stop going to games because in two that I've attended this year, the Cubs starter didn't last 2 innings in the first game and then today happened as well.  I'm clearly bad luck.