Now That Football is Over With...

Well, how about that game last night - that was something, huh?.  It wasn't nearly as fun to watch as Game Seven of the 2016 World Series was; but, then again, I might be just " a touch" biased.

No matter how you feel about Tom Brady, the Patriots, Roger Goodell or the NFL in general,  how that "the big game" over with, one thing that we can all welcome is the end of football season.  Why?  The end of the NFL schedule means that baseball season is very nearly upon us and that is a wonderful thing.  This is especially so for we Chicago sports fans, seeing as Bears football has been a test in masochism.

So, with the impending arrival of Spring Training, this seems like as good of a time as any to cover the minor transactions that the Cubs have made in the past couple of weeks.  These moves may have been lost in the shuffle of the NFL playoffs:

Eddie Butler may be  a tourist here, but he's going to be sticking around Chicago for the foreseeable future .  The former first round pick was acquired from Colorado, in exchange for relief prospect James Farris. 

Drafted in the first round in 2012, Butler has the stuff to be a top-of-the-rotation arm; however, his lack of control has kept him from capitalizing on that potential, in the majors (career 1.34 SO/W ratio).  Perhaps a little "Bosmosis" will do Mr. Butler some good, a la Jake Arrieta.  Most importantly, Eddie has options left, meaning that he can and will likely be optioned to Iowa, where he can work on and tweak some things until a need should arise.  Butler will probably be sharing that Iowa rotation with....

Williams Perez, another highly-touted prospect who hasn't been able to figure things out at the Big League level.  The former Braves hurler was signed to a minor league deal, with an invitation to Spring Training.  While his numbers in the Majors are scary (6.04 ERA, last season), injuries may have had something to do with that.  Again, his main role for the Cubs will be to hang around in AAA, in case something should happen to the top five starters.

The want to acquire controllable starting depth (players with options or on minor league deals) has been anything but subtle this off-season and these two roster moves certainly fit that mold.  Also, if anything should happen and Perez makes a start or two for Chicago, I'll need to track down a card of his for my CATRC, as the COMC watermark on the image above would indicate.

Speaking of rotation depth, part of this need was created by the departure of none other than...

 

...Jason Hammel, who was granted free agency in November after management declined to exercise their team option on his contract.  This was done as a favor to Jason, to allow him to pursue a multi-year deal in a weak starter's market.  Unfortunately, despite being one of the most appealing arms on the market, questions about Hammel's health have kept him on the board... that is, until last night.

While Tom Brady was orchestrating one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, Hammel signed his name on the dotted line of a two-year, $16 million deal with the Kansas City Royals.  It's not quite the rich deal that Jason was probably looking for, but one could do a lot worse, right?  Besides, as a member of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs, he'll never have to pay for a thing in the city of Chicago ever again. 

 

Furthermore, also officially departing Chicago was nondescript reliever Joe Smith, who signed a one-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays a day earlier.  The trade deadline acquisition battled hamstring problems, which hampered his effectiveness, limited him to just 16 appearances and kept him off of the postseason roster.

It would have been nice to re-sign the side-armer to a minor league deal with a spring invite, as his numbers after coming off of the DL were top-notch (0 ER and 7 K's in 5 2/3 innings).  However, his reputation as a quality set-up man in years previous was enough to earn him a Major League deal.  Oh well.

In summation, now we're all caught up on the roster moves that were made leading up to Cubs camp - nothing major or earth-shattering, just depth pieces and proverbial insurances policies.  Anyway, good luck to Jason Hammel and Joe Smith and Jason Hammel in their new surroundings and here's hoping Eddie Butler and Williams Perez can turn a corner with a change in scenery.

With football now in our rear view mirrors and baseball rapidly approaching on the horizon, all feels right in the world.  After the off-season's moves, I'm truly excited about the Cubs chances of defending their World Series title... defending their World Series Title... man, I never thought I'd get a chance to type that sentence.

As Steve Goodman might sing today, "baseball seasons nearly underway and you better get ready for a brand new era."

The New Baseball Cards are Here!

FINALLY!!!!

Okay - so, that might be a tad bit hyperbolic.  After all, 2017 Topps was officially released this past Tuesday and I got my hands on a sampling on Friday - in the grand scheme of things, that's not a very long time.  However, in the interim, watching blogger after blogger showing off their first cards of the new year got me more and more envious.  By the time my local Target got the goods out on their shelves, a few days later, it felt more like a month than three days.

So, when I saw this in front of me last night, I felt like doing a little jig in the aisle:

Thankfully, I came to my senses before I got all Footloose.  Plus, I wasn't wearing my boogie shoes, anyway.

Without any hesitation, I grabbed myself my annual 72-card count, hanger pack (or whatever you want to call it), made my way to the checkout, and drove home in my Chevy Blazer, brimming with anticipation.  New card season feels like the Christmas season did when I was eight years old, even if the new design didn't really get me excited.

There we have it, a honest-to-goodness box of 2017 Topps, with cover boy Kris Bryant gracing it's packaging.  I may be a bonafide Cubs homer, but I think putting "Sparkles" on there was an excellent choice.

Now, I'm hardly the first blogger to show off their initial sampling and thoughts on the new Topps release, so I'll try to keep this brief.  But, I feel a touch obligated to show off my first experience with the latest Flagship product, no matter how what.  I think there's something in the blogging bylaws about that...

Without any further ado, it's time to tear into this baby:

And the first card of 2017 is... Rubby De La Rosa.  Well, that's not too exciting, but hey, we're off and running!

And the first Cub of 2017 is... World Series MVP, Ben Zobrist, turning a slick double play!  That's more like it!

Some quick thoughts on this year's design.  First, it does look quite reminiscent of TV broadcast graphics, but I don't hate that - maybe it's because I studied broadcasting in college and even did some work in the television field.  However, I will say that the "lower third" display takes up far too much space and intrudes upon the photography.

As for the much ballyhooed backsides, where we loose the career stats for the sake of adding social media branding.  I don't love this, but I don't hate it either.  We constantly gripe about trying to get kids back in the hobby and, well, this is an obvious attempt to do so.  That's what the kids care about, these days.  I'd say that the team color-coded backs make up for that disappointment, at least in my humble opinion.  The more colors, the better.

A couple of other base cards, featuring surprise World Series hero, Kyle Schwarber and 18-game winner Jake Arrieta.  On the latter, "Jake the Snake" tied for third in NL wins, earning him a spot in the "League Leaders" subset, which has been expanded from multi-player cards individuals for the top three in each category, this year.  I'm all about this - as a team collector, I like my Cubs cards to be purely Cubs cards.

World Series highlight cards are back and what a perfect year it is for them to make their grand return!  Pulling this celebratory image from the Game 7 victory definitely brought a smile to my face. I still can't believe that they actually did it - it's surreal.  Good things cards like this exist to prove it.

As for the inserts, I was lucky enough to pull a couple of Cubbies, as well.  Kris Bryant appears in the Award Winners set for his selection as the NL's Most Valuable Player.  Far more so than the base cards, these inserts suffer from over-the-top, TV graphic syndrome.

Also, Jake Arrieta hot box!  My 1987 30th Anniversary insert, which I believe came one to each hanger, just so happened to be a Cub.  Hot dog! The borders are pretty washed out in this scan, but they did a good job replicating this design (well, they should be good at it by now, right?), except for the fact that the logo is too small and there shouldn't be any, let alone that much, white space in that bubble.

See what I mean?  Otherwise, though, the miming is pretty faithful.  Also, the stamp is a welcome addition, differentiating the insert from the countless other '87 replications Topps has flooded the market with.

Anyway, that did it for the Cubs content.  What about the rest of the contents?

Here are the other three Award winners that accompanied Mr. Bryant.  I see my streak of pulling Corey Seager cards is still alive and well.  Good thing there are a couple of Dodger bloggers on the internet.

My "Bowman Then & Now" also happened to be a guy that I should have no trouble finding a home for.  I have to say, while this might be a bit of shameless self promotion for their Bowman brand, I think these are pretty cool.  It's always fun to see how far are stars of today have come.

My legend - Frank Robinson.

A couple of parallels in Edinson Volquez and Jose Bautista.  I have to say, this year's design is much more conducive to colored parallels than last year's "fishing net" patterns were.  Bautista is a gold parallel while Volquez looks straight up blue, it's actually a rainbow foil parallel.  Tricky.

This may look like a reprint of a card from 2012 (how exciting, right?); but, there's actually less than meets the eye:

A look at the back reveals that this isn't even really a card, it's an advertisement with a picture of a card on front.  While this may seem lame, at least it does add a teeny, tiny bit of collector value to what would otherwise be an easily disposed of bit of advertising copy.  I mean, I know I consider this to be a Mike Trout card, even if it technically isn't a card, per se.

That did it for the insert portion of the hanger box, However, I wanted to take this opporunity to show off some examples of the awesome photography that is present throughout the base set:

Good, ol' "Lightening Butt" Ellsbury makes a "shocking" catch in the outfield as Jose DeLeon, now of the Tampa Bay Rays, celebrates so intensely that he actually, accidentally craps his pants on the mound.

Maybe I was being a little facetious there - the photography isn't world-beating in 2017 Topps, but it isn't bad either.  Also, maybe it's just me, but the images don't seem as over-enhanced and Photoshopped as they did in the 2016 edition.



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With that, we've exhausted my first sampling of 2017 Topps, Series One.  I got a fair amount of Cubs out of the experience, so I'm a happy camper.  Overall, I'd say that while I'm not a huge fan of this year's design, I would say that I like it a lot better than I did last year's template.  Again, I just wish that the "lower third" graphic didn't take up so much of the 2.5"x 3.5" space.

How do you feel about it?  Make your opinions known, in the comment section below.

Regardless of how I feel about the design, I will always be excited about the new Flagship set hitting store shelves.  There's just something about opening up that first pack of cards that screams baseball to me.  Not to mention, it's a nice reminder that spring training is right around the corner and baseball season will be ramping up, any day now.  With that in mind...

THE NEW BASEBALL CARDS ARE HERE!!!

Cardboard Kin

Starting a trading card blog is one of the best things that I've done in my life; well, outside of getting married, landing a steady job, purchasing a new car... that kind of adult, "real world" stuff.  On a personal level, however, starting Wrigley Roster Jenga has provided me an outlet for my favorite hobby, a venue to keep my writing skills sharp, and introduced me to some particularly great people in this internet community, people that this introvert would have never known existed, otherwise.

This community of cardboard keyboarders is almost like an online family - we discuss, we look out for each other, we send random gifts, etc.  Recently, I've had the pleasure of adding a new name to my circle of cardboard kin - Mr. Kin Kinsley, of Bean's Ballcard Blog and I Feel Like a Collector Again fame - and he has already checked all of those boxes.

Just about a month ago, the blogosphere's preeminent Andrew Shaw super-collector and I bonded over my Eric Semborski custom, which I printed and gifted him with.  It sure didn't take long for him to return the favor:

Kin might not like the Cubs (at all), but we've got some common ground in Indy Car racing and Blackhawks hockey.  A couple of days ago, after a long day at work, I was thrilled to find an unexpected bubble mailer filled with card of the latter, courtesy of my new cardboard "Kin."

Mr. Kinsley noticed that I'd mentioned needing Tyler Motte's rookie card from the recently-released 2016-17 Parkhurst set for my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection and immediately gifted me with a copy.  Additionally, TVR is another name that I'd been tracking down for said binder and Kin was kind enough to toss his rookie from '14-15 OPC in the mailer, as well.

The BATRC hits didn't stop there, Kin mentioned that he scanned my list of needs and did as much damage as he could, which included these two strikingly blue Starquest inserts from '98-99 UD Choice.  Good thing blue is my favorite color!

Neither Peter Bondra nor Sergei Samsonov are strongly associated with the Hawks; however, both spent a quick stint in the Windy City towards the ends of their respective careers, when the previous FO administration made it a game to see how many aging stars they could sign, past their prime.   While their time in Chicago might not have been notable, Kin's gesture was just the opposite!

The Adam Creighton was thought to be a new addition to Blackhawks binder too; however, my own sloppy record keeping shows that I had crossed the wrong Creighton off of my list.  Silly me.  So, if anyone has been sitting on a vintage DAVE Creighton...

Tony Amonte is a guy I have a "few" cards of, but I certainly didn't have this one.  It may look like your standard, base card from '00-01 Topps Premier Plus; however, looks can be deceiving.  This otherwise unassuming card is actually a pre-production promo and instantly becomes my favorite card of the right winger.  Don't worry Kin, I'll give it a good home.

The last two Blackhawks cards to fall out of this mailer were anything but unassuming; in fact, they were quite noticeable and super shiny.   They both feature a pair of Hall of Fame goalies, as well.

Both Kin and I agree, those holograms that were put out by Upper Deck in the early 90's were and are the bee's knees.  Ed Belfour is a great name to pull too; I wonder how much these babies went for in their heyday?  Meanwhile, the NHL Centennial Salute Glenn Hall is significantly newer, hailing from the new Parkurst release, like the previously seen Motte.  This chromey insert set pays tribute to players on the '100 Greatest NHL Players' list, a compendium which was assembled in honor of the league's 100th anniversary.

While those two goalies might have signified the end of the hockey stuff, that doesn't mean there weren't more cardboard goodies to be found.

For instance, here we have an awesome oddball of hometown hero Tom Waddle, a Chicago native and member of the god-like 1985 Chicago Bears.  This playing card is part of a 52-card deck called "Ditka's Picks," which was released by Bicycle in 1993.  The deck supposedly revolved around "Da Coach's" selections for the 52 best players in the NFL.  At any rate, I love oddballs of any sort, so this "wild card" was a more than welcome sight.

 To wrap up the package, how about a rookie card of a surefire, Canton-bound Hall of Famer in Brian Urlacher.  I've never been big on the rookie card bandwagon, but that certainly doesn't mean I'm going to turn them down when they come my way.  Not to mention, I have a thing for cards that depict Major Leaguers, NFL'ers, etc. in their minor league or college duds.  Therefore, this "Rookie Pairs" single from 2000 Skybox Dominion makes for the perfect exclamation point to close out with.

Thank you, Kin, for the super awesome, super helpful and super unexpected bubble mailer, stuffed with super cool cards. 

Like I said, this blogging community is truly like one big family and that's what families do - we look out for each other.  That's just what Kin did when he noticed he had some cards that would slide nicely into my collections.  In return, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for any rare Andrew Shaws or open wheel racing cards that might catch your interest.  Also, if the Hawks ever need another emergency goalie, I'll get a custom whipped up for you in no time.

Here's to our newfound cardboard "Kinship!"

Sign Here, Please

Today is the day that many an athletic young man or woman will make a decision that will significantly affect the rest of their lives - National Signing Day.   Of course, many a top, blue chip recruit on the track to the pros has their pathway through college paved with gold (as many a scandal will prove); but, they're hardly the majority.

Speaking as a former collegiate athlete, the factors at play are overwhelming and downright terrifying for a 17 or 18 year old kid.  The pressure of choosing which educational institution you will spend the next four or more years (and rest of your life paying off, without a full ride) can be crushing and that decision is a seminal moment for the decision maker.  My cross country/track & field scholarship wasn't exactly Big 10 money and attention, but signing on the dotted line is scary, no matter what.  This is your future.

Apparently, they didn't know I prefer to go by Burbs...

On a lighter note and not entirely related note, my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection consists of 45 autographs and I have maybe a dozen more scattered throughout other areas of my card collections.  Of those signatures, all but a few of them have already made an appearance on Wrigley Roster Jenga.  Seeing as National Signing Day is all about signatures, this seems like the perfect segue into showing these 12 John Hancocks off on the blogosphere.

Okay, maybe not perfect... but, it'll do.

Here's a pair of cheap autos that I picked up from my local card shops for chump change and couldn't come up with a proper tie-in for blog showcasing. 

Donruss' Angel Guzman was a live armed prospect who was supposed to team with Prior and Wood to bring the Cubs to the promised land.  Like those two, Guzman never was healthy enough to achieve his true potential, though he did have one decent year as a reliever.  Meanwhile, Austin Jackson was brought in for the stretch run of the 2015 playoff race and never received a Cubs card for his troubles.  Thus, this Tigers card from BoChro will have to do.

It may be hard to tell, but there is a certified autograph from Cody Ransom on this 2002 rainbow, reflective Donruss Fan Club hit.  I pulled this from a Fairfield 100-count repack a few years ago and couldn't believe I pulled a hit that fit into my collection.  This was in the pre-blog days, though.

Ransom was claimed off of the junk pile during the 2013 season, in thick of the rebuild and was surprising useful, smacking 9 homers in 57 games.  Again, despite his contribution, he never appeared as a Chicago Cub on a card.  That said, he does have an Iowa Cubs card, dating from his first tenure in the Cubs org, in 2005.

Speaking of minor league cards, here's a couple IP-signed examples, from Classic Best, that I found on Ebay, for a buck shipped.  It's hard for me to pass on that kind of deal.

Neither one of these men stayed with the Major League Cubs for very long - Steenstra got into 4 games in 1998 and Swartzbaugh snuck into 15 games from 1995-97.  Neither one of them posted pretty stat lines either.  I guess that would explain why I was able to score their signatures for such a low price.

Sticking with short-time MLB'ers, this is a card that I would have been happy to track down with or without ink.  You see, this "One Year Winner" collector's release is Daryl Robertson's only appearance on cardboard, making it a coveted and needed item for my CATRC.  The fact that I found a signed copy was just an added bonus.  I think it was another Ebay win.

In 1962, the shortstop worked his way into 9 games with the Big League Cubs, batting .105 in 22 PA's. 

Next up, we have a pair of mid-00's Cubs hurlers who had better success outside of Chicago.  But, during their time in Windy City, my LCS was able to draw them in for autograph sessions and had them sign a few extra cards to sell later one.  I didn't make their sessions, but I did end up with their autos anyway... and I didn't even have to pay for a ticket.

Mike Remlinger was a top-notch set-up man with the Braves and then a mediocre middle reliever/LOOGY with the Cubs.  Jerome Williams, a playoff pitcher with San Fran previously, made a few starts for Chicago in 2005-06.  Believe it or not, his journeyman career is still journeying.

 

This John Hancock comes courtesy of long-time reliever Paul Assenmacher and the Volo Auto Museum antique malls.  Located in Volo, IL, this museum is a parking lot of classic and, even more fun, star cars - i.e.,  the Gadgetmobile, Herbie the Love Bug, the Mystery Machine, etc.

In addition to the famous automobiles, the museum has four or five barns, stuffed to the gills with antiques and resale items.  After a long day of admiring Bumblebee, KITT, Eleanor, I was thrilled to come across a binder filled with Cubs cards, including the IP-signature above, in one of those barns.  It made for the perfect cap on an already fun day.

 

Finally, these three IP autos came into my collection as a way of filling out purchases from my LCS.  I always feel silly and cheap when my desired purchases amount to less that a McDonald's value meal and the shop owner used to keep a binder of miscellaneous, bargain signatures on one of his display cases, in hopes of catching impulse buys.  So, every now and then, I'd grab myself one or two to help assuage my tight-fisted insecurities.

All three of these men spent a little bit of time on the North Side; obviously, Karchner and Paul spent some time on the South Side, as well.  Bonus points to Barberie for his Classic card featuring Wrigley Field as a backdrop, even if his auto is a touch smudged.  Whoops.

So, there you have it.  Now, on National Signing Day, all of my signatures have been shown off on Wrigley Roster Jenga.  As young men and women, across the country, are making decisions that will shape the rest of their lives, I'm blabbering on about inked baseball cards.  Like I said, it's a tenuous connection, at best.

If you or a loved one is behind one of those pens today, my well-wishes go out to you.

Meanwhile, today might be National Signing Day, but February 1st is a significant day on the calendar for yet another reason - 2017 Topps Flagship release day!  I may just have to wander over to one of my card shop haunts after work and celebrate accordingly.

What a day.