30 Years Ago Today...

(Chorus)
We are the Bears Shufflin' Crew 

Shufflin' on down, doin' it for you. 

We're so bad we know we're good. 

Blowin' your mind like we knew we would. 

You know we're just struttin' for fun 

Struttin' our stuff for everyone. 

We're not here to start no trouble. 

We're just here to do the Super Bowl Shuffle.

Walter Payton 

Well, they call me Sweetness, 

And I like to dance. 

Runnin' the ball is like makin' romance. 

We've had the goal since training camp 

To give Chicago a Super Bowl champ. 

And we're not doin' this 

Because we're greedy. 

The Bears are doin' it to feed the needy. 

We didn't come here to look for trouble, 

We just came here to do 

The Super Bowl Shuffle. 

Willie Gault

This is Speedy Willie, and I'm world class. 

I like runnin' but I love to get the pass. 

I practice all day and dance all night, 

I got to get ready for the Sunday fight. 

Now I'm as smooth as a chocolate swirl, 

I dance a little funky, so watch me girl. 

There's not one here that does it like me, 

My Super Bowl Shuffle will set you free. 

Mike Singletary 

I'm Samurai Mike I stop 'em cold. 

Part of the defense, big and bold, 

I've been jammin' for quite a while, 

Doin' what's right and settin' the style, 

Give me a chance, I'll rock you good, 

Nobody messin' in my neighborhood. 

I didn't come here lookin' for trouble, 

I just came to do The Super Bowl Shuffle 

(Repeat Chorus) 

Jim McMahon 

I'm the punky QB, known as McMahon. 

When I hit the turf, I've got no plan. 

I just throw my body all over the field. 

I can't dance, but I can throw the pill. 

I motivate the cats, I like to tease. 

I play so cool, I aim to please. 

That's why you all got here on the double 

To catch me doin' the Super Bowl Shuffle. 

Otis Wilson 

I'm mama's boy Otis, one of a kind. 

The ladies all love me 

For my body and my mind. 

I'm slick on the floor as I can be 

But ain't no sucker gonna get past me. 

Some guys are jealous 

Of my style and class, 

That's why some end up on their @$$, 

I didn't come here lookin' for trouble, 

I'm just gettin' down to The Super Bowl Shuffle. 

Steve Fuller 

They say Jimbo is our man. 

If Jimmy can't do it, I sure can. 

This is Steve, and it's no wonder 

I run like lightnin', pass like thunder. 

So bring on Atlanta, bring on Dallas, 

This is for Mike and Papa Bear Halas. 

I'm not here to feather his ruffle, 

I just came here to do 

The Super Bowl Shuffle.

 Mike Richardson 

I'm L.A. Mike, and I play it cool. 

They don't sneak by me 'cause I'm no fool. 

I fly on the field and get on down. 

Everybody knows I don't mess around. 

I can break 'em, shake 'em, 

Any time of day. 

I like to steal it and make 'em pay, 

So please don't cry to beat my hustle 

'Cause I'm just here to do 

The Super Bowl Shuffle. 

(Repeat Chorus) 

Richard Dent 

The sackman's comin', I'm your man Dent. 

If the quarterback's slow, 

He's gonna get bent. 

We stop the run, we stop the pass, 

I like to dump guys on their @$$. 

We love to play for the world's best fans, 

You better start makin' 

Your Super Bowl plans. 

But don't get ready or go to any trouble 

Unless you practice 

The Super Bowl Shuffle. 

Gary Fencik 

It's Gary here, and I'm Mr.Clean. 

They call me "hit man," 

Don't know what they mean. 

They throw it long and watch me run, 

I'm on my man, one-on-one. 

Buddy's guys cover it down to the bone, 

That's why they call us the 46 zone. 

Come on everybody let's scream and yell, 

We're goin' to do the Shuffle, 

Then ring your bell. 

William "Refrigerator" Perry 

You're lookin' at the Fridge, 

I'm the rookie. 

I may be large, but I'm no dumb cookie. 

You've seen me hit, you've seen me run, 

When I get the pass, we'll have more fun. 

I can dance, you will see 

The others, they all learn from me. 

I don't come here lookin' for trouble, 

I just came here to do 

The Super Bowl Shuffle. 

(Repeat Chorus)

If you're wondering why the hell I'm posting the lyrics to the Superbowl Shuffle, the greatest rap song of all-time (excluding the theme from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), it's because today is the 30th anniversary of the Monsters of the Midway's last Superbowl win.  The Mike Ditka-lead 1985 Bears were damn near unstoppable on the gridiron, going 15-1 on their way to blowing out the Patriots in Superbowl XX by a score of 46-10.

This group of Bears, though exceptionally talented, were never really able to put it all together again after that win and, as such, the '85 squad are damn near worshiped as gods.  The legend of Ditka (thank you SNL), the punky QB's antics, the Fridge's emergence on the scene, etc.  all combined to make this one-time winner rival Chicago style pizza in terms of popularity here in the Windy City.

After all, even though they won their Superbowl three years before I was even born, I probably know more names from the '85 roster off-hand than I do from the last three seasons combined, in no small part due to the numerous retrospectives and the seemingly infinite endorsements these guys continue to get 30 years down the road.

Here's hoping that GM Ryan Pace and his current Bears rebuild will lead to a new set of guys getting the hero-worship treatment in the near future.  In the meantime, we'll just have to continue making eating at Mongo McMichael's steakhouse, listening to Dan Hampton hawk Chevrolets and spinning this 45.

Happy 30th guys!

Football with Farnsy

Today's the big day; who's going to make it to the Superbowl?  Will Peyton Manning overcome injuries and Father Time to lead the Broncos over the apparently ageless Tom Brady and his fellow Patriots?  Will the former southside of Chicago football club, the now Arizona Cardinals take down the lately unstoppable force of the Panthers?  It all comes down to this.

Also, here's hoping that I don't get sued for actually typing Superbowl - you know how stingy and omnipotent the NFL is when it comes to that trademark... SUPERBOWL, SUPERBOWL, SUPERBOWL!!!!

*ahem* Anyway, since the Bears didn't really even sniff a playoff spot, I'm not particularly invested in the games today.  Sure, there are things I'd like to see happen; but, I'm not going to lose sleep over anything.  That said, football is definitely on the mind of many sports fans across the blogosphere this afternoon.

As such, today seemed like as good of a time as any to unveil the latest custom card to come out of my boredom induced Paint Shop Pro binges (I've already finished Making a Murderer, so...):

Look familiar?  That's no doppleganger or name-stealer, that is actually former Cubs hurler Kyle Farnsworth in a bright orange football uniform.  What in the heck is going on here?

I remembered reading early in 2015 that Kyle Farnsworth wasn't receiving much interest on the free agent market.  So, he was forced to ask himself, what does one do after an up-and-down, 16-year long career at the highest level of professional baseball?  Why, isn't it obvious?  You go and play semi-pro football of course!

Farnsworth inked a contract with the Orlando Phantoms (then) of the independent Florida Football Alliance for the 2015 season as a defensive end.  The Farns played football in high school, but that was many moons ago.  Nevertheless, the natural athlete made the team (well, what middling league would turn down that name/publicity?).

How did he do, though?  Let's take a look at the back of his card:

I'll transcribe the text here, since it's kinda a tough to read (kink to be ironed out):

"Kyle may have spent 16 seasons on the MLB mound; but, he is best remembered for his brutal takedown of Paul Wilson, when the latter charged the mound during a 2003 contest.  The Orlando Phantoms, of the Florida Football Alliance, hoped he could do just that to opposing quarterbacks when they signed him for the 2015 season.  All the "Farns" did was record a sack for the team in ever game, except for two, and earn a spot in the league's All-Star game.  Look out Bo Jackson!"

 Let's take a look at the "brutal takedown," just because I'll take any excuse to view that clip:

Back to the card, as you can see, he wasn't just there for fun-sies - Kyle was a pretty damn effective player on the gridiron.  The league may not be topflight; but, they certainly aren't pushovers either.  Said Phantoms head coach, Michael Torres:

"But many of them still have a goal of playing professionally elsewhere -- in the Arena League, the CFL or overseas -- and they don't go easy on anyone.

Florida semi-pro football is dang near college football, to be honest. There's a lot of talent. I've got a guy, Dave Roberts, who played at Georgia Southern. I've got another guy, Jonathan Akanbi, who played at Florida State and won a national title with Jameis Winston a couple years ago. I've got Mike Davis, who played at Virginia."

So, it's not like Farnsworth was just beating up on some jocks straight out of high school or business men trying to live out their glory days.  I suppose if you're a good enough to make it to the top level of any sport, you're probably one helluva an athlete overall.

After the Phantoms concluded their season, the itch to pitch came right back to Farnsworth and he found himself tossing 17.2 innings of 2.04 ERA baseball in the Mexican League.  Rumor has it that he's still looking for an MLB opportunity; but, he is also still listed on the Orlando Phantoms roster.  Which sport will he choose?

Farns snapping a selfie in the locker room of the Pericos de Puebla

I realize the suspense is slightly less gripping than that of Bo Jackon or even Jeff Samardzija's choice; however, it still captures my intrigue.

What also caught my intrigue was that no card existed to document this multi-sport foray.  Most minor league/indy league baseball teams produce team issued cars as a promotional tool; unfortunately, the Phantoms have no such budget.  Thus, I took it upon myself to produce the orange monstrosity you see above to properly notate this stint.

Looking back at it a few weeks after completing it, there are definitely a few things I'd like to change.  What are your thoughts?  Please make your opinions known in the comment section!

Meanwhile, I'm going to head over to the local casino for the big *Game Name Redacted* (in the time it took my to bang out this post, I've already been served with a legal notice by the NFL for my earlier usage of the proper noun) lead-up tailgate party, where they're showing both games on big screens.  Oh, but I'm not actually going for the games - I'm only going for the free concert being put on by Candlebox afterwards.  I suppose that shows you how much I really care.

Jeff, You're Un-Belieb-able.

If you've been paying attention to my humble little baseball card blog for any substantial amount of time, you must have noticed that I'm a rather big fan of Mark Grace.  As a kid who grew up in Chicago in the 1990's, it was pretty much inevitable that I'd take a shine to guys like Grace, Sandberg and Sosa - guys that were often the sole bright spots on otherwise disappointed Northside squads.

Above all though, Grace was my number one.  First of all, Grace is a pretty cool name and, being that I was a kid, that immediately drew me in; then, I came to realize that that name was actually quite descriptive of his work in the field.  His acrobatic work at first base was a marvel to watch and, to this day, I'm still a little salty that he was traded away to Arizona.

Gracie?  A Diamondback?  It's been fifteen freakin' years and that still doesn't sound right.  Although, at least he got a World Series ring out of it.

As such, one person who I know has been paying attention is Jeff Jones - the proprietor of the also wonderfully-named blog Wish They Still Came With Bubblegum.  Just the other day, he dropped a total surprise PWE on me that was absolutely stuffed with new-to-me "Amazing Grace's."

Oh, and this thing too:

I recently convinced my sister that every time she sings a lyric to a Justin Bieber song it shaves a year off of Billy Joel's life (she's the world's biggest teenage Joel devout).  With the way rock stars have been dying off lately (Weiland, Lemmy, Bowie, Frey...), she wasn't about to take any chances. Anyway, that should tell you how I feel about the little guy.

While this card will not reside in my collection permanently, I can still appreciate a good joke.  Beware, the next PWE I send out may very well include this "1st Print" Biebs.

Back to the meat and potatoes of this envelope, Jeff enclosed a wide variety of good ol' number 17:

We'll lead off with these awesome Post Cereal oddballs because breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day.  I didn't have any of these particular editions of the Post cards; but, now I have two of the most important ones!

Also, at first glance, that image on the card on the left looked quite familiar to me.  Why is that?

Oh - because it showed up again 25 years later in 2015 Topps Archives on one of my favorite pulls of my card collecting life.  Did Topps have a hand in the production of the Post cards?  If so, gosh Topps, there you go being all lazy and recycling photos again (sarcasm, I don't find this instance particularly egregious).

Meanwhile, let's return our attention to the pride of Winston-Salem, NC that Jeff was responsible for:

We've got shiny Graces...

... and even more shiny Graces.  Unfortunately, it looks like that "Defensive Gems" card was damaged in transit, it broke a quarter of the way free from it's moorings within the PWE.  So it goes, I'm not too picky when it comes to condition; thus, I love it just the same.

Silly Upper Deck, that card would have been totally protected from such damage if they'd just applied a protective sheath like that of Topps Finest.  Amateurs.

Then there's some beautiful shots of "Amazing Grace" showing off exactly how he earned that nickname.  The man was a vacuum and his fellow infielders better still be sending him Christmas cards every year, with all of the errors he kept from being entered into their permanent record.

Especially Shawon Dunston!

How appropriate that the hits leaders for the decade of the 1990's would show up on a baseball card that is so quintessentially 90's.  Loud, clashing colors, utter disregard for traditional design, annoying foil and bizarre effects.  This brand was either designed by someone feeling the effects of a little Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds or a former Pacific employee.  I love everything about this.

Speaking of Pacific:

As we see in these late-period Graces, nobody does loud and abrasive designs better than the cult-favorite, off-beat brand - Pacific.  I mean, just look at that Revolution monstrosity on the left; not even Circa can come close to matching that.  The term gloriously awful comes to mind.

It makes the invincible card to it's immediate right look downright pedestrian in comparison; but, since it's a Pacific card, there's really no such thing as pedestrian:

You really have to hand it to Pacific; in a time where it was almost impossible to keep up with the hundreds of card sets being pumped out year after year, they were striving to innovate and create brands that truly stood out from the crowded field.  Some worked out, some didn't, but you sure can;t say they didn't try.

These beauties closed out the Grace portion of Jeff''s unexpected PWE; however, he did enclose on more bonus card:

Here we have an emotionally-charged shot of Duncan Keith, which appears to have been taken seconds after he scored scored the winning goal in last year's Stanley Cup Final.

Not a bad moment to have encapsulated forever on your trading card, eh?  This'll slot nicely into my blossoming Blackhawks All-Time Roster tome.

Thank you Jeff for your generosity, this PWE was an absolute blast to sort through; in fact, it was an un-Belieb-able good time!  I hope you find the return package to be just as fruitful.

A Thunderous New Addition

Lackey, Zobrist, Heyward... the big names just seemed to keep rolling into the Windy City this winter.  That trend continued when the Cubs inked themselves an intriguing young righty to a deal yesterday afternoon:

Okay, so I MAY have been exaggerating a TOUCH in my leadup there... okay... I was exaggerating a ton.  Sorry, I was born too sarcastic for my own good.

The Cubs signed this 24 year arm out of the independent leagues for nothing more than minor league depth; the reliever posted a 4.74 ERA in 29 appearances in unaffiliated, low-A-like competition.  Every organization has dozens of openings to fill every season and not every player is going to be a blue-chip prospect, after all.

So, why do I care about Tommy Nance?  The Thunderbolts have been a part of the Midwest based Frontier League since 2004 and the franchise has existed in some form or another since 1997.  They play their home games in the next town over from my hometown, Crestwood; thus, they are, for all intents and purposes, my hometown team.  So, to have a player from my hometown team move into my bar-none, favorite sports organization is a pretty nifty development to me.

I read the news today, oh boy!

This is actually the first time that the Cubs have dealt with the 'Bolts too.

When I read about this signing on my Twitter feed (because I'm always desperate for Cubs roster news), I immediately went to my stash of Thunderbolt team sets to see if I had his card.  As you might have figured out, I do.

In doing so, I figured this would be a grand time to show off some of the more interesting cards from my team-issued oddities.  I mean, one doesn't see many independent league cards on the blogosphere; so, why not?

Usually given away at a late-season home game, the date is usually one of the most popular games on the schedule - kids still love free baseball cards.  The oldest collation that I have is from 2004:

The name on the right should look a lot more familiar than the one on the left.  Steve Trout was both a member of the 1983 "Winning Ugly" White Sox and the beloved, playoff-drought busting 1984 Cubs.  As such, he's a pretty well-liked figure in Chicago sports.  I'm sure that the 'Bolts took this into consideration when offering him the job as their pitching coach.

I've told the story of how my attempt to get Trout's autograph nearly got my ass-kicked.  Somewhere in storage, I also have a signed bobblehead that the team gave away that season.  See?  People came to catch Trout. * rimshot*

Meanwhile, I also chose to show off Matt Hines because he too has Cubs connections.  The righty was originally drafted in the 20th round by Chicago in 2002 out of Olivet Nazarene University (same conference as my alma mater).  He made it as high as A ball before finding himself on the Windy City roster.

Next up, we skip a few years and jump right into 2007.

There weren't really any significant players in this particular set; just some who played a little in affiliated ball, but never made it all the way up to the ladder or into the Cubs org.  So, I went with a couple of local favorites from the time.

Phil Hawke came out of the Rangers system to provide the power for a team that won back-to-back league titles in 2007 and 2008, peaking with 22 homers in 96 games in the latter campaign.  Meanwhile, Mejia spent 4 years in the Tigers organization (he even got himself into a Bowman checklist) and then, in perfect symmetry, played 4 seasons for the Thunderbolts as their regular second baseman.

Again, we skip a couple of years and move into the 2010 set.  Clearly I didn't always make it a priority to attend the card giveaway game.  However, this one is probably the most interesting, name-wise.

Mackowiak played in the Big Leagues for 8 years, including 2 seasons off of the bench for the White Sox, was born and lived in the area, and played his college ball for the local community college.  I'm sure all of this played into his getting the hitting coach job.  Buy local!

Andrew Werner might sound familiar to you because he is one of a select few 'Bolts players to make it all the way up to the Big Show.  After going 10-4 with a 3.71 ERA in that 2010 season, Werner parlayed that success into a contract with the Padres.  He eventually ascended to the top of the ladder to start 8 games for the club.

However, as of 2015, Andrew finds himself back in the Indys with the Ottawa Champions of the Canadian-American Association.

This one really caused me to double-take as I was flipping through the stack.  Obviously this isn't the same Rod Scurry that made his name for the Pirates in the 80's; he tragically died of a cocaine-induced heart attack in 1992.

In fact, this is actually the elder Scurry's son, who came to the Windy City after a brief stint in the Rockies organization.  Pretty cool to see such a name on the roster, although I have no memory of his being in town.

More familial ties here - however, this situation is only notable to me.  A friend of mine from college, who played on the tennis team and was a reknowned gymnast bore the last name Quigley; when I flipped this card over, I saw that these two attended the same high school.  Hmmmm....

Turns out that this wasn't just some crazy coincidence, I'd actually cheered for my friend's brother on the diamond and didn't even realize it.  The athletic gene is strong in this family, as their sister was actually named the Sixth Woman of the Year in the WNBA last season for the hometown Chicago Sky.  Wowzer.

If anyone has a copy of this '15 Rittenhouse single, I'll gladly trade.

Back to the subject matter at hand, let's crack into the 2013 edition of the Thunderbolts team sets:

Chad Cregar was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 47th round of the 2008 draft as a junior out of Western Kentucky University.  However, unless you're Mike Piazza, getting drafted that low usually doesn't pan out in the long run, so he didn't sign.  Still, any Cubs connection is notable to me.

He did up his draft position to the 15th the next season, courtesy of the Marlins; that said, you can tell how that worked out for him since he appears in this set 4 years later.

Mike Recchia really didn't do anything notable in professional baseball; but, I think it's pretty obvious why I chose to show off this card.  While many minor league issues are plagued with crummy, uninspired, or out of focus photography, this single goes above and beyond.

We rarely see the multi-exposure shot outside of 90's cardboard, making this find especially welcome.  Somebody was feeling creative or wanted to play around with Photoshop that day.

Speaking of interesting photography, 2014 brings a Tingle single (say that five times fast) that is just "dripping" with awesome.  What's more badass that tossing a no-hitter in a driving rain storm?

Josh Spence might say making it all the way to the Major Leagues, that's what.  Like the earlier-mentioned Andrew Werner, Spence got a trial with the Padres, becoming a key cog in their bullpen for the '11 campaign (2.73 ERA in 40 apps).  Unfortunately, things went down hill quickly for the reliever, as he found himself out of affiliated ball by 2014.

Finally, we close things out with another card from the Tommy Nance headlined 2015 checklist:

More rain?  I can't recall ever seeing rain on a baseball card before and here we have two cards from consecutive sets, not that I'm complaining though.  I wonder if this shot comes from the same game as the Tingle?

Some other notable names to float through the roster (in years where I didn't acquire the team set, of course) include Dylan Axelrod and Billy Petrick (after his Cubs tenure).

 The two most notable Thunderbolt alumni, who I missed out on.

And there you have it, my grand retrospective on the Windy City Thunderbolts team sets.  As far as designs go, I'd have to say my favorite is that 2004 layout that we examined first (it's elegantly simple) and my least favorite is the 2010 set (all floating heads, blech!).

Fingers crossed that Tommy Nance beats the seemingly insurmountable odds and climbs his way all the way to the top of the Cubs chain.  I sure wouldn't mind getting to add another Thunderbolts card to my Cubs collection (the Steve Trout is the only other one).  Plus, it'd be a nice badge of honor for my hometown club.

I'm sure that sense of pride when one of the local kids makes good is much more common in towns with affiliated minor-league teams.  That said, is there any one out there who got to see one of their minor league stars beat the odds and play in the show?  Do tell.

Maybe Nance will create some Thunder of his own in the upcoming season.

Diamonds are a Girl's (and Guy's) Best Friend

So - on New Year's Eve I finally proposed to my girlfriend of a few years.  It was a long time coming and I really can't believe it took me so long to work up the nerve to do so.  Ok, well, it was mostly working up the capital that was the actual reason for the delay.

I practically fainted when I first stepped into a jeweler.

Anyway, in return for putting a sparkly, black diamond onto her finger, my FIANCEE (that's weird to write) bought me some diamonds of my own.  Rather, a big ol' box of cards the depict people playing on a diamond.

Nailed that segue!

Yea, I knew I picked the right one.  She works at the local Goodwill and is in their corporate track; the other day, when she was taking inventory of the store, she noticed an impressive stack of card boxes.  Of course, she knows I collect baseball cards this far into our relationship - I could only hide my childish tendencies for so long.

Not only did she by me a box; but, she took the time to sort through all the boxes (there were at least half a dozen) and sort all of the baseball cards, plus a handful of football selections, into one after she clocked out.

Hot damn - is that love or what?  Of course, I had to promise to pimp her generosity on my blog (yup, she knows about that too) and tell the entire internet that I have the best fiance (still weird) in the entirety of the world.  I absolutely do.

As an aside, I don't know about you all, But rarely do I find trading cards at thrift stores.  I figure it's because plenty of people don't understand how overproduced the stuff from their childhood was and that their 1990 Donruss and Mark Grace rookies aren't worth a damn; I know I've seen plenty such people walk away from my LCS looking quite disappointed.

As such, I expected this box to contain pretty much nothing but junk wax.  However, it wasn't really about the contents for me, anything cool was a bonus, it was about the thought and effort that went into this impromptu gift from my better half.

Even better, it wasn't all 1989 Topps!  Of course, there was still plenty of that sort of junk.  But, there was actually plenty of super cool stuff within that fit into my collection:

As you can see, the oddballs were out in full force.  Whoever started this collection must have eaten a lot of Hostess products because there was damn near a complete set of those goodies in there.

Additionally, there were a good amount of those Swell issues that you see on the upper left and a couple of those Classic trivia cards as well.  I normally loathe those Panini stickers; but that's because I thought that they were all mini and flimsy and difficult to store and such.  I didn't realize that the Canadian edition from 1991 was standard size and printed on cardstock until I got my hands on that Magadan... love it!

Score did caricature cards of the All-Stars for a few years and I've always adored them - they may just be base cards and they may be a little goofy, but damnit they're fun and baseball cards are supposed to be fun!  This Eck will find a nice hom in my misc. former/future Cubs box.

Score also did some more conventional designs to honor award winners in the 1993 set and these three men all have Cubs connections as well.  Believe it or not, there's still '93 Score cards that are new to my eyes.

We've also got Joe Carter having some fun with "Big Mac," a couple of special, foil-adorned Stadium parallels and the only vintage card found in the entire box.  If there's only going to be one, might as well make a pillbox Pirate.

As you can see, there were plenty of novel singles to be found in this Goodwill gift; however, my favorites were yet to come:

Minor League singles!  There were only a handful of these; but, the ones that I did get all played in the Big Leagues for the Cubs at some point in their career.  Thus, they will make for swell additions to my "Baby Bears" binder (Cubs as minor leaguers - official collection name still undecided).

It wasn't just baseball cards that found their way into my binders though:

As I mentioned earlier, my fiancee spent a good 30 min collating all of the baseball cards in the massive influx of card boxes into a singular unit.  Even so, there was still a little space to be had; therefore, a small stack of football cards filled the extra space.

As you can see, she did pretty well in her random grab.  I was able to cross 6 names off of my Bears All-Time Roster chase - three depicted in the proper uniform.  As for the other 3, Stargell played in exactly one game for Chicago and Epps played in just 8 himself - correc tme if I'm wrong, but I highly doubt they have any Bears cards.  Heyward was the senior Windy City veteran of the group, competing in a full season with the Monsters of the Midway; so, he does actually have a few for me to chase.  In the meantime, this will make a nice placeholder.

Even still, after all of this production, there was still one more suprising addition to be discovered:

 Somehow, a NASCAR card managed to sneak into the baseball and football cards.  NASCAR singles are pretty tough to come by in this neck of the woods and I've recently decided to reboot my old motorsports collection in the mold of my Cubs/Bears/Blackhawks binders - one card of every driver I can get.  Cale Yarborough might me one of the top 10 best NASCAR competitors all-time, 83 wins and 3 championship titles, yet I did not have his wonderful cowboy hat represented in my collection yet.

However, it must be noted that this card needs verification.  It may very well not be what it claims it is:

Don't worry though - I checked myself and his cowboy hat does NOT come right off. Cale checks out.

Those were the highlights (there were plenty of unassuming junky base cards that I won't bore you with) of what made it into my collection; however, that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of enticing trade bait to be had as well:

These are samplings of what was to be had for each set represented.  If you want what's pictured of have any other needs for these oddball sets, send me a list because I just might have it.  They were all well represented in this surprising gold mine.

More oddball stuff, all up for trade; well, except for that glorious Pacific Crosetti Pilots single, that's already been sent off in a care package.

Also, does anyone know the story behind that Babe Ruth oddity on the bottom right?  It's printed on pretty thin stock and doesn't really contain any identifying information.  Curiousity is getting the better of me here.

We've also got some cool minor league off-beats to offer.  Unfortunately, those Brewer police department-issue cards have already been enclosed in that same package.  Sorry to tease and for my my lack of forethought when it came to picture taking.

Some parallels...

...and some more fun stuff.  Maybe I should just start my own binder of off-the-wall nutball stuff like Metal Universe and Topps Kids.  That sure would be fun to flip through, wouldn't it?

And there you have it, the Goodwill gift that just kept on giving.  If there was anything in the pictures above that caught your eye, please let me know; I sure wouldn't mind off-loading some clutter.

After all of this digging, sorting and cataloging, I was absolutely ecstatic that my fiancee was kind enough to take all that time after a long work day to fill a box full cards to indulge my "dorky" hobby.  The fact that it was actually stuffed with stuff I didn't know I needed was just a bonus (an exponentially more exciting bonus).  I knew I picked the right woman ;)