Trade with GCRL

So, awhile ago I offered up a bunch of cards that were sorted by teams to my fellow bloggers. I had a handful of takers and the rest were put up on eBay.

Jim over at Garvey Cey Russell Lopes received 200+ Los Angeles Dodgers and he graciously sent back a slew of Cubs and set needs.




Let's dig in and see what he sent!


I've never seen this type of card before and Bob Ferguson is a Cubs' player whose name doesn't ring a bell with me.  Huh, I usually don't go 0 fer 2 when it comes to Cubs and Cards.
GCRL = 1, Me = 0.

Here's a couple of tidbits about Mr. Ferguson:
1. He appeared in 824 games and had nearly 3,600 plate appearance, but only tallied ONE home run.  I realize he played in the "Dead Ball" era, but that's ridiculous.
2. The back of the card says that Mr. Ferguson's nickname was "Death to Flying Things".  What a mouth full!  He earned this moniker because of his uncanny ability to catch line drives barehanded at shortstop. 



I already have the next two cards, but I love me some oddball baseball cards.  Ernie's "card" is indeed a book with a couple pages inside and the Ryno is from a small box set from K-Mart.  Twenty-two Sandbergs in the lot from GCRL in all. Nice!

Of the 15 Dawsons in Cubs uniforms that were in the package this one was my favorite.   That's a huge Cubs patch on his jersey.

Numerous Greg Maddux cards in the lot as well, including this gem.  It's an '89 Donruss All-Star card that features Maddux's All-Star statistics on the back.  Except, um, he must have not actually played in the game that year.

My Grandma Olson's favorite player! Gracie doing a superman dive. Eighteen Mark Graces in the lot.  Nice!

Only a pair of cards featuring Kerry Wood, but both were new to me!  Ooooh, shiny!

I still remember being at Wrigley Field in 2007 right after Sam Fuld, a former Peoria Chief, was called up.  He made a lunging catch in the right field well and was almost lost in the ivy.  It squashed a rally from the visiting team and earned Fuld instant cult fame amongst Cub fans the rest of the season.  We love our hard-working and scrappy ballplayers.

Hayden Simpson, our #1 2010 draft pick, is still stuck in Boise working out of the bullpen.  For those not in the know, that's where a larger portion of the 2012 draft class is playing.  Yeah, Hayden's been compared to the likes of Pedro Martinez and Tim Lincecum, because he's undersized and throws hard.  But, he's been injury prone like Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.  I don't know that this selection is going to pan out.  Good luck, Hayden.






From the box of cards GCRL sent, this Rod Beck is probably my second favorite.  I'm not a huge fan of horizontal cards, but it seems to work here.  Look at that 'stache!  Look at the following hair!  He was in AAA in 2003 playing for the Iowa Cubs and he became an instant favorite with the locals.  I guess he had an RV that he stationed in the ballpark's parking lot and he would sit outside after the games and have a cold one and talk ball with anyone that had the time. The Shooter!  Man, he was an awesome character, may he rest in peace.

The oldest card in the lot: 1977 Topps Bill Madlock.  Madlock was one of the more successful, although short-lived, attempts to replace Ron Santo at the hot corner.

 The Cubs had a heck of a run of producing serviceable catchers in the late '80s and early '90s:  Damon Berryhill, Joe Girardi, Rick Wrona, Rick Wilkins, and then lastly Walbeck. Don't get me wrong, I like Matt Walbeck, but did he really deserve a "Coming Attraction" card from Topps in 1993 and a "Future Star" card from Topps in 1994?  Sure, he was an above average defender and a switch-hitting catcher, but nothing in his minor league numbers screams "future star."  His highest OPS (0.776) was in double-A.  Really Topps?

Here's part of the set needs that were sent along with the package.  I'll post another entry on the '78 Topps that were included at a later date.  Jim included one '88 Topps Orel Hershiser, three cards that finished my 2001 Topps Series 1 set, one 2012 Topps Archives SP, and the last four cards to finish my '12 Archives base set.  Thanks for the help!

Ah, at last.  My favorite card from GCRL.  A Reed Johnson autograph.  What a sweet looking card and what a bad-*ss signature.  I stated above how Cub fans have a soft spot in their hearts for hard-working and scrappy players.  Reed was both of those, PLUS he had character and really played his role well with the Cubs during his time in Chicago.  He doesn't really fit the youth movement taking place in Wrigley, but I would welcome back Reed in the mentor role any day.  Until then, good luck chasing a ring with Atlanta, Reed!

Thanks again for the trade, Jim! Let's do it again sometime!