Anthony Recker

Back again with another ATCRCS card and another former #20, Anthony Recker. The Cubs picked up Recker from the A's last year in their playoff hunt August in exchange for a different catcher Blake Lalli (who has since been granted free agency and signed by the Milwaukee Brewers). I'm sure this isn't a record (although who knows with their record sized rosters) but Recker was one of six catchers used last year along with Geovany Soto, Welington Castillo, Steve Clevenger, Koyie Hill and Lalli. No wonder the Cubs have pitching issues too...

He played in 9 games, almost a half and half split between pinch hitting and starting at catcher before being placed on waivers after the season. The New York Mets signed him and he's played 47 games so far this season with them and a handful with their Triple-A affiliate Las Vegas 51s.

The ATCRCS card above was signed with a little help from SCN member nomarfan when the Mets were in his neck of the woods. He also got me a 2012 team set card signed too! I changed the photo from the original (where it looked like he was popping out) to a much more appealing catcher action shot and love the way it came out.

The old version:

But wait, there's more!

No sooner had I declared I was closing out the 2012 Team Set, I found some usable photos for former hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo and bullpen coach Lester Strode.

The Rudy Jaramillo card is like the Len & Bob card I featured the other day, not from 2012. You can tell by the Ron Santo patch on his left sleeve. But it's not like the "real" card companies stick to that so I'm letting myself of the hook. Here he is giving some instruction to Starlin Castro.

This Lester Strode photo isn't of the highest resolution but desperate times call for desperate measures, right? 

 

Plus I like to imagine this photo was taken together with the Dale Sveum card from the same series, which works out nice alphabetically as well.

Anyhow, this really does conclude the 2012 Team Set for quite a while. I plan on going to a couple of Cubs games this season so maybe I can take a usable photo myself of the elusive Andrew Lane, bullpen catcher.

Final tally?

53 Player cards
 8 Coaches cards
 1 All-Star card
 1 Gold Glove card
 1 Len & Bob Announcer card
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64 cards!!!

Now that the calendar has officially turned over, I can't wait to get started on the 2013 set!

Closing Out the 2012 Team Set

With 2013 coming up quickly, I figured I would go ahead and finish off the 2012 Team Set. Once the season ended, motivation on getting these done slowed to a halt. I've been fiddling around with some designs for the 2013 versions but nothing is set in stone yet.

James Rowson, Interim Hitting Coach

James Rowson was named the Interim Hitting Coach following the the dismissal of Rudy Jaramillo in June. The interim tag was removed in October making Rowson the official Hitting Coach heading into 2013. Does this photo scream, "What have I gotten myself into?!?" to anybody else?

Alex Hinshaw

Alex Hinshaw was the last remaining player I need to complete the set. Thus, every player who made an appearance in a game for the Cubs has a card made. All franchise record 53 of them. The Cubs claimed him off waivers from the San Diego Padres in late August. In his first appearance, he induced a fielder's choice that allowed a run to score. In his second appearance, he started the 9th inning with a walk, a single and back-to-back-to-back home runs before being pulled. So his two appearances netted 1/3 of an inning and 5 runs on 4 hits.

Hinshaw was promptly DFA'd, cleared waivers and was a free agent at the end of the season. He has since been picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays. This photo was the least horrible of my options and I will probably have to reuse it when I get around to making the ATCRCS version of his card. That will need some serious spinning for the blurb. According to the caption, this is his reaction after giving up the 3rd consecutive home run.

Last, but not least, we have the Len Kasper & Bob Brenly card. Seeing as they've been together since 2004, this was a surprisingly tough card to find a photo for. This is the only card from the set not to feature a photo taken in 2012. Oh well.

I've heard mixed reviews about this duo over the years but I, for one, enjoyed them. I just wish they would go back to showing more games on WGN so I can watch them down here in Virginia. I've also heard good things about Jim Deshaies (Brenly's replacement for next season) so bring on 2013!

I am still in search of usable photos for former hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, bullpen coach Lester Strode and bullpen catcher Andrew Lane. I have the posed Photo Day photos for Jaramillo and Strode but they're vertical rather than horizontal and that's almost cheating anyway.

I hoped you enjoyed seeing this set progress as much as I enjoyed making them.