Someone, somewhere along the lines made a comment about having somebody's "true rookie" because he was pictured as a kid on his father's card. Unfortunately, this has been sitting in my draft folder for so long, I forget where I should give credit for the inspiration.
At the time, I was sorting out Cubs lots so I set these two aside to scan.
The Shawon Dunston card comes out of 1995 Score. In 1994 (when I presume the photo was taken), Shawon Dunston Jr., would have been a one year old. It's been a while since my kids were that young so its hard for me to gauge age, but that seems about right.
Dunston Jr. was drafted out of high school in the 11th round of the 2011 draft by the Cubs and is currently with their Midwest League (Single A) affiliate, the Kane County Cougars, where he plays in the outfield.
Dunston Sr. bounced around after leaving the Cubs, including back to the Cubs and settled into a post playing career career with the San Francisco Giants as a coach and special assistant.
The Steve Buechele card is from 1995 as well but this time from Upper Deck. I was starting to wonder if maybe the Cubs had a Father's Day game or something in 1994 and brought the kids onto the field but Dunston is wearing a road jersey and Buechele is wearing the home pinstripes. So most likely it is just a coincidence.
Steve played third base for the Cubs from 1992-1995 and is currently the manager of the Texas Rangers' Triple A affiliate, the Round Rock Express. I thought the Express were a lower level but they must have bumped up when I wasn't looking (10 years ago, whoops).
Steve has five kids including three sons. The oldest, Garrett played for the University of Oklahoma and was drafted by the Rangers in 2010 but didn't sign. The next year, the Giants selected him in the 14th Round where he played in the lower minor leagues before being released 2013. Garrett would have been 4-5 years old when the photo on the card was taken. While he does look older than Shawon Dunston Jr., I'm not sure he looks that much older. I'd have pegged that kid as three?
Steve's next oldest son, Tanner is a little younger and played baseball at Fullerton College. I can't really find anything else about him so he must not have decided to pursue baseball. His youngest son is still in high school now so I doubt that was him.
I don't know, could be either Garrett or Tanner. But whichever it is, don't be afraid of Steve...
I think they had to do some photoshopping to fix the shadow under the bill of his cap, but it came out kind of creepy!
