Signature Saturday - Harry Caray

I grew up in the era of Harry Caray - Steve Stone broadcasting Cubs games on WGN and I loved every minute of it. Listening to Harry Caray was like watching a game with my grandpa, always trying to make it fun even if that particular game wasn't. Steve Stone was more of a realist when it came to the Cubs and could come off as a downer but I can't say anything that he said was necessarily wrong. Those are my interpretations based on childhood memories but if seen and heard through adult eyes and ears, my opinions might differ. I don't care though, good times! 



Harry Caray 3x5

Man, am I ticked that ebay doesn't let you use an asterix in their search engine anymore. I got a ton of good deals on mispelled Ryne Sandbergs (Snadberg, Sandburg, Sanberg etc, not to mention Ryan instead of Ryne). I also picked up this Harry Caray signed 3x5 index card on ebay several years back and got a pretty good deal on it because his name was spelled wrong in the listing title.  Probably Carry or Carey. I'm pretty sure I would also search "Holy Cow" and see what came up because he inscribed that a lot. And as it turns out, yes, the index card is yellow. Not just bad photography like I thought when I bought it. The signature is definitely more purple but I'm not sure if its blue ink that faded to purple or reacted to the yellow card. Still a nice looking signature and inscription.

Originally, I had planned to have it matted and framed with a photo of Caray doing his signature 7th inning stretch and maybe one of these memorial caricature patches:

The more I think about it, the more I want to upgrade to a white index card but they have gotten pricey since I picked this one up! So, honestly, I'll probably just sit on this one. I'm going to have to hit the lottery to do all the framing I want done. 

This check came in a trade fairly recently, within the last year or so. It was a pretty big trade on both sides and I am happy with this check. The only disappointing thing is that the numbers made up of little circles are actually holes. Probably from the way checks used to be processed. So there are a couple of holes through the "H" in his signature but overall, it is a nice piece.

Eventually, I'd like to frame this up too, maybe with a photo that was taken closer to time that the check was written. Unfortunately, that puts him working for the Cardinals. Not sure I could stomach that in the collection!

Signature Saturday - Jim Frey

I joined the Cubs bandwagon in 1984 at the ripe age of 5 (turning 6). I was really into baseball and had already played two years of T-Ball. My dad was the coach of my older brother's team so when not enough kids showed up, he'd stick me out in right field.

My dad was also in the Army and somehow we ended up in Moline, IL from the summer of 1984 to the summer of 1985. From what I remember, he spent a year in some kind of civilian exchange program and worked for John Deere that year. But what do I know, I was five.

Obviously, anyone who knows Cubs history (or even baseball in general), 1984 was a pretty big year for the team. All my little first grade friends were Cubs fans, so like any good little military brat trying to fit in at a new school, I became one too.

My dad claims we watched "The Sandberg Game" but I do not recall watching it as it happened. Of course I've heard the tale and seen the highlights during various rain delays on WGN over the years. But because I was so young, I'm sure most of my memories from that season are things I've read or heard or saw on TV later and not actual firsthand memories.

In last week's Signature Saturday, I showcased a couple of Bob Dernier autographs I had gotten on some old Unocal prints. I had a different print that somehow survived various moves througout the years and in the early years of eBay, I put together what I think is a complete set, plus a few extras. Some of them feature individual Cubs, past and (at the time) present while others did events. Here are a couple that show former Cubs manager Jim Frey that I mailed to him a couple of years ago and he returned autographed.

There is a white border that goes all around the photo but for some reason my scanner saw the sides and bottom but not the top so the cropping looks weird. I scanned the backs so hopefully you can enlarge them to see what constituted Frey being considered one of the "Great Cubs Managers" and read about his "Victory Lap" in late September 1984.

I don't remember much about his reign as manager, but watching the Cubs teams a few years later when he was made the General Manager are some of the my fondest childhood memories. Frey is a longtime friend of former Cubs manager Don Zimmer and I know I've expressed my favoritism towards the "Boys of Zimmer" before on this blog.

I have a Jim Frey ATCRCS card in the works and hope to get that out in the mail soon.

Signature Saturday - Bob Dernier

A couple of seasons ago, the Cubs came to town to play the Nationals. Lou Piniella had just left and Mike Quade replaced him. This moved Ivan DeJesus from first to third base coach and Bob Dernier took over as the first base coach. If I remember correctly, this was his first series.

I took my family to a game, not really thinking about getting autographs, but kind of hoping. I did bring a couple of cards and some of those 3x5 custom W flags I mentioned earlier this week but didn't really expect to come away with anything since I had heard the cubs weren't a great signing team.

We showed up as the gates were opening and made our way towards the third base line (visitor's side at Nats Park). This was a middle of the week game, Cubs vs. Nationals, pre-Strasburg and Harper hype, so it wasn't very crowded. Lots of players walked by, none of them stopped. We tried to be respectful of their pregame routines and stretching and waited til they were heading back towards the dugout but no luck.

Eventually, Bob Dernier walked by and he stopped to sign for us! He signed one of the W flags for each of my kids and 2 old Unocal prints for me.

Showed this off the other day, but here it is again!

Bobby D!

Cubs Gold Glove Winners as of 1984

When I showed him my prints, he said, "Wow, you dug up some fossils!"  He signed the sliding one first and then took a look at the Gold Glove Winners print. He commented that he was in good company on that one and pointed at Ryne Sandberg saying, "Rumor has it he'll be joining us soon."


Now at this point, Quade was still interim manager and there was a lot of speculation that Sandberg would be called up from AAA Iowa to take over. I didn't know whether this was insider information or he was just speculating like everybody else. Well, two years later, I think we all know how that played out. No playoffs for the Cubs and all Sandberg does is win.


Nobody else trying to get autographs seemed to know/care who he was but they still lined up behind me to get his signature because he was a Cub in a uniform. He kept talking to me as he was signing for others which was pretty awesome.


I am left-handed so as I got older, aside from the occasional pitching appearance, I was pushed out of the infield in Little League to center field. While Sandberg was still my favorite player, the other half of the Daily Double, Bobby Dernier was a close second. (And no surprise that Tony Campana is my favorite current Cub!)


We didn't end up getting any current Cubs autographs but that 5-10 minutes with one of my childhood favorites was obviously much better than a few seconds of silence from a current Cub!


I obtained this separately and I've also shown this off previously but here it is again:

Bobby Dernier Ice Cream Helmet

Signature Saturday - Willie Banks

When I make my ATCRCS cards, I tend to get into a groove and knock out a whole bunch at once. Or do a whole bunch of fronts. And next time a whole bunch of backs. Now that I've been doing it a while, I have a system in place and aside from finding usable pictures, one of the hardest things is deciding who to make. The Cubs are closing in on 2000 players to have played a game for the team so there are plenty to choose from.

Sometimes the decision is easy and Willie Banks was one of them. Back in December, a user on SCN who goes by rifon, posted a private signing with Banks. After a quick search through the database, I determined that Banks was not a very good TTM signer. AT the time, I was just putting the finishing touches on the layout and figured if I was really going to pursue getting as many of these signed as I could, I needed to jump in on this signing.

While Banks wasn't the first one that I made, it was the first to be returned to me signed. For that reason, and despite his 8-13 record and 6.18 ERA in his 1+ seasons with the Cubs, this Willie Banks card will be a favorite of mine for a very long time. In addition to the ATCRCS card, I also threw in his two Topps cards that featured him as a member of the Cubs with my order.

Willie Banks ATCRCS

Willie Banks ATCRCS Back

Willie Banks 1994 Topps Traded #15

Willie Banks 1995 Topps #470

Signature Saturday - Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams

I've mentioned several times already that I'm a big fan of the Boys of Zimmer. I was around Little League age at the time and remember racing home from school in April and May to catch those afternoon games on WGN. And of course, during the summer, coming in from playing outside and taking a couple hour break to watch the games.

I remember hearing about the trade that brought Mitch Williams to the Cubs before the 1989 season and being very disappointed. I don't recall all of the players involved but it was a multi-player trade and we definitely traded away Jamie Moyer (for some reason, back then, I always mixed him up with Greg Maddux) and Rafael Palmeiro. Gasp! He was a 1987 Topps Future Star for goodness sake!

Mitch Williams ended up being a big part of that team that season and I remember two games very distinctly. The first was opening day and obviously his first appearance with the team. I looked up the boxscore to verify my account and the only thing I mis-remembered was that he had come in during the 8th inning not just the 9th. With the Cubs leading the Phillies 5-4, he relieved Calvin Schiraldi in the 8th with one out. He proceeded to get a pop fly out, walk the second batter, balk him to second and walk the next batter before getting former Cub Steve Lake to end the inning with another pop fly.

Mitch Williams 1989 Topps Traded

Williams came back out to pitch the 9th with the Cubs still leading 5-4. He quickly loaded the bases with three straight singles with no outs. The game ended after he struck out the next three batters, including future Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.

Mitch Williams 1990 Topps

Later that season, in a close game with the Mets, Williams came on in relief in the top of the 8th inning. The Cubs rallied for four runs in the bottom of the 8th including a 3-run homer from none other than Mitch Williams. It was his first Major League hit (keep in mind he was a closer, who came from the American League). With the score now 10-4, he came out to pitch the top of the 9th. He got two quick outs before the wheels started to fall off. A bloop double started a rally that was followed by a pinch-hit walk, back-to-back RBI singles and a hit batter. The score was now 10-6, bases loaded, 2 outs with tying run at the plate. Who is up? Clean up hitter, 1988 MVP runner-up and reigning National League home run champion Darryl Strawberry. In true "Wild Thing" fashion, he struck him out swinging.

I remembered the gist of this game too, mostly the home run, the crazyness ninth inning (although not the exact sequence) and Strawberry striking out to end the game. That Williams home run ended up being his only hit with the Cubs in 10 at-bats.

Mitch Williams 1991 Topps

I sent the three cards above to a private signing before I started my 1991 Topps Desert Shield project. The ATCRCS cards weren't even a thought in my mind yet. Next time I see him doing one, I'll be sending those in too. 

Signature Saturday - Johan Santana

*2012 Topps Series 2 Box Break Information will be posted at 6PM EST.

Come back to claim your team!*

Very rarely will I stray from the Cubs here on the blog but I wanted to post a congratulations to Johan Santana and Mets fans everywhere as they get a giant monkey off their backs. My general rule of thumb is that I root for the Cubs first, a good game second, and any team playing against the NL Central third. So while the Cubs weren't involved, this game met the next two criteria.

Much has been said about players who have gone on to throw no-hitters after leaving the Mets or players who threw one before going there but Santana became the first active roster Mets player to throw one. In keeping with the Signature Saturday theme, I present a 2002 Fleer Tradition Update Card:

In the early 2000's I had re-entered the hobby for the first time as an adult. It was short-lived though as I had two young children at the time. The amount of time and money needed for the hobby was not in my favor although I did mail out quite a bit of cards to players to be autographed. One of my favorite sets for this was Fleer Tradition because they weren't glossy and therefore held the autograph better without much prep work.

According to my records, I mailed this card to Santana in care of the Twins during Spring Training of 2003 and it took just under 3 weeks to be returned with his signature. I can't claim to be clairvoyant to the type of pitcher he'd become though as I sent out at least half of this set.

When I re-entered the hobby a 2nd time in the last year or two, I traded away a bunch of my mail autographs for some Cubs cards and autographs. But for some reason, I hung on to this one. Guess it isn't easy to part with a 2-time Cy Young award winner, regardless of his team.

*2012 Topps Series 2 Box Break Information will be posted at 6PM EST. Come back to claim your team!*

Signature Saturday - Kerry Wood

Last week or so I received an email from Tom over at Baseball by the Letters asking if he could send me some questions about my blog and collecting history. I gladly agreed and yesterday he posted his writeup. You should check out the whole article if you want to know a little more about me but here is a timely excerpt I shared regarding my first in person autograph experience with a Chicago Cub:

"My first IP Cubs autograph was Kerry Wood when the Cubs came to play an interleague series against the Orioles. My oldest son was about 3 at the time and we went with a friend of mine to get some autographs as the players were coming in the stadium. I had a McFarlane figure base and gave my son a ball I had brought to try to do a team signed ball. Wood got out of the cab and started walking towards the entrance. We had thought there were only a handful of ‘graphers there that day but once a player showed up, people seemingly came out of the woodwork and rushed over. I was one of the first and got the base signed, but I was afraid my son would get trampled so I picked him up and got out of the crowd. Wood kept signing as he walked and when he got to the entrance, he said “Where’d that little boy go, I didn’t get his ball.” So I put my son down and he walked over to Wood and got his ball signed right across the sweetspot. I’ve stopped collecting signed baseballs because they don’t seem to age well, but that’s one we’ll keep forever."

Coincidentally, I was off work yesterday and tuned into some daytime crosstown Chicago rivalry goodness. When they mentioned Wood's impending retirement, I quickly checked the TV schedule for the upcoming games. Friday on WGN, Saturday nationally televised on Fox and Sunday back on WGN. Whew! As an outside the Chicago area fan, I absolutely hate when games are shown on CSN. Although there was no need to fret as Wood came on to pitch to one batter in the 8th inning and proceeded to strike him out on 3 pitches. WGN kept it classy and rather than cut to the obligatory commericial during a pitching change, followed Wood from getting congratulatory high fives, handshakes and hugs from his teammates to the walk back to the dugout where his was greeted by his son. He even came back out for a curtain call. *Who is cutting onions up in here?*

I'm not sure that one encounter in Baltimore even helped shape my opinion of Wood because everything I've ever heard about him was that he was just a nice genuine guy. It simply hammered it home. Now that he's retired, I can get to work on the back of his ATCRCS card. Thanks Kerry!

Signature Saturday - Jose Hernandez

Earlier this week I went to a Winston-Salem Dash/Frederick Keys game to get some Dash autographs for chisoxcollector. He sent a bunch of cards so after rainouts Tuesday and Wednesday, I snuck away from work on Thursday to catch the first game of the double header. I noticed Jose Hernandez was the Hitting Coach for the Keys so in addition to the 50-60 Dash cards I got signed, I knocked out a few Jose Hernandez cards for my own collection.

Hernandez had 2 stints with the Cubs with the first coming from 1994-1999. A trade with Colorado brought him back to the Cubs in 2003 where he spent a month with the team before being dealt to Pittsburgh as part of the Aramis Ramirez deal.

I wish I had noticed he was a coach with the Keys sooner so I could have had an ATCRCS card ready. Instead, I found a few mainstream cards that I already had in my collection and had him sign those.

1995 & 1996 Donruss

1995 & 1996 Fleer

1999 Topps & Topps Stadium Club 

Signature Saturday - Dennis Lamp

A couple months ago a private signing with Dennis Lamp was announced on Sportscollectors.net. When I looked him up on the site, I saw he was not very reliable at all with autographs sent to his address, so I knew I would participate in the signing at least for the ATCRCS. I decided to see what else I had for him and after finding 7 mainstream cards of Lamp as a Cub, I worked out a small bulk discount. By now, you've seen the unsigned version of the ATCRCS in my header photo but here is the signed version:

Here are his 4 Topps cards (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981):

1981 Donruss & 1981 Fleer:

And aside from my own creation, this is my personal favorite that just screams 70's. This card was originally part of a full sheet of Cubs and somebody along the way miscut it but how could I pass on this card? Here is a 1978 SSPC card:

If you're a little tired of Dennis Lamp now, this is all I have of him. But hopefully you guys love Lamp as much as Brick Tamland:

Structure

I love structure. I can be a little scatterbrained so I learned early on that checklists are not just for baseball cards sets. I use them everyday for work, home and my hobby. When I decided to start my blog, one of my biggest concerns was that there would be days where I would draw a blank and not be able to write anything. But now that I've been doing this for about two weeks, I've come up with a basic structure of themed days that will get me through the week should the need arise. Some of these I'll do every week, some just when needed.

Sandberg Sunday - Without a doubt, my favorite player growing up was Ryne Sandberg. I have thousands of his cards (hundreds of which are different), dozens of autographs and plenty of other memorabilia to showcase.

Mailday Monday - Whether its eBay purchases, trades, autograph requests being returned or bills, Monday tends to be my biggest mailday. I'll share some of my bounty from the previous week.

Tab Tuesday - It seems logical to me that following a big mailday, I should update the different collections featured in the tabs underneath my header (tabs coming soon!). Also, updates and reminders to any upcoming box breaks or contests will be noted here. Date of last update will be included in tab name.

Wantlist Wednesday - After sorting through everything from Mailday Monday, I will update my wantlists accordingly. As I dive deeper back into the collecting world, I fear this list may grow faster than it will shrink.

Trade List Thursday - I can't expect people to help with Wantlist Wednesday without something in return, so on Thursdays I'll showcase a few items looking for a more appreciative owner.

First Pitch Friday - Debuted yesterday, this is a fun little insert for my ATCRCS that I developed on a whim. While looking for photos to use, I came across quite a few celebrities who have thrown a first pitch at Wrigley Field.

Signature Saturday - As part of my overarching Cubs collection I collect autographs as well. With a pretty good headstart and continuous acquisitions, I should have enough to cover Saturdays for a long time.

Although this blog will be heavily Cubs themed, I hope there is enough variety to keep others interested. Feedback always welcome!