Steve Stone

So I'll follow up Monday's ATCRCS post on current Cubs radio announcer, Keith Moreland, with a former Cubs TV announcer, Steve Stone. I did like Len & Bob together and I think Len & JD did a pretty good job this past season, especially given the product they had to promote.

But my entire childhood Cubs fandom was dictated by Harry Caray and Steve Stone. From the time I became a Cubs fan in the early 1980's through my high school years of the mid 1990's, there was not much else as important to me as Cubs baseball. As a young boy, I missed out on many of your stereotypical "boys" things because of it. I never got into cars & trucks or dinosaurs or comic books. I was about 90% sports, with a little bit of Star Wars thrown in. During that time, I watched a LOT of WGN. I may be misremembering exactly but I seem to recall a lot of Gilligan's Island, Lassie, and Dennis the Menace reruns either while waiting for Cubs games to start or immediately following the game. And during that time, Caray and Stone were the voices of Cubs baseball.

Even as a kid, I could tell how ridiculous Caray could be. Sometimes, I swear you could hear Stone rolling his eyes at the things Caray was saying. And even though he could come off as a little snarky, you couldn't really hate Stone for how hard he could be on the Cubs, because he was usually right. I don't follow the White Sox so unfortunately, I have not kept up with his transition to the South Side.

When I sent this card out to be signed with some help from a Sportscollectors.net member, I was warned that Stone will often personalize. I have no intention of ever trying to sell my ATCRCS collection so I don't have a problem with that at all.

With that said, I am a little annoyed with how it turned out.

The personalization is fine. The signature is fine. The placement though is unfortunate. Rather than sign across his chest, Stone went with an upwards slant, with the personalization going right across his face. This scan actually makes it look better than it is. But that is one of the perils of in-person 'graphing, you get what you get.

I don't know that I'll actively seek out a replacement, but if I happen to see him making a paid public appearance (where he doesn't personalize), I may have to participate.

A couple new ATCRCS cards

I ran out of time to write anything of substance for today's post. So instead, I'm posting three of my newer ATCRCS cards. I haven't even had time to make backs for them yet, although I have compiled all the necessary information.

First we have former Cubs pitcher turned broadcaster Steve Stone. Stone came to the Cubs as one of 4 players in exchange for sending Ron Santo to the White Sox. I've heard he left the Cubs because players felt he was too critical of the team but I grew up watching him and Harry Caray on WGN so I have soft spot for him. Plus, it has to be hard following/working for a team day in and day out that made many of the mistakes they made. He has since moved on to the White Sox.

Also now announcing for the White Sox is former Cubs outfielder Darrin Jackson. I remember him as part of those late '80s Cubs teams I'm so fond of but lost track of him after he left the Cubs. I didn't realize he bounced around so much until I was compiling his stats for the back of the card.

And finally, we have former Cubs catcher Randy Hundley. Hundley played for the infamous '69 Cubs and caught 2 no-hitters in 1972 (Hooton and Pappas). His son Todd played for the Cubs as well in the early 2000s. I could say more, but I'll save it for the back of the card and perhaps the post when I eventually get it autographed.