No Jinxies!

Last season, when the Cubs won nine games in a row, manager Joe Maddon admitted to wearing the same pair of socks during the streak. When asked about it, he quoted The Office and said he wasn't superstitious, he was only a little stitious. Which reminded me of this particular photo from one of the episodes:

So I made this:

What does that have to do with anything?

Yesterday, I made a brief mention that Jake Arrieta had a start more reminiscent of his Baltimore days but still managed to get the win and tie a Major League record in the process. Not even a few hours later Topps came out with one of its Topps Now cards commemorating the event.

I can see how a "streak has ended" card would probably be a little anticlimactic for Topps. The print run on Arrieta's "scoreless innings streak at Wrigley over" card sold just 365 copies. But I'm not sure how I feel about a record tying card either. On the flip side, the history making card following his second no-hitter has the second highest print run to date at 1808 copies. If he does break the record, does he get another card? This post will publish before the sale of the card is over so I'll be a little curious to see how other collectors will feel about it via the final tally produced.

Yes, I bought some so yes, I will have extras if anybody else is interested in a trade. By the time it shows up at my doorstep in two weeks, we'll know whether Arrieta stays tied with Atlanta's Kris Medlen (of all people???) or manages to break the record.

His opponent as he goes for the record? The Los Angeles Dodgers, who haven't gotten a hit off of him since 2013. Ok, ok so his no-hitter in August was the only time he faced them last season and the schedules didn't align in 2014 for Arrieta to see them.

But doesn't that make it sound more dramatic?

Wouldn't it be fun to laugh at the futility of the Dodgers? Oh wait. At that time, the Cubs were managed by Dale Sveum and sitting in the NL Central cellar at 55-76 while Don Mattingly had the Dodgers in first place with a nearly opposite record at 77-54.

To quote Joe Maddon quoting Michael Scott, I'm only a little stitious.

Edit:

Jinxies for Jackie Bradley Jr. and his hit streak. Topps Now made a card when he reached halfway to Joe DiMaggios 56 games. Bradley ended up 5 games short of Dom DiMaggio's Red Sox record of 34 games.