Topps Last Month

Before I hopped on board the Topps Now train with the Jake Arrieta no-hitter card, Topps Now had already featured two Cubs players on their cards. Because of the 24-hour window Topps has to purchase cards from them, I had to seek these out from eBay. Luckily I found a seller who had picked up extras with the bulk rate and I grabbed these for less than Topps' $9.99 price point.

Print Run 331

On April 11, the Cubs were no-hit by the Reds for the first 2/3 of the game and down 3-0. After last season's 13 walk-off wins, I knew not to give up on the Cubs. They are playing an exciting brand of baseball and seem like they are in every game until the last out. In this case, the Cubs picked up 2 runs in the 7th to make it a one run game. They took the lead for good in the 8th on Addison Russell's 3-run homer and won 5-3. As noted on the back of the card, this series opening win would bring the Cubs start to 6-1.

Print Run 244

A week later John Lackey became the 16th pitcher to defeat all 30 MLB ballclubs. So far, this card has the lowest of the print runs for Cubs cards. With most of his career in the American League, the last team for him to beat was the St. Louis Cardinals, where he spent the previous two seasons before joining the Cubs. Here is a Wiki link to the other 16 pitchers plus a list of those who are close to the feat. Overshadowed by his 20 strikeout performance last week, Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer became the 17th pitcher to do it when his beat his former team, the Detroit Tigers.