How'd That Get There?! Part 4

With great big thanks to Paul from over at Wrigley Wax, I have been slowly but surely compiling my Cubs Haves and Want Lists based upon his personal collection checklist. You know, the one he uses to generate his 5 Random Cubs Cards on Sundays. Not only is his collection a dream, but his organizational skills are fantastic as well.

There are quite a few of his older posts that I have bookmarked and frequently reference. If Paul looks at the Wrigley Wax blogger statistics, he probably wonders why these old posts keep getting views. Sorry, that’s my fault! If I used Pinterest the way my wife does, it would be full of pinned Wrigley Wax posts.

This post from four years ago links to his Google doc checklist. And subtracting the number of Cubs cards quoted on that post from the number on his most recent 5 Random Cubs Cards this past Sunday, it was also more than 5,000 cards ago. Wowzers!

I have the file saved to my desktop and if it was a hard paper copy, it would be dog-eared! I think I have nudged him once or twice to update it with his most recent additions which he always graciously does.

Anywho, to make a short story long, the point of all this is that I was making my lists for Donruss a little while back and without the cards in front of me, came up with one more card than Paul had listed for the 1992 base team set. After cross referencing the lists, I discovered that I had a Mike Bielecki card that Paul didn't have on his list.

As an 18-game winner on the 1989 Boys of Zimmer team, I knew that Bielecki was certainly a Cub.

But after tracking down the card itself in my collection, I realized the mistake was mine and definitely not Paul’s. Take a look:

1992 Donruss #776 Mike Bielecki

Cubs uniform? Check.

 Wrigley Field (with ivy in the background)? Check.

 Team name? Check. Braves? D’oh!

I knew Bielecki had been traded to Atlanta but somewhere along the line, this card infiltrated my collection as an undercover Cub and managed to hide out for, probably, years.

But it’s a keeper. Allowing these exceptions might be the only way I catch Paul’s collection volume!

Thanks for keeping me on my toes, Paul!

1992 Donruss Delino DeShields

On Sunday, I pulled a 1992 Donruss Delino DeShields card in my repack box and mentioned trying to find the details behind the photo. Generally, I save my investigations for Cubs cards but I'm making an exception for this one because DeShields was a future Cub and the play looked interesting. I thought this would be easier than it was but am confident in my final answer.

By the uniforms, I can tell this is a Expos @ Braves game, presumably from 1991. The sliding Brave is pitcher Tom Glavine, which helps considerably. Had it been a position player, they are more likely to have played in multiple games in a series. I figured Glavine played in less games against the Expos than DeShields played against the Braves so I started with Glavine.

Sure enough, Glavine played in only three games against the Expos in 1991 but only one in Atlanta. Unfortunately (for my investigation anyway), on June 9, 1991, Glavine reached base three times that day. He singled to open up the bottom of the 2nd inning. Otis Nixon promptly grounded into a 4-3 double play. Winner? Maybe.

But then, Glavine reached base on an error by DeShields in the 5th which moved Rafael Belliard to second. According to the boxscore, Nixon then singled to shortstop and Belliard was thrown out at home. Must have been a ball hit deep into the hole or up the middle to get credit for a single. But then why did Belliard try to score from second on an infield hit? Either way, no play at second so this was not the play on the card.

Finally, Glavine again reached base on an error in the bottom of the 7th. This time, he was laying down a sacrifice bunt to move Belliard to second when Expos first baseman, Larry Walker threw the ball away and both runners were safe. With one out, Otis Nixon then grounded to third base where there was a force out at second. There is no mention of a relay to first for an attempted double play, but Nixon was safe at first. With one out, I can't imagine them not attempting the double play so this one is a definite possibility as well.

I double checked Glavine's batting history as well to make sure he wasn't used as a pinch hitter or pinch runner in any of the other games but didn't see anything.

Here is why I think this is the first play and not the last. Spike Owen. Yep, the Expos shortstop on the ground behind Glavine. In the first play, the ball was hit to DeShields at second base. I assume Owen was running over to cover the bag but DeShields took the play for himself to turn two.

In the last play, the ball was hit to the third baseman. On balls hit the left side of the infield, the second baseman covers the bag on a double play so DeShields would be there and Owen would have been out of the picture, probably backing up or covering third, especially with a runner moving from second to third.

That's my official interpretation of the boxscore and card. Can anyone find a fault in my logic?