Signature Saturday - Darwin Barney x4

When I noticed that the Cubs would be heading out to Seattle this season, I was very excited. One of my longtime autograph helpers from SCN, vinniemiller, has the Mariners as his home team and often gets me some former Cubs autographs. It was great to know I'd now have some help in getting some current Cubs knocked off my lists as well!

I ended up sending 50+ cards for various current Cubs that included mostly customs but a few "real" ones too. One of the tougher decisions I had to make was which cards to send for Darwin Barney. In the few chances I've personally had to get Cubs autographs over the past 2-3 years, I've yet to get him, though someone sent me a 2011 Heritage card signed at Spring Training last year. That means in addition to any and all "real" Barney cards, I also had an ATCRCS card, a 2012 custom team set card, a 2012 Gold Glove custom card and a 2013 custom team set card. I ended up sending 7 cards, hoped for 1-2, but expected 0. If you read the title, you can probably guess that vinniemiller was quite successful and sent me four cards signed by Barney.



His signature isn't what I would call legible, but it is fairly consistent.



Having two of my customs taken care of is a big relief. This one (the 2013 custom team set card) isn't nearly as dark as it scanned. I probably should have adjusted it before I posted it, but ain't nobody got time for that.

The two customs I sent that did not get signed were from the 2012 custom team set, the base card and the special edition Gold Glove one I made. I'll see if anybody is offering help in September and if not, I'll try again in Spring Training.

Of the three "real" cards I sent, two were Heritage cards. As I mentioned, someone sent me his 2011 rookie card signed last year so I thought, why not try to knock off 2012 and 2013 as well? It seems to be a theme, but the 2012 got skipped (just like my 2012 customs). I'm really not complaining, just pointing it out because I just noticed that while I was writing this up.



And the final card I sent in for Barney was the newest to my collection at the time.



This Archives card is from the first set of cards given away earlier this season at Wrigley Field. With a good range of fan favorites in the set, it might be something I consider chasing.

With my certified signed Barney cards, I think this brings my total up to 7-8. More from this batch of current Cubs will show up here soon!

2013 Heritage Clubhouse Collection Matt Garza Jersey

Earlier this week I posted about a nice pseudo-surprise from 2 by 3 Heroes that contained a Starlin Castro jersey card. I think, aside from that card the only other reasonably priced Cubs relic from 2013 Heritage is the following Matt Garza jersey card.

There is also a low numbered coin card with Billy Williams and apparently autographed relic cards of Williams and Ernie Banks. But unless one happens to magically appear in my mailbox, I doubt I'll be able to add those to my collection anytime soon.

When Garza returns from the disabled list, hopefully soon, he'll begin his third season with the Cubs. One of the things I like about him is that he appears to be involved in every game. He doesn't look too thrilled to be a Cub in the photo used for the card above, but whenever the TV cameras show the Cubs dugout, Garza always seems to be on the steps/along the rail, cheering on the team. The Cubs haven't had too many reasons to celebrate the last couple of years, but the oft-injured Garza seems to make the most of the situation when they do. 

Photo by Jonathan Daniel (courtesy of Getty Images)

On April 8, 2012, Garza gives winning pitcher Jeff Samrdzija a shaving cream pie to the face. Samardzija pitched 8 2/3 innings to give the Cubs their first win of the season in a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.

Photo by David Banks (courtesy of Getty Images)

On May 30. 2012, Garza give Darwin Barney a Gatorade (water?) bath after Barney's 2-out walkoff home run gives the Cubs a sweep over the San Diego Padres. Another photo in this sequence was used to on Darwin Barney's 2013 Opening Day Ballpark Fun insert card.

Photo by Brian Kersey (courtesy of Getty Images)

On June 26, 2012, Anthony Rizzo had an RBI double to break a 3-3 tie between the Cubs and the New York Mets. The Cubs went on to win 5-3. This wasn't a walkoff hit (it came in the 4th) so I'm not sure that a shaving cream pie to the face was the appropriate response, but in 2012, a win was a win. Then again, it was Rizzo's Cubs debut so there's that too.

And the back for good measure although aside from the name and card "number" change, it is the exact same as the Starlin Castro card.

Heritage Trivia - The Rest of the Cubs

As promised, here are the back of the remaining six Cubs Heritage cards with a focus on the trivia questions.

#127 Edwin Jackson

"What's the most games played in one World Series?"

Long ago, at the beginning of the World Series as we know it, it was a best of 9 series. In 1903, the first of the modern World Series, Boston defeated Pittsburgh Pirates 5 games to 3 for a total of 8 games. Nobody ever made it to 9 games.

In a trick I learned from today's Wrigley Wax post, I found the black Venezuelen back of the cards so I didn't have to scratch off the answer:

#191 Anthony Rizzo

"Who leads active players with 54 HRs leading off games?"

I knew this one was Alfonso Soriano but it took me a little bit to find a list of some sort. Its a shame he doesn't bat leadoff anymore (as far as catching Rickey goes anyway) but he probably doesn't have enough left in the tank to catch him anyway.

Cubs connection? Obviously, Soriano is a Cub. Of Soriano's 54 leadoff home runs, 22 of them have come with the Cubs.

#220 Matt Garza

"Which Hall of Famer won the 1st Award for top DH?"

I'm a Cubs fan. Which means, in general, I follow National League baseball a whole heck of a lot more than the American League. So much so that I didn't even know there was such an award for the DH. I mean it makes sense and all, I just never even thought about it.

Apparently it was called the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award (real creative there, guys) but was renamed the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designate Hitter Award because he won it five times. That has since been matched and beaten by the the Boston's David Ortiz, who currently has six.

But the question doesn't ask for most, it asks for first. That award went to Orlando Cepeda of the 1973 Boston Red Sox.

Cubs Connection? Unless a Cubs player bats 1.000 which a gajillion home runs in interleague play, they probably shouldn't have a connection to this. Although former Cubs players Dave Kingman and Rafael Palmeiro went on to win it after leaving Chicago. Former Cubs skipper Don Baylor also won it as a player.

"What's the 1st word of the 1st rule in the rule book"

Which rule book? Fight Club? I didn't even know where to search for this so this is straight up cheating. Night Owl actually scratched off the answer to this question a few posts ago so I knew it was Baseball.

Cubs connection? Sometimes the Cubs play baseball. Hopefully they play more of it this year than they did in 2012.

"Who in 2012, hit the 1st ever HR in a Wild Card game?"

This one was a little easier than I thought it was going to be.I knew the two Wild Cards games were played on the same day so I thought it migt have to come down to finding a time stamp or something. But as luck would have it, there were no home runs in the Texas Rangers-Baltimore Orioles game. Each team hit one in the NLWC game. Matt Holliday of the Cardinals hit a solo shot in the top of the 6th inning, but by that time, history had already been made by Atlanta's David Ross, who hit a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 2nd inning.

Cubs Connection? HAHAHAHAHA, Cubs in the playoffs? No. And no former Cubs played in the game although there were some on the rosters.

"Which pitcher lost a game after he retired in 1959?"

Statistical leaders and first are all fine and dandy but this is my kind of trivia. I love these little anecdotal stories and look for them to include when I write my own blurbs for my customs. This link I found gives a pretty good account of what happened. I figured it would be weather or, in that era, maybe darkness that caused a delayed game to be finished later in the season, but the real cause was funnier.

Anyway, the answer is Jim Hearn of the Philadelphia Phillies. I recommend the link for the back story. Don't worry, its not too long.

Cubs connection? With the Cubs not involved in the game, there wasn't anything I could see from the boxscore other than a couple of future and/or former Cubs in the lineups.

I couldn't find a Venezuelan black back card of Castro on eBay so I'm going to trust the article as accurate without being able to show he proof.

And there you have it, the Cubs 2013 Heritage Trivia challenge. Hope you enjoyed the extra baseball knowledge!

Heritage Trivia - More Cubs

Yesterday, I mentioned that three players in the Cubs team set shared the same trivia question and promised to have the rest today. Well, the post ended up too long so I'm going to split the remaining nine cards over two posts. Six today and six tomorrow.

Starting off, there were three members of the set that did not have a question.

#175 Alfonso Soriano

Alfonso Soriano, the longest tenured MLB player on the Cubs simply had too many statistics filling up the back of his card to squeeze in a question or even a one to two line anecdote.

#399 Dale Sveum

Dale Sveum, the manager had one long blurb. Makes sense with the format of this card to not include a trivia question. Not even one referring to being shot by a Hall of Famer...

Welington Castillo, one of six (I think) catchers the Cubs used last year has his complete Major and Minor League batting record shown on his card and therefore had no room. The only explanation I can think of is leaving out the minor league information left too much room on the card. Although a blurb and a trivia question probably would have filled in the space just fine.

On to the trivia!

#49 Brett Jackson

 "Which was the 1st team, 1961, to hit 4 straight HRS?"

A quick internet search shows that 4 staright HRs has been accomplished 7 time in MLB history. But the question asks for the first team, which happened in 1961. The chart in the link shows the Milwaukee Braves with Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock and Frank Thomas going deep in the 7th inning on June 8, 1961 against the Cincinnati Reds. The first two home runs were given up by Jim Maloney, with Marshall Bridges giving up the next two.

Cubs connection? Frank Thomas (home run #3) played for the Cubs in 1960-61 and 1966. 

#96 Jeff Samardzija

"Who was the 1st player to play 9 positions in 1 game?"

A search turned up Bert Campaneris on September 8, 1965 against the California Angels as the answer. Interestingly enough, as the link points out, Campaneris not only played all 9 positions but when he pitched, he threw left handed to left handed batters and right handed to right handed batters. Say, what? This was the only time in his MLB career that Campaneris pitched. His inning:

Jose Cardenal - popped out to second base

Albie Pearson - walk

Jim Fregosi - walk

Joe Adcock - single, Pearson scores, Fregosi to second

Bobby Knoop - strikeout, Fregosi thrown out trying to steal 3rd for a strike'em out throw'em out doubleplay

One run, one hit, two walks. Not too bad for a non-pitcher.

This feat has since been matched three times. Cesar Tovar of the Twins did it in 1968. Scott Sheldon of the Rangers and Shane Halter of the Tigers both did it in 2000.

Cubs connection? This is kind of a stretch because all four instances happened in the American League. But the first batter Campaneris faced was future Cub Jose Cardenal who played for the Cubs from 1972-1977.

#145 David DeJesus

"Who was the last NL catcher to win a batting crown before 2012?

I thought this one would be pretty easy to track down. Find a list of batting champions and go back until I found a catcher. As I started going further and further down the list, the names became a little more obscure. Was I missing something? Was there some player I associated with a different position but was previously a catcher? Like a Craig Biggio or Mike Piazza? (Not winners, just examples of position switches).

So after another search, I found an article proclaiming 2012 NL Batting Crown winner Buster Posey to be the first in seven decades. This was probably a big deal and common knowledge when it happened just a few months ago but I didn't pay much attention to leaders and awards other than Darwin Barney's Gold Glove.

The answer? Ernie Lombardi of the Boston Braves in 1942. In my "research" I discovered Joe Mauer is the only catcher from the American League to win a batting crown and has done it three times. Impressive.

Cubs connection? None that I can find relating to Cubs catcher and batting titles. The Cubs have had seven batting crown winners in their history with the most recent being Derrek Lee in 2005. Other winners include Heinie Zimmerman, Phil Cavarretta, Billy Williams, Bill Madlock (twice) and Bill Buckner.

Thanks for playing! Tune in tomorrow for another rousing edition of Heritage Trivia!

Heritage Trivia - Repeats?

Two weeks I posted the results from my first (and so far, only) pack of 2013 Heritage. I managed to pull one Cub, Darwin Barney.  In the meantime, my Cubs team set came in the mail. I don't have any of the original 1964 Cubs cards so I won't be doing a compare and contrast. But one thing I did notice was that three of the Cubs cards have the same trivia question.



#144 Darwin Barney

#322 Scott Baker

#347 Carlos Marmol

All utilized the same question about Sid Gordon's gift for hitting a home run on Maine Day in 1952. (Answer on the previous post) I won't be completing this set outside of the Cubs and only have the cards I pulled from my singular pack to go by so I don't know if this affects any of the other teams.

Does anybody know if this is one of those quirky homages to the original 1964 Topps set I've been reading about? Or was Topps too lazy to come up with two more questions?

Tomorrow, I'll do a nerdy post with the questions (and maybe the answers) from the rest of the Cubs cards.

Blaster Fantasy League & 2013 Heritage Pack

I stopped off at Wal-mart on my way home from work on Tuesday to pick up some essentials in anticipation of the big snow storm that's supposed to be coming through by the time this post is published. I happened to pass the card aisle and noticed they had 2013 Heritage blasters and packs out, although not many of either.

I hadn't been paying attention to release dates so I wasn't expecting them to be there at all. By the time I got home, there were several posts from others already. Geez, even when I'm early, I'm late.

As you can see by the pictures, I picked up one of each. The blaster is one of the prizes for the Blaster Fantasy League I'm running this year. Click here or the tab above to find out more. Lots of prizes available for the price of less than one Blaster. The league is halfway full already and the start of the season is right around the corner so if you want in, let me know ASAP!

The pack didn't give me much to go on as far as getting a feel for this set. I pulled all base cards, no inserts or short prints aside from one blue bordered parallel. As for now, I think I will just stick to the Cubs cards and skip chasing this set. Or maybe pick up a complete set on ebay later on.

Some noteworthy cards:

Padres hot pack! These will be on their way to Marcus over at All the Way to the Backstop as soon as possible. I believe I'm a trade package behind so its time to catch up!

The only "insert" I pulled was this blue bordered Robinson Cano. Anybody pull any Cubs? As always, I'm interested and this one is available.

And the best part of the pack? This Darwin Barney card! The Cubs checklist is a lot bigger than the flagship's series one so I'm excited about tracking down all of the base cards and parallels. Since I'm showing off the card, I may as well break it down.

Photo by Brian D. Kersey (courtesy of Getty Images)

The photo was taken on May 5, 2012 prior to a game at Wrigley Field. The Cubs lost to the Dodgers 5-1. Not a particularly notable game for Barney either who went 0-4 at the plate. Not too many uses for this kind of photo, but its perfect for the extreme closeup, Heritage set!

The back highlights Barney's record tying errorless games streak although there is no mention of the resulting Gold Glove Award. I wasn't brave enough to "ruin" the back of the card by scratching off the answer to the trivia question so I did what any kid would have done with an original 1964 Topps card. I googled it.

"What was Sid Gordon's gift for HR'ing on "Maine Day" in '52?"

A summary of the 1952 season on Wikipedia provided this nugget:

On the 22nd of June, Boston Braves player Sid Gordon hits a two-run homer over the left field fence at Braves Field. His homer won Gordon the prize of a 100 pound bear cub for being the first Braves player to homer on "State of Maine Day". After the game, Gordon was presented with the animal in the Braves clubhouse.

I haven't looked at any of the other trivia questions but I do wonder if the prize "cub" was intentionally used on a Cubs card or if it is merely a coincidence.

Don't forget to sign up for the fantasy league!