Men in Blue

Quite a few years ago, I picked up an old 45 record. I don't even recall the circumstances. It may have been a card show, but it may have also been a flea market. Whatever the case, during my big reorganization in 2013, I came across it again and moved it into it's rightful spot in my Cubs collection.

I'm almost positive that I don't have anything in my house that can even play a 45. I had a couple of records growing up but mostly cassette tapes. And by the time I was in middle school, CDs were the next big thing. Now, with my trusty mp3 player, I can't even tell you the last time I listened to a CD.

But thanks to good ol' youtube, I can transport myself back to the mid 1980's when this song would have been all the rage:

It wouldn't have won any Grammy Awards but its got a nice, catchy upbeat tempo. And not only is the song about the Cubs, but it was performed by some Cubs. These five Cubs from the 1984 team to be precise:

And aside from just being awesome that 30 years ago these guys put out a cheesy song, I'm bringing this up because I recently sent my copy of the album in for a signing with Leon Durham. I haven't been able to find an album cover, but I hope to get all five to sign it and maybe frame it up with the cards above or some kind of photo.

The signature bled a little into the grooves but I'm still pretty pleased with how it came out. And still plenty of room for the other four signatures.

I did not scan the reverse side but it has another song called Good Ol' Time Tonight, by the same five Cubs. I couldn't find it on youtube, so without a record player, it will remain a mystery!

And as you might imagine, I sent in a few cards for Durham, too, so you'll see those tomorrow.

Five More 1991 Topps Desert Shield

Sorry about the missing posts the last two days. I neglected to hit "Publish" and have been away from the computer to check. Oh well. This post was meant for Thursday.

With the end of the year coming up, I need to make some headway on some of my Resolutions from the beginning of the year. I'm not doing very well...

A quick eBay search a week or two ago brought up a seller who was breaking his 1991 Topps Desert Shield set up. The seller must have put in a lot of time and effort into this set and all of his cards seemed to be in great shape, including centering. He had a bunch of Cubs listed, seven of which I needed. I lost out on two of them to higher bidders but if you read the title, you'll know I came away with five, all for the minimum bid.

I don't think I'll complete this set by the end of the year with a few big names left out there, but I'm really glad to knock these two out for quite a bit less than what I thought I would pay. Especially for their condition.

These other three put me over the half way hump as I now have 18 of the 32 cards from the set (not including the Keith Comstock error).

I was a little concerned when I started to scan the cards as I noticed something about the backs. On some, the Topps 40th Anniversary logo is faded into the background and others were much bolder. I know there have been forgeries for this set, but I thought it had more to do with the foil stamping on the front. But after looking at a bunch of other cards from the 1991 set and getting an opinion from someone who is collecting the set, I'm more comfortable with the purchase. This seems to be a pretty common thing within this set. Hopefully...

Couple of 2013 Topps HOF Inserts

After a little hemming and hawing, I decided to go ahead and track down all of the Cubs inserts. There aren't too many and while I haven't picked them all up yet, here are a couple that have started to trickle in.

Ernie Banks - The Greats (TG-4)

I really like the look of this insert set and wish there were more Cubs in it. Maybe in Series 2 and Update? I missed out on some reasonably priced gold parallels numbered to 99 but I'm keeping an eye out.

Andre Dawson - 1987 Silver Slugger (SS-AD)

This is a pretty sharp looking set too. The 1987 season which this card commemorates was also the year Andre Dawson became the first player to win the league MVP award while playing on a last place team. I feel a little bad for Expos fans looking for a Dawson relic seeing as he won three of these awards while in Montreal compared to the one in Chicago but then I think of him wearing that silly Expos cap in the HOF and get over it. Haha.

The Cubs have only had 8 different players win the Silver Slugger Award since its inception in 1980, although Ryne Sandberg has won it 7 times and Sammy Sosa 6 times. It would be a nice change of pace to see someone like Leon Durham have one of these in a future release.

2013 Fergie Jenkins 1971 Cy Young Award (CY-FJ)

The back of this card boasts of some pretty strong achievements in Fergie Jenkins' pursuit of the Cy Young award in 1971. Three other Cubs aside from Jenkins have brought home the award but I'd like to finally see some cardboard recognition for the Red Baron himself, Rick Sutcliffe. Bruce Sutter has a Cubs jersey card this year and Greg Maddux would likely be featured as a member of the Braves. No offense to the Hall of Famers, but the Cubs have a strong cast of fan favorites that deserve some love from Topps too!