There are five current Cubs players with cards in the factory set but were not included in series one.  I did homemade cards of them for my opening day post, so lets see how mine compare to Topps. My cards are on the left, while the Topps version in on the right. My action shot wins!  Topps has both the ugly City Connect uniform and a screaming shot, so I win times two!   I like the Topps bunt shot,  but any card that uses the City Connect uniform is an automatic loser.   Wow!  Great minds think alike! My action shot wins, again ..read more

The bullpen needed some fresh arms so yesterday the Cubs sent Luke Little and Daniel Palencia to Iowa and brought up Hayden Wesneski and Colten Brewer. They didn't waste any time using Wesneski.  He was brought in yesterday's game in the fifth inning, with the Cubs leading 2-1 at the time.  It turned out to be a great move as he gave up no runs and pitched through the eighth inning.  In the meantime, the Cubs scored three more runs while the D-Backs tallied once in the last frame.  Because starter Justin Wicks didn't last through the fifth, the win went to Wesneski. Topps ..read more

On Monday the Cubs placed Seyia Suzuki on the 10 day IL.  To take his place they called up rookie outfielder Alexander Canario.  Canario played in six games last September and hit a respectable .294.  Craig Counsel wasted no time in getting him into action this year as was used in a pinch runner in the 11th inning of Monday's 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks ..read more

Former Cub pitcher Ken Holtzman passed away yesterday at the age of 78.  The lefty was a member of the '69 Cubs and pitched in one of the most memorable games that season.  He tossed a no-hitter on August 19 against the Braves.  Remember, the Braves won the West that season, so it wasn't like he no-hit an also ran team.  An oddity of the game is that he didn't record a single strikeout.   Two years later he pitched another no hitter, this time against the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati.  The Cubs won the game 1-0 and the lone run was scored by Holtzman.  ..read more

On Thursday the Cubs optioned reliever Jose Cuas to Iowa.  Good riddance to him and his 12.00 ERA.  The following day it was announced that Keegan Thompson would be taking his spot on the roster.  Thompson got into the game that evening against the Mariners and pitched two hitless and scoreless innings.  I sure hope he keeps that up! He's the 29th player to take the field for the Cubs this season.  Jameson Taillon and Patrick Wisdom are on rehab assignments in the minors right now, so I would expect a couple of more roster moves soon ..read more

 I've got 21,716 Cubs cards from 316 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades. 1900s - 1970s: 1976 SSPC #314 Gene Hiser This close-up of Hiser gives you a nice look and the pasted on C the Cubs use on their batting helmets, along with the number added inside the C. 1980s: 1982 Fleer #589 Bill Buckner  This is a posed shot.  If it was from game action, his uniform wouldn't be clean like that. 1990s: 1994 Score Traded #89 Turk Wendel  He was 27 years old in 1994 ..read more

 When I was growing up you had two options for spaghetti in a can.  It was either Chef Boyardee or Franco American.  I has in a Franco American family.  And when they invented Spaghettios, it was no contest. That was in the 1970s.  If I had grown up 10-15 years later, I may have sung a different tune because the Chef had baseball cards.  The Chef Boyardee set was a one time only issued in 1988.  Optimistically they had a heading on the cards that said "1st Annual Collector's Edition."  But it was their first and last. There are 24 cards in the set.  ..read more

 The factory team sets always seem to just show up.  They aren't typically listed on the upcoming releases schedules, or at a least not on the schedules I have seen.  I wonder why Topps does that? Last week the Cubs team set showed up in my team set Ebay search.  I found two different sellers that had them.  The overall price was the same with both, but one listing had free shipping while the other had shipping listed separately.  I went with the separate shipping seller because you don't pay sales tax on shipping.  That saves me 6¢ per dollar and every penny ..read more

 ... the South Bend Cubs.  In December the SB Cubs had a food drive and gave a free ticket for each item donated.  We dropped some things off while on a bike ride there.  The tickets were good for only three dates in April.  We decided to go yesterday, which also was Mrs. WW's birthday. The weather was cloudy and in the mid-60s, but for April around here that isn't too bad. Our seats were behind the Cubs dugout.  I splurged and paid two bucks per seat to upgrade to these. And I got the birthday girl's name on the video board. The game was close through the first ..read more

 The 2024 edition of Big League came out in late March.  The 310-card checklist is divided into five subgroups: Common – #1-200, Uncommon Rainbow Foil – #201-250, Rare Blue Foil – #251-275, Super Rare Red – #276-300. and Legendary Gold Foil – #301-310.  And of course, the cards become harder to get as you work your way down the checklist. I  got lucky.  There are ten Cubs in the set, and six of the ten are in the first subgroup.  There are three more in the second group and just one in the third.  No Cubs are in the fourth and fifth groups. I bought a team se ..read more