One Million Cubs Project Daily and Weekly Stats

Over the past couple weeks I have been stretched hobby thin. Between boxes of Allen & Ginter, trades, and acquiring Cubs cards, it’s been tough to do the blog reviews on a daily basis the way I had been doing.

Initially, in a project such as this, I envisioned keeping detailed stats of the project with the amount of player cards received, an inventory update of certain cards or players, trades, etc. Unfortunately, this just hasn’t been possible. While my total count is nearly updated (I have one flat rate box yet to open from last week to count and two boxes that arrived in today’s mail), I’ve slacked on passing along more stats. I’m a numbers guy, so I am going to put forth a better effort in providing those numbers.

From now on, instead of going into detailed trade reviews, I’m going to blog each day what came in the mail, a few highlights, detail the traders, and provide updated numbers for the journey to one million Cubs. There will still be some trade review blogs, but in getting so behind and having several maildays in a row with multiple packages this will be a more complete way to highlight these trades, as well as giving you a more micro look at the numbers as opposed to the macro view at the top of this page that includes only the total cards in my Cubs baseball card collection to date.

Three packages arrived in Wednesday’s mail. Two from trades, and one online purchase. In yesterday’s blog, I highlighted the deal I received from the South Bend Cubs team store buying a couple 2017 team sets.

Robert from Florida sent a box of 96 cards that included a little bit of everything. Hey! A 1961 Topps Ernie Banks. Whoah! A few vintage including a 1973 Topps Randy Hundley, 1968 Topps Chuck Hartenstein, 1970 Topps Rookie Stars Randy Bobb and Jim Cosman, and 1975 Topps cards of Rick Reuschel and Tom Dettore. Always enjoy receiving Javier Baez cards. I included the 2004 Topps Heritage Tony Womack because he’s a forgotten Cub, and this is one of my favorite Heritage sets. The Carlos Zambrano and Sammy Sosa inserts are new to the collection.

The third package came from Todd in California. I’ll be sending some Red Sox cards his way. Todd sent over 117 Cubs cards, including about 60 Sammy Sosa cards. Sosa will definitely be a player that I put a binder together for. He included a complete team set of 2002 Victory.

One Million Cubs Project Stats
Wednesday’s (8/1/2018) Count – 283
Wednesday’s (8/1/2018) Packages – 3
Weekly Count – 1,166
Total Count – 141,954

South Bends Cubs Baseball Card Clearance

For those that collect minor league baseball cards, visiting each minor league affiliate’s team store is a good place to get some discounted team sets. Typically, previous year’s sets (if still available) are much less than what you would find on eBay or a minor league dealer’s inventory.

Since I had a few bucks left on a gift card, I decided to shop the Cubs minor league affiliate team stores for some discounted sets. I landed on the South Bend Cubs, the Midwest League (low-Class A) affiliate and found their 2017 team sets were just $6. I bought two.

Leading it off is my favorite prospect in baseball, even though he is no longer in the Cubs system: Dylan Cease. Cease has been lighting up the minor leagues his entire professional career. When he was in the Cubs system in the short season league, he was a wild man with his pitches. A lot of strikeouts, but a lot of walks and hit by pitches. He has really turned things around as he has graduated each level and earlier this season was moved up to the double-A Birmingham Barons in the White Sox organization. Cease, along with Eloy Jimenez, were dealt to the Sox in the Jose Quintana trade. Cease’s 2018 stat line: 11-2, 2.71 ERA, 131K/41BB in 106.1 innings. Boy, I wish he was in Tennessee, not Birmingham.

Ian Happ gets a card in the 2017 set, despite playing for the big league Cubs last season. This card was to announce he became the first South Bend Cubs player to reach the major leagues.

Bryan Hudson was the Cubs third round pick in 2015 out of Alton (IL) High School. Hudson is currently with the high-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans and sports a record of 6-8 with a 4.34 ERA and 61K/47BB.

Dakota Mekkes is likely to be called up to the Cubs this season. Mekkes is with the Iowa Cubs pitching out of the bullpen. He’s 3-0 with a 1.24 ERA and has 11 saves on the year.

Tyson Miller has started 17 games this year for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and has a 8-6 record with a 3.42 ERA.

Kevonte Mitchell is also with Myrtle Beach and this is his fifth season in the Cubs organization. Mitchell is batting .218 with 13 doubles on the year.

Isaac Paredes was once a top prospect in the Cubs organization, but was sent to the Detroit Tigers in the Alex Avilia/Justin Wilson deal a year ago. He currently ranks as the #12 prospect in the Tigers organization by MLB Pipeline.

D.J. Wilson is batting .246 at Myrtle Beach.

One thing I don’t like about these cards are the photos used are too up-close. Cards of pitchers in action, in my opinion, have a better look when the image is further out, unlike this Matt Swarmer shot.

Another gripe about the photography is that in a minor league card I enjoy the ballpark as a background image. Minor league parks (and games) are so quirky, and getting a view of the park is fun.

You couldn’t pick a better name for a shortstop than Zack Short.

Wyatt is also a Short, but he’s a pitcher. But he is kind of short for a pitcher at 5-foot-8.

Manny Rondon came to the Cubs in a 2015 trade that sent Rafael Lopez to the Angels.

Duncan Robinson has made it to double-A, and has a 5-4 record with a 4.71 ERA with the Tennessee Smokies. His strikeout-walk ratio of 97/18 is impressive.

Chris Pieters, from Curacao, has been in the Cubs organization since 2012 as a 17-year old. He is spending the 2018 campaign with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

Jhonny Pereda was also signed by the Cubs as a 17-year old, spending his first professional season with the Cubs in the 2013 Venezuelan Summer League.

Yeiler Peguero has split the 2018 season between South Bend (28 games) and Myrtle Beach (35 games).

Tyler Payne returned to South Bend in 2018 and only appeared in 13 games due to injury.

This Jose Paulino image is a bit grainy. The pitcher from Dominican Republic is now with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

Erling Moreno was signed out of Colombia in 2013.

The Alberto Mineo card has an error on the back stating he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 2011. Mineo was signed out of Italy by the Cubs in 2012. Mineo is from Gorizia, Italy.

Vimael Machin has played at every level of the Cubs organization. He spent 2015 with short season Eugene and low-A South Bend. Machin played at those levels again in 2016, but appeared on a spot basis in triple-A Iowa for 14 games. Machin played in Myrtle Beach in 2017 and has logged 54 games with double-A Tennessee in 2018.

John Michael Knighton was the Cubs 17th round pick in 2014.

Marc Huberman is no longer with the Cubs and is playing this season with the independent Rockland Boulders of the Canadian-American Association.

Chad Hockin has tossed 5.2 innings for Myrtle Beach this season out of the bullpen. Hockin is Harmon Killebrew’s grandson and is out the rest of the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

While I complained earlier about the photography used on these cards, the Wladimir Galindo image is an A+. The third baseman is playing his 2018 season in Myrtle Beach.

Jared Cheek has not appeared in any games in 2018, and I can’t find information online if he was released or is injured.

If I were to rank the images used on this team set on a scale, Wladimir Galindo being the best…Roberto Caro would be the worst. Not a good photo used on this one.

Luis Ayala was signed out of Venezuela in 2013.

Coach Jeremy Farrell is the son of Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell, and played some pro ball himself. The South Bend Cubs coach spent seven seasons in the minor leagues with the Pirates and White Sox.

Jimmy Gonzalez was the Cubs manager, and 2017 was his fourth season as the skipper. He played 14 seasons as a player after being drafted in the first round by the Houston Astros in 1991.

Brian Lawrence made his major league debut in 2001 and played six years with the San Diego Padres and New York Mets before entering the coaching ranks.

Jonathan Mota is a former Cubs farmhand after being signed in 2003. The 2017 season was his second with the South Bend Cubs as a coach.

The neat thing about minor league team sets are the other members of the staff in the set, such as trainers. Logan Severson and I share an alma mater. In fact, we probably crossed paths at Western Illinois. He was a graduate assistant at WIU from 2013-2015 (I worked in the athletics department from 2011-2014).

Ryan Nordvedt served his fifth season as strength and conditioning coach in 2017.

Always fun to go through minor league team sets. I’ll probably shop for some 2018 team sets in the near future.

An Unexpected Peoria Chiefs Mailday

Last week an old buddy from Galesburg, Illinois tipped me off that a package was on its way. Matt and I have made a couple swaps recently, as I’ve sent him a bunch of Tony Gwynn in return for Cubs.

In the last package he filled it up with a bunch of Peoria Chiefs autographed cards. It was awesome! I loved the Cubs-era Chiefs and have graphed the Midwest League both in person and through the mail (TTM).

Well, this package was even more surprising! There was a stack of Cubs cards in one package (he sent TWO packages), as well as some more Chiefs autographs.

Eric Patterson was a highly touted prospect and younger brother of the even more highly touted Corey Patterson. I once interviewed Eric while he was playing with the Iowa Cubs and told the story about getting his first Major League call up. It was believed that Matt Murton was going to make the trip down I-80 from Des Moines, Iowa to Chicago. In fact, Murton and Patterson were in the car when Eric got the call. He was heading to the show for the first time. Patterson said Murton, who had already played in the big leagues, was very happy for his teammate.

Ironically, both Patterson and Murton, and this next guy were all involved in the same trade from the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics in 2008 for Rich Harden. There was another guy the Cubs sent. You may have heard of him: Josh Donaldson. Gallagher was the Cubs minor league pitcher of the year during the 2005 season for the Peoria Chiefs.

Ryan Harvey was a power hitting top prospect for the Cubs in the mid-2000s. Harvey never made it to the big leagues.

And much to my surprise there was more! Two baseballs. Signed baseballs. Near complete team signed balls of the 2005 and 2006 Peoria Chiefs.

Matt even included printed out rosters noting which players had signed the balls. The 2005 ball includes Gallagher, Patterson, Harvey, as well as Sam Fuld and Luis Montanez.

The 2006 signed ball features Robinson Chirinos, and manager Jody Davis. Another player on the ’06 team that I tried and failed to attain an autograph is Yusuf Carter. He was a 12th round pick in 2005 and the nephew of former baseball star (and one time Cub) Joe Carter.

What a sweet mailday! I’m currently putting together some Padres stuff for Matt.

Jorge Soler Autograph and 2018 Cubs for a Medium Flat Rate Box of Hockey Cards

Another package that arrived last week was from a trade with Jason in New York. The trade originated from my post selling medium flat rate boxes of hockey cards for $20 shipped.

There are still several of these boxes available if anyone wants one. Only $20 shipped, or I will entertain a trade for Cubs cards. The boxes contain hockey cards from the mid 1980s to about 2013. A lot of the cards are from about 1998-2013. On occasion I find a couple cards from the 1970’s sprinkled in. Many superstars are here, it’s just all base and maybe some inserts.

Jason proposed a trade that I was happy with highlighted by a 2014 Elite Extra Edition Jorge Soler autograph 53/75.

The rest of the Cubs package contained mostly sets that I don’t buy much of. Gypsy Queen is one of the products I typically only grab a blaster or two.

Donruss uses great photography and I enjoy most of their designs. It stinks there is an exclusive MLB license with Topps. Two companies battling it out would be great for the hobby.

Take for example: Diamond Kings. Great looking set. But it’s mostly an afterthought because it’s an unlicensed product.

Here’s Javy!

My wife also likes these trades where I’m trading 1,000-1,500 cards for 20 cards. Usually it’s me bringing home a truckload of cards. Again, if anyone wants hockey I’ll be happy to unload these flat rate boxes for $20 or for Cubs cards in a trade similar to this.

Do You Want To Sell Your Base Cards? Sportlots is the Answer

Once upon a time you rode your bicycle to a local hobby shop, retail outlet, or grocery store to buy a pack of the latest Topps baseball cards. By the end of summer you may have been left over with half dozen Frank DiPino cards. Commons. Today we recognize those commons as “base cards,” and the search has shifted away from rookie “base cards” of Gregg Jeffries or Sam Horn to a jersey card, autograph, serial numbered card, or variation.

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Much like our extra DiPino cards, we’re left with a box of commons that will sit lonely at the bottom of a closet. Sure, you could move a box of 2017 Topps on Ebay, but by the time you pay the fees and shipping you’re return is $1.00 for 500 cards. Doesn’t seem worth it.

Enter the third party sports card selling site, Sportlots. To put it simple, Sportlots is a website in which you can buy and sell cards (mostly “commons”), but higher end cards are also listed.

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As a seller, the fee structure may seem high, but the more cards you post in your inventory the more you will likely sell. The more you sell, the lower your fees. See below for the Sportlots fee structure.

Monthly Fee Schedule

Low Amt-High Amt Fee Pct.

$0.00-$4.99 75%

$5.00-$24.99 50%

$25.00-$49.99 35%

$50.00-$99.99 27%

$100.00-$199.99 23%

$200.00-$299.99 20%

$300.00-$499.99 18%

$500.00-$999.99 17%

$1000.00-$1499.99 16%

$1500.00-Above 15%

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Over the years, I posted inventory and learned different tips to maximize sales on Sportlots. We introduce three tips that are equally important.

1) Inventory Advice: Prioritize Your Listings

You will sell current year cards at a quicker rate than past baseball card set releases. Additionally, you will gain more sales nearest to a set release. For example, 2017 Bowman Chrome will release on Friday September 29. You will see maximum return by selling Bowman Chrome as close to September 29 as possible. By October 29, the sales will only be trickling in. It is also important when opening your online Sportlots store that you prioritize your initial listings. It takes time to sort and organize and will not be done in one day. The goal should be to list most recent sets. Oddball issues also sell well on Sportlots, and personally I have found that 1977, 1978, and 1979 Topps have sold well. Vintage does not sell well on Sportlots.

2) List Your Inventory In Vacation Mode
When opening a store, keep it in vacation mode while you are posting inventory. This will delay any sales to avoid the larger percentage fees. The Sportlots monthly sales calendar runs from the first of the month to the last day of the month. If you begin listing on the 15th, you only have 15 days in your sales period. If you only sell $10 worth of cards, Sportlots will take $5 in fees. If you sit in vacation mode until the first day of the next month you could potentially climb into the next fee bracket, which drops from 50% for sales up to $24.99 to 35% for sales between $25 and $49.99.

3) Organization of Inventory is Critical

This was a downfall for Set Filler Cards before moving to a different location. If your inventory is unorganized, you may fall victim to misplacing cards and wasting time. It’s counter-productive to spend 45 minutes trying to fill three orders that equal $0.72. Set Filler Cards’ biggest mistake was organizing each set in its own box on shelving units. This was a time killer. If a buyer placed an order for 20 cards from 10 sets, it took extra time rearranging 800-count boxes on a shelf in addition to having to open several boxes to pull cards.

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It seems that 3000-count and 5,000-count boxes aided in saving time by sorting inventory into these larger boxes by year with a large post-it note stating each year on the box. Each set within the larger box is organized by using a small post-it note sticking to the top for easy access.

I keep these boxes on shelves without the tops on for two reasons: 1) Saves a few seconds and 2) keeps the small post-it notes within the box upright and not pushed down by the box top.

A Colorful Cubs Twitter Purchase

Thanks to Fat, Drunk, and Stupid Sports Cards (Awesome name!), some colorful new Cubs have been added to the One Million Cubs Project.

Shoutout for the tweeter that mentioned me with the heads up on this sale (I couldn’t find the thread in my feed). Fat Cards had a nice lot posted for $40 shipped and it was too good to pass up. Even better, he cut me a deal and offered them up at $35 shipped.

Adbert Alzolay entered the season ranked as the Cubs top prospect among many experts. Unfortunately, he suffered a season-ending injury earlier this year. Plenty of Alzolay color here including a 2018 Bowman Chrome purple Auto 178/250.

Also a 2018 Bowman Chrome gold refractor 62/75.

And a Bowman Chrome.

One other Auto is from Thomas Hatch. Hatch was the Cubs top pick (3rd round) in the 2016 MLB Draft. I like his signature on this 2018 Bowman Chrome.

A little Hatch Mojo with some color. It’s an orange mojo refractor 13/25.

Two camo parallels of Hatch.

And a Bowman Chrome.

Finally, a super thick 2015 Bowman’s Best Kris Bryant.

Heck of a deal for only $35. Thanks!

One Million Cubs Project Weekend Update

Apologies for my tardiness in trade communication and blog updates. I am trying to keep my head above water with trades and sales this week. If I have been communicating with you in regards to a trade, I have not forgot about you. You’re on my trade board.

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One of the biggest reasons I get behind is sorting cards for trade. Most of my cards that are sorted are sorted by team, with several stars sorted by player. In some cases I run out of sorted teams (currently trying to catch up on Red Sox), or I am in talks for a trade for players that are not readily available.

Allen & Ginter was released this week, and I ordered six boxes, so that takes much of my time for a few days to open, sort, and list cards. I don’t know how people like Brent (brentandbecca) can crack 50 cases. The most I’ve done is three cases and it took weeks for me to catch up. The six boxes of A&G is a nice amount.

Also, I’ve had several maildays this week and I apologize for not getting out updates. In fact, I have a couple packages that I haven’t even opened yet, and they have been in my possession for a few days.

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My Cubs count on the site is a little off, but it’s now a bit above 140,000. I have some really sweet maildays to show off. One was a purchase off the Blowout Cards forums that was a really awesome deal. Can’t wait to post that blog.

I’m always open for more trades, but I am backlogged so it will take some time. Unless it’s a bulk trade for any team not named the Yankees, Red Sox, Rockies, Braves, Tigers, or Rangers. I have plenty of Dodgers, Nationals and White Sox among most other teams.

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There will be another giveaway at some point in August. I’ll be taking most of the month of September off, as I’ll be putting my Sportlots store in vacation mode, and my eBay store will be in vacation mode for a majority of September. My wife and I will be spending two weeks in Italy for our honeymoon.

Heritage Minors is released the week we return, but with the enormous increase by distributors of this product, I’ll probably scale back from three cases to three boxes. Case prices have gone from $500 to $750 from 2017 to 2018. That’s ridiculous for this product.

That’s all for now. I hope to have a trade review posted tomorrow (Monday).

Meet the 2018 Chicago Cubs Organization All Stars

With baseball’s midway point we just wrapped up the Major League Baseball All Star break. The home run derby is one of my favorite events of the year, and more so this year with a pair of Cubs in the competition, Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber. And what a show it was as Schwarber and Bryce Harper had an intense championship battle before the hometown Harper won it in the extra 30 second round.

I’ve featured custom Cubs cards here in the past as I make them with the Rookies App. It’s a very easy and cheap way to create your own cards. Since I have little Photoshop skills I am stuck using the default templates on the Rookies App.

A fellow Twitter collector gave me the idea to create some Cubs All Star cards. I saw Matthew in Milwaukee (from summer of 74 blog) post his own Jeremy Jeffress Brewers all star card, so I stole the idea and used the same template for the Cubs and took it down to the minor leagues as well.

It’s a template I haven’t used, but works perfect for the layout of these All Star cards. For the major leaguers I wanted to use a more posed photo. The top banner was for the year and All Star (and League for the minor leaguers), and the all star game logo in the top right. I’ll lead off with my favorite Cub, Javier Baez.

And my second favorite Cub, Willson Contreras.

Jon Lester always has an intense game face.

Moving on to the farm teams, only one Iowa Cubs player made the Triple A All Star game, which was played on Wednesday night. It was fairly difficult to find a good photo that fit the template for Alberto Baldonado. It reminds me that I need to find the website for an Iowa Cubs photographer that took and posted hundreds of I-Cubs pictures dating back to the early 80’s. About 15 years ago I would print them off and have them signed TTM. I believe his name was Larry.

In Double A the Tennessee Smokies had a trio of all stars including Jeffrey Baez. This is a great photo, and probably my favorite card of the bunch.

Craig Brooks was selected as a pitcher.

And third baseman Jason Vosler represented the Smokies.

Four Myrtle Beach Pelicans were named all stars. I love this action shot of a swinging Aramis Ademan.

Tyler Peyton was one of two Pelicans pitchers named an All Star.

Matt Swarmer was the other.

And catcher Jhonny Pereda was the fourth All Star for Myrtle Beach.

In the Midwest League, Javier Assad pitched for the South Bend Cubs.

Miguel Amaya has soared as a top prospect in the Cubs organization, much like another Cubs catcher (and MLB all star), Willson Contreras did.

First baseman Jared Young was an All Star.

And Brendan King was named to the All Star game in the Midwest League.

These were fun to create, and hope to track down some of those old Iowa Cubs photos to make some customs. I’m playing catchup this weekend, and have several maildays to post.

Allen & Ginter Has Become More Than Another Baseball Card Release

Sometime around 2012 or 2013 I began dabbling with baseball cards after a few years away from the hobby. A friend of mine, Kyle, who I worked with at Western Illinois University was a big Minnesota Vikings fan and football card and memorabilia collector. My baseball card hiatus was over and we would talk cards and open blasters.

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It was the summer of 2013 and I had really started liking the Allen & Ginter releases. We took a trip to Moline, Illinois to a card shop there and I picked up an A&G hobby box. I cracked that box open and pulled a Willie Mays rip card. I was hooked.

In 2014 and 2015 I bought some A&G blasters, but no hobby boxes. I bought a few loose boxes in 2016, and that’s where this story really begins.

In January 2016 my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. I spent a few weekends each month driving back home to spend time with him, and would bring baseball cards with me.

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I had recently bought a collection of cards and was sorting them to list on Sportlots. At my parents house I would spread out on the living room floor and sort cards with my dad in his recliner and probably something on the TV that I tuned out (Bob Villa, McLaughlin Group, and NASCAR were among those programs). It was a throwback to my childhood when I would spread my cards on the floor and sort them by team or by year or even the cards that were my favorite photographs. Never thought 10 years ago I would say I’d miss watching This Old House.

I had preordered three boxes of 2016 Allen & Ginter and took them home the following weekend to open while my dad watched Motorweek. I remember pulling some great cards in the two boxes I opened there and definitely worth the $80 per box I paid.

The third box waited until I returned home in Madison. What a pull in that third box! It was a dual auto/relic numbered to 10 of Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza. Wow! To that point it was by far the best hit I had ever pulled, and probably still ranks in the top five today and I’ve opened a lot of boxes (and cases) in the past two years.

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Little did I know that would be one of the last weekends I would spend with my dad. He passed away just one month later on August 26, 2016. My wife and I had stayed at a hotel the few days my dad was in the hospital before he passed and returned home on the 27th, a Saturday. It was a long four days and when we got back to town I went to my local card shop and bought a box of Allen & Ginter. I don’t remember what I pulled, but it doesn’t matter. It was therapy, and something I needed at that moment.

And then came 2017, and a lighter story of Allen & Ginter. I had started buying cases of products for the 2017 releases and preordered two cases of A&G. When buying cases and to get a return on your investment it’s important to rip and list quickly because the market will die down within a week. So, I had a bit of a problem. Release day was three days before my wedding.

I had taken Thursday and Friday off, so I had some time to bust open my cases. Obviously there were other things going on, so my time was a bit limited. Also, only one case was delivered on release day. The second case came on Friday.

So let’s talk about that first case on release day. It required a signature, and I was at work upon delivery. I even strategically planned my lunch break around the estimated delivery time on the UPS app. Of course, that window of delivery is five hours. My plan did not work and I missed the delivery.

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I called to request pickup and they said it could be picked up between 6 p.m and 8 p.m. that night. One problem: we had reservations for a family dinner for my now wife’s grandma’s 99th birthday. There was no way I was making it back to the UPS pickup point by 8 p.m.

We took two cars as my wife’s other grandma and grandpa rode with us. We had dinner and as we were finishing the skies became dark. And then our phone alerts began to ring out. Tornado warning for Dane County. We skipped dessert and rushed to our vehicles as fast as you can with three grandparents on the cusp of reaching a century of life.

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We dropped grandma and grandpa off at their condo and as we pulled out of the parking lot I started some mental math. It was 7:50 p.m. and UPS was only a mile away. In the pouring rain in the middle of a tornado warning I convinced my wife-to-be in three days to make a detour to UPS. I made it in time and I had my case of Allen & Ginter!

Wednesday marks the release of Allen & Ginter, and I’m hoping the 2018 product only offers up drama in the form of a nice hit inside the box (like a Kris Bryant Auto!).

Jose Cardenal Feuds With Manager

I love history. Especially when it comes to local history, and especially Chicago Cubs history. The 1970’s is a fascination as it was the decade before my birth (1982).

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The local newspaper near my hometown has begun digitizing old issues, and is now updated through 1979 and on occasion I’ll pass the time by reading a few old issues. Recently, I came across a July 1978 issue with a Cubs headline in the sports section.

Cardenal was traded by the Cubs to the Philadelphia Phillies on October 25, 1977 for Manny Seoane (Seoane appeared in 7 games for the Chicago Cubs in 1978). There was no love lost between Cardenal and his former manager Herman Franks when the Phillies visited Wrigley Field in early July, 1978.

“I have no respect for him. He called me a hot dog and a trouble maker,” Cardenal told reporters after he hit a 2-run home run against his former team to lead the Phillies to a 6-5 win on July 2, 1978. “Only dirty people say things like that about players,” Cardenal added.

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Cubs manager Franks didn’t back down either telling reporters, “He’s right about my calling him a hot dog and trouble maker. That’s the only thing we agree about. He’s been ripping me every day since they got here. I should have listened to Alvin Dark (Cubs coach) when he told me in the spring of 1977 to trade him. I said, No. He’ll help us. I was wrong.”

Jose Cardenal is one of my favorite Cubs of the 1970’s. This was another great story that I hadn’t heard about before stumbling on this article. One Cardenal story that is widely known is when he missed a game due to his eyelid being stuck open.

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Cardenal was also the favorite player of Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder, who grew up watching him play in Vedder’s youth. He also appeared on stage with Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field in 2016.

Cardenal has some great Cubs baseball cards, most of which are in my collection. It begins with the 1973 Topps, one of my favorite Topps sets.

And 1974 Topps.

The 1975 Topps Cardenal.

In 1976, we start to see Cardenal on a few different releases other than the standard Topps card.

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Along with Topps he had a Crane disc. This is one of my favorites in my collection. Several years ago I purchased a lot of about 25 of these discs joining the others I already had.

And here is the 1977 Hostess. Cardenal was also on some Kellogg’s oddballs, and other Hostess issues.

One Cardenal card not in my collection, but has been added to my want list is a 2013 Topps Archives season ticket holder card. There are a few different sets out there that are season ticket holder giveaways, as well as an Archives set that was a Wrigley Field giveaway.

I wish I could have watched Cardenal play. I was fortunate to meet him at the Cubs Convention last year, and have a couple signed baseballs.