1971 Dell Todays Chicago Cubs

Sometimes the most interesting additions to my Cubs collection are the unusual items. This post describes one such item. Dell produced small booklets for the 1971 season for each MLB team. The booklets sold for $0.39 and could be ordered from Dell in sets of 6 with a binder.

Dell packed a lot of information into each booklet including a short team story, player stamps with a narrative on the back, a seperate page of individual player statistics, a page of all-time team stars and the 1971 schedule.

Many stamps from this series are included as requirements in PSA player Master sets. In the case of the Cubs - Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins have the 1971 Dell stamp as part of their PSA Master Set.

The Greatest Team That Didn’t Win – The 1969 Cubs

1969 is a memorable year. A man walked on the moon. The Vietnam War was consuming and dividing the nation. And the Cubs fielded arguably one of their best teams ever. Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ken Holtzman, Randy Hundley, Ron Santo and Don Kessinger were led by their unforgettable manager, Leo Durocher. The Cubs finished April 1969 in first place and held that position through August. Then they lost 8 in a row, dropped out of first place and finally lost the pennant to the “Miracle Mets”.

As difficult as it is to read about the 1969 season, this is a rich part of Chicago Cubs history. I have recently added two books about the 1969 Cubs to my collection.

The first book is “The Cubs of “69” by Rick Talley. Talley is a noted former sports columnist who contributed to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Today and the Los Angeles Daily News. This is a well written book containing stories and recollections about the 1969 Cubs.
The second book is called “Durocher’s Cubs – The Greatest Team That Didn’t Win” by David Claerbaut. Claerbaut is a lifelong Cubs fan who works as a consultant in Chicago. This book covers the 1967 through 1972 Cubs seasons with a focus on the 1969 season.
Both of these books are well written and would be enjoyed by nearly any baseball fan. Of course they are particularly interesting for a Cubs fan. Regardless of the outcome of the 1969 season, the stories about Ernie, Fergie, Billy, Ron and the others are great reading for the Cub fan.

1951 Bowman - 2 PSA Graded Cubs Cards

I have described my Cubs collection in earlier posts. One thing that I am including in this collection is graded cards from 1980 and earlier. I will typically pick these up from Ebay when the price is right or I will send raw cards to PSA for grading.

I have recently added two cards to start my 1951 Bowman graded set. In a post in late October, I showed a raw Smokey Burgess rookie card. The two PSA graded 1951 card are #103 - Andy Pafko and #139 - Doyle Lade.

Andy Pafko should be a familiar name for most collectors of my generation. He may be best known as a member of the 1957 Milwaukee Braves World Series Champions. Pafko started his career as a Cubs in 1943. He played for the Cubs from 1943 through 1951. Pafko was a five time All-Star for the Cubs and started the 1945 All Star game as the 3rd baseman. Pafko played for the Cubs, the Dodgers and the Braves during his career. He was released by the Braves after the end of the 1959 season. Pafko played a total of 1852 games while collecting 1,796 hits, 213 home runs and 976 RBI's. His career batting average was .285.

Doyle Lade is a lesser known name as he only played five seasons, all as a Cub. Lade was a pitcher for the Cubs from 1946 through 1950. He was on the pre-season 1951 roster but was cut in May of 1951 to reduce the Cubs roster to 25 players. In a total of 126 games for the Cubs, Lade had a record of 25 wins and 29 losses. His career ERA was 4.39. Lade's best season was 1947 when he won 11 and lost 10 with an ERA of 3.94.

1951 Bowman - Smokey Burgess

This post is linked to the previous post about the 1960 World Series. The Pirates catcher in 1960 was Forrest "Smokey" Burgess. As a kid collecting baseball cards I remember him as the catcher for the Reds. I clearly remember having his 1957 Topps baseball card like the one below.However until I started collecting Cubs team sets I did not realize that Burgess' rookie card was in 1951 and he was a Cub. The card pictured here is #317 in the 1951 Bowman set.Smokey played a total of 140 games as a Cubs in 1949 and 1951 before being traded to the Reds in October 1951. The Cubs got Johnny Pramesa and Bob Usher for Burgess and Bob Borkowski. Burgess was traded to the Phillies about two months later in a 7 player trade. Burgess returned to the Reds 1955.

October 13, 1960

Game 7 of the 1960 World Series gets my vote as the greatest World Series game of all time. The Pirates beat the Yankees with a score of 10 to 9. Bill Mazeroski hit the walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning that won the 1960 World Series.
I was a 7th grader at the time in north central Indiana. My two favorite MLB teams were the White Sox and whoever was playing the Yankees. So I was hoping like many that the over-matched Pirates could some how pull off a miracle……..and they did.

Was this the greatest game ever? Well, that will never be settled for sure. There are just too many great moments and game in World Series history to be able to pick just one. Of the games that I have personally watched or listened to, several could fall into the category of greatest.

For example, Game 6 of the 1975 World Series certainly is memorable. The battle between the Red Sox and the Reds was finally decided by that dramatic HR by Carlton Fisk.

Then, of course, there was Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. Kirby Puckett won that game with an 11th inning HR. The Twins beat the Braves 1-0 in game 6. This is often included because then in Game 7, Jack Morris threw a 10 inning shut-out to complete the Twins magical ride.

In 1956, Don Larsen tossed his perfect game. The 1962 Yankee win over the Giants (1-0) must be included as well as the 1924 extra inning Senator win over the Giants.

The purpose of this posting is not to generate any additional discussion of great World Series games but rather to present a book that I am currently reading. The Book is The Best Game Ever by Jim Reisler. This book focuses on the October 13, 1960 World Series game between the Pirates and the Yankees. The author proceeds inning by inning through this game presenting a play by play account along with historical perspectives on many of the player that were involved.

If you enjoy reading about the rich history of baseball, this book should be a part of your library. I found the book on the Barnes and Noble site as a used book for a very reasonable price. Throughout this posting, I have included scans on some of the memorabilia that I have collected specific to this game. I hope that you enjoy the scans and the book if you choose to read it.

1999 Topps - Sosa HR Parade

In 1998, nearly every baseball fan got caught up in the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Even though, this period in baseball has been tainted by alleged use of steriods and other performance enhancing drugs, it was a time when nearly everyone knew the status of the HR race.


In 1999, Topps included multiple variations of card #220 and #461. Card #220 featured 70 variations for each of McGwire's HR's and card #461 featured 66 variations of Sosa's 66 HR's. The front of the cards were the same except for the HR number. The back featured a description of each HR including date, location, pitcher and other interesting information.



To collect each different variation is a labor of love, but something that I am committed to completing for Sammy Sosa. Currently, I have 47 of the 66 different variations. Almost all variations are readily available but I don't want to pay $6.00 to $10.00 each. So I will continue to pick up individual cards from EBay, Beckett or Sprotslots as they become available at a reasonable price.

Home Run #66 is interesting to me. Sammy hit his 66th HR off of Jose Lima from Houston. In 2001, the Cubs and Sosa came to Detroit for three inter-league games. I was able to get tickets about four rows from the field along right field. Sammy was always a great ambassador for baseball. In Detroit as every where he went, he interacted with the fans. After he warmed up before each inning, he threw his warm-up ball into the stands. He was happy and just appeared to love to play the game of baseball. In this game, he hit 2 HR's off of Jose Lima, now a pitcher for the Tigers. Lima may have fooled most of the Cubs that day, but certainly not Sosa. Unfortunately for me the Cubs lost that game 9 to 6. Kerry Wood pitched but did not have a stellar game giving up 9 hits and 6 runs in six innings pitched. Sosa has 2 HR's, 4 RBI's and 2 walks.

The cards that I still need to complete this HR Parade sub-set are; 4, 9, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 29, 37, 38, 42, 43, 52, 53, 55 and 61.

Cubs Scorecard Collection

Not long ago, I received another Chicago Cubs scorecard to add to my collection. The newest member of my scorecard collection is from 1948. It is a bit wrinkled and worn, but will fit my needs just fine.
I have been picking up scorecards as the opportunity presents itself for the past year or so. The goal is to collect a Cubs scorecard from every year beginning in 1948 (my birth year) to present. Once these scorecards are framed, I am using them to make a border around my "Baseball" room. I have not done any investigation of the scorecards from other teams, but I can report that the Cubs scorecards up to 1981 have some very neat artwork on the front. The art changed each year (although some is repeated later). As you can see, it makes an interesting and unusual border. To date, I have collected about half of the scorecards that I am looking for. I am still looking for 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 1955 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1969, 1975, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

If you have an interest in Cubs scorecards there in a great site that has scans of scorecards back to the 1890's. plus other interesting Chicago Cubs information and scans. Check it out if you have the time. www.cubsbythenumbers.com.