Sports Card Tour 2018 - Chicago (part 2)

This is part 2 of my weekend "tour" through Chicago. In part 1, I discussed the Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks. Today, we're celebrating St. Patrick's Day with the Cubs and White Sox.

Both of Chicago's baseball teams have had historically long title droughts. The White Sox last won a World Series in 2005, while those "lovable losers" the Cubs haven't won since Barack Obama was president. Get it together, guys!

In the early days of baseball (when teams traveled by train) many cities had an American League team and a National League team. Boston had the Red Sox and Braves. Philadelphia had the Athletics and Phillies. St. Louis had the Browns and Cardinals. New York had the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants. But the only city that never lost either of its ballclubs is the Windy City.

Not that there weren't a couple close calls, mind you. Comiskey Park had survived the Black Sox scandal and Disco Demolition Night, but the White Sox were long overdue for a new stadium and finally got one in 1991. Upper Deck did a great job of chronicling the move:

Unfortunately neither of these cards are actually mine (images courtesy of TCDB) I might have a sealed factory set somewhere, but I"m pretty sure I only have 1989 and 1990 UD.

A lot of my higher-end White Sox come from the Comiskey era - and a lot of them are graded (sorry..not sorry)

The '58 Sherm Lollar was one of a bunch I purchased ungraded on COMC then submitted to PSA (I also sent in a '56 Lollar that came back an EX 5) I bought the Peters and a '68 Tigers card for my father in law's set build in a COMC best offer. Then I went back and got a '68 Dodger. 

I also got this Minnie Minoso on COMC, for about $8.50. When I was about 12 years old my "frenemy" managed to get his hands on a 1952 Topps Minoso, which listed him as Orestes. Naturally the blockhead bragged about his "Otis Minoso" card. It was pretty beat up, but I have to admit I was impressed that a 15 year old owned a '52 Topps card of a near-HOFer.

Here's another underrated White Sox star from the 1950's. I promised CommishBob I'd show off my Billy Pierce collection. Prepare to be amazed, Bob!

 

Boom. Mic drop. Lol.


When I was a young collector, the kids in my neighborhood thought of the Frank Thomas Leaf rookie the way we think of the 1990 Topps No Name On Front error: there was no way any of us could afford it, and it was amazing just to be in the presence of it.

I forgot all about that when I bought this gem during a COMC Black Friday sale; I was just hunting for Hall of Famer rookie cards. (I'll get to Sammy in a minute.)

My favorite Big Hurt inserts - and other pale hose hits. 1993 Donruss Diamond Kings and Score Franchise were so much fun to pull. I bought boxes of that stuff - more than Topps and UD (although I bought a lot of everything in '93.)

These guys wore both White and Red Sox (Moncada I mean, not Carson Fulmer)

So did Carlton Fisk. The Abreu relic was from my 5-box break of 2017 Topps Heritage. I also have a Tim Anderson Stadium Club auto incoming from Mike Matson. [edit: it got here today.]

I must admit I was a huge Sammy Sosa fan back in the day. I was already a fan before the Home Run race, mostly because I thought he had 40/40 potential. When he caught fire in the summer of '98 it was a lot easier (but more expensive) to collect his stuff. I probably had 200+ Sosa cards and a half dozen action figures at one point - plus an autographed 8 x 10 photo I got as a gift.

It's a shame what's happened to "Slammin' Sammy" since then: the corked bat, the way he walked out on his team at the end of the 2004 season, and that pathetic performance before the US Congress. I'm not going to kill the guy for declining to speak English - but when his statement read "I've never broken the laws of the US or the DR, or the rules of baseball" I knew what he was really saying.

I was already downsizing my Sosa collection when he made a comeback with the Orioles and Rangers. Now it's probably half of what it was, and most of my relics have been sold or traded. These are two of my favorite remaining relics, especially the Fleer Jersey rack..

 ..which is numbered to Sosa's number (eBay 1 of 1!)

I also collected Kerry Wood and Mark Prior at the time, but a lot of those cards are gone, too. Some of them were recently shipped to P-Town Tom, who sent me a nice stack of '63 Topps and Red Sox (and '63 Topps Red Sox.) I also sent a bunch of Chicago cards to Tony Burbs last September.

Those old Cubs collections have been replaced by a new PC, Kris Bryant:

I have about 30 Kris Bryant cards - though a third of them are 2014 Bowman 'paper' Top Prospects. The best Bryant card I have might be the best card in my collection, period:

I spent my Christmas bonus on this card in 2014, then submitted it to BGS after he made his big league debut. Unlike the Mike Trout and Aaron Judge cards, I actually held on to this one. 

No Cubs collection would be complete without Mr. Cub, the legendary Ernie Banks:

I don't think I've ever seen a boring Banks card, whether it's a new 'classic' or an original.

This is why I love 1968 Topps. Some of the hatless cards are awful, but when Topps put some effort into it they produced fantastic photos. I'd always wanted a '68 Banks, almost since childhood, and finally bought one on eBay shortly after his passing. The '56 is one of a handful of HOFers in my set build.

Here's one more look at that glorious 1956 design - with a modern twist:

I'm thrilled that the Cubs finally broke their title drought and won a World Series, and I'm happy that the north siders have a pair of superstar corner infielders to build around.. but the Boston fan in me curses the day my Sox traded a young Anthony Rizzo to the Padres.


Cubs card I'd like to own: The Kris Bryant SP from 2017 Topps Heritage is one of my ten most wanted cards.

White Sox card I'd like to own: Any card from the 1970's that shows a player wearing a red White Sox jersey, collared shirts and/or shorts, or any other zany Bill Veeck idea. (if there's card depicting Disco Demolition Night, I want it.)

Favorite Cubs player: Bryant

Favorite White Sox player: Yoan Moncada

Next tour stop: We're hitting Ohio all next week, starting in Cincinnati.

Thanks for reading this. I hope you all have a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day. Here's a lovely lass for ya:

What's that...Karen Gillan is Scottish? Close enough, right? Collecting Cutch, I need a ruling here. :-)


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