Yesterday I posted a checklist and pics of the cards from the giveaway set that the Cubs sent to season ticket holders this year. They will also be giving out the cards (without the season ticket holder stamp) in groups of 20 at four separate games this season. I really can't say enough about strong of an effort this set is on the part of both Topps and the Cubs. It's really just an awesome set.
For today's post, I'm breaking down the set by player. Most of the prominent players from our history have multiple cards in the set, along with singles of several guys who haven't had a card recently. So without further ado, here is a breakdown of the players and their cards.
Sammy Sosa
I'm starting with Sammy Sosa because it dawned on me when I saw his cards that he hasn't had any new cards in quite some time. The last major issue cards for Sosa were from 1998. He's had a few 1/1 cards from Sportkings and In The Game over the last few years, but that's it. And I'm very happy to see him showcased on cardboard again. Out of the four cards Sosa has in this set, the 1965 Topps is clearly my favorite set design. His cards in this set are;
#10 - 1956 Design
#38 - 1965 Design
#72 - 1971 Design
#66 - 1977 Design
Ryne Sandberg
Sandberg gets to go second ahead of Ernie Banks simply because he has what is probably my favorite card in the entire set. Seeing Sandberg on a very well done card in a 1982 Topps design is just awesome. In today's baseball card world, we would have definitely seen this card produced as Ryno played a full season with the Cubs in 1982. Sandberg also appears on 1962, 1965, and 1972 designs, all strong design years for Topps.
#23 - 1962 Design
#45 - 1965 Design
#40 - 1972 Design
#68 - 1982 Design
Ernie Banks
Mr. Cub check in with the most cards out of anybody in the set with six. He leads off the set as card #1 with a 1954 designed card (not a reprint of his rookie card, though). He also appears on a 1977 designed card to commemorate the year he went into the Hall of Fame.
#1 - 1954 Design
#14 - 1977 Design
#20 - 1982 Design
#76 - 1984 Design
#49 - 1990 Design
#59 - 1996 Design
Billy Williams
The man with the sweet swing shows up four times in this set, all on post playing career designs. The one thing I notice when I put the Billy cards together is the photography, specifically how clearly you can see the stadium details in the background. This is actually a theme for all of the older players in the set, the photography is strong and the backgrounds are mostly clear and oftentimes interesting to see.
#46 - 1982 Design
#16 - 1987 Design
#71 - 1990 Design
#41 - 1996 Design
Fergie Jenkins
Fergie is featured three times in the set, and he gets a card from prior to his playing days with a 1954 Topps designed card. I love how crisp and detailed the photo is on the 1996 designed card.
#9 - 1954 Design
#77 - 1990 Design
#2 - 1996 Design
Ron Santo
Ron Santo only gets two cards in this set. Given some of the players still to come who have three or four, I think this is a bit of an injustice.
#3 - 1984 Design
#26 - 1990 Design
Starlin Castro
Time to switch gears and look at the current players that are featured in this set. Leading us off is our most marketable current star in Starlin Castro. He is featured on four different cards from the set, including a sweet looking 1987 designed card.
#18 - 1956 Design
#47 - 1962 Design
#6 - 1971 Design
#13 - 1987 Design
Jeff Samardzija
Next up is Jeff Samardzija. Did Topps have a premonition that we would be seeing a major breakout year from Samardzija? He is featured on four cards in the set, which is at least two more than I would have expected given his hobby standing before the season. But given his start to the season, Topps is looking very smart.
#29 - 1956 Design
#50 - 1965 Design
#11 - 1971 Design
#58 - 1982 Design
Anthony Rizzo
Counter balancing the plethora of Samardzija cards is a relative dearth of cards for Anthony Rizzo. He only gets two. I would have guessed the number of cards for Samardzija and Rizzo would have been flip-flopped. It would have been great to see Rizzo on a 1962 or 1987 designed card.
#44 - 1956 Design
#12 - 1984 Design
Darwin Barney
Barney is one of the more popular current Cubs, and Topps rewards him with two cards in this set. I have always liked the 1965 Topps design, but 1977 has always been one of my least favorite. So they kind of hit both ends of the spectrum here for me.
#15 - 1965 Design
#54 - 1977 Design
Alfonso Soriano
Last up among the current players is Alfonso Soriano. He only gets one cards, but it is a very nice looking card, based on the 1954 design. I love how the crisp photo really stands out on teh all white background.
#36 - 1954 Design
Future Stars
This is one of the more buzz-worthy cards from the entire set. The card features our three top prospects and our clear top three when it comes hobby buzz on a nice 1982 Future Stars designed card. Sweet card!
#81 - 1982 Design
Andre Dawson
Back to the all time greats with Andre Dawson. Dawson only got two cards here, and I don't really love the look of either of them. The 1954 cards would have looked better in an all white format in my opinion.
#19 - 1954 Design
#8 - 1971 Design
Mark Grace
Mark Grace nets three cards in the set. The portraits on the 1956 and 1964 designed cards show a very young looking Gracie. Again, the photos in this set are one of the things that make it great.
#51 - 1956 Design
#17 - 1964 Design
#30 - 1972 Design
Greg Maddux
As one of the greatest pitchers of all time, I can see why Maddux would warrant a high number of cards in the set. But given the fact that he only spent roughly half his career with us, I wouldn't have minded seeing a couple of these cards used on some rarely seen guys.
#74 - 1954 Design
#28 - 1963 Design
#31 - 1971 Design
#79 - 1972 Design
Kerry Wood
Wood is one of my favorite Cubs of all time, so I am definitely happy to see him on a couple of cards here. Similar to Darwin Barney, one of the cards is on a great design (1962), while the other on a non so great design (1977). The photo from Opening Day 2011 on the 1962 card is sweet. This photo was also used on his 2011 Topps Update card.
#34 - 1962 Design
#25 - 1977 Design
Bruce Sutter
Here's another guy who I would have liked to have seen donate one of his spots to an extra card for a rarely seen player. Nothing against Sutter, but the Cubs were less prominent in his career than some other places he played.
#75 - 1956 Design
#61 - 1961 Design
#42 - 1963 Design
Rick Sutcliffe
This is a guy we haven't seen on cardboard in quite some time. Welcome back to the Red Baron! Seeing guys like this make an appearance is one of the things that makes this set special.
#37 - 1956 Design
#53 - 1962 Design
#80 - 1971 Design
Glenn Beckert
The second base half of our Keystone combo from the 1960s makes an appearance on a couple of 1980s designed cards.
#24 - 1984 Design
#52 - 1987 Design
Don Kessinger
And here's the shortstop half of our double play combo of the 1960s on a couple of cards of his own. Similar to Sandberg, Kessinger gets a 'fantasy' rookie card with a 1965 designed card. He played most of the 1965 season with the Cubs, but didn't make his debut on cardboard until the 1966 Topps set.
#4 - 1965 Design
#35 - 1990 Design
One Card Appearances
For all of the guys making a single card appearance in the set, I'm going to make one big tile. But these are the guys that help make this set awesome. Welcome back, Keith Moreland! It's great to see you again, Jose Cardenal (one of my favorite old time Cubs). Larry Bowa, you almost make me feel like it's 1984 again! These are all classic Cubs, the only guy who I scratched my head a little bit on was Jon Lieber. Not that I have anything against him, but I'm guessing that not many Cubs fans would place him in the same level of Cubs memories as the rest of the guys here. And I think Lee Smith might have deserved a second card.
#56 Hank Sauer - 1954 Design
#78 Gene Baker - 1954 Design
#57 Rick Monday - 1956 Design
#22 Aramis Ramirez - 1961 Design
#43 Dennis Eckersley - 1961 Design
#69 Larry Bowa - 1961 Design
#32 Jon Lieber - 1962 Design
#62 Lee Smith - 1963 Design
#67 Ivan DeJesus - 1963 Design
#27 Steve Stone - 1964 Design
#65 Scott Sanderson - 1964 Design
#73 Keith Moreland - 1964 Design
#63 Ken Holtzman - 1965 Design
#64 Jerome Walton - 1971 Design
#48 Rick Reuschel - 1972 Design
#60 Jose Cardenal - 1972 Design
#82 Steve Trachsel - 1972 Design
#39 Bill Buckner - 1977 Design
#33 Randy Hundley - 1982 Design
#70 Milt Pappas - 1987 Design
#55 Andy Pafko - 1990 Design
#5 Shawon Dunston - 1996 Design
#7 Bobby Murcer - 1996 Design
#21 Dave Kingman - 1996 Design
