The Cubs to me exemplify a nasty by-product of modern baseball, easy excuses for non-competitive teams. The Cubs are a large-market team that is capable of spending a lot of money on salary. Maybe they can't compete with the Yankees and the Dodgers at the top of the pyramid, but there is no reason they shouldn't be at the next level with the Red Sox, Rangers, and Mets. However, they are building their team in the same way a super small-market team like the Rays or A's have to. The Cubs should never say they won't be competitive for a couple more years until their top prospects are ready and their fans shouldn't accept that statement. Look at the Red Sox, they could have stayed at the bottom of the league for a few years and collected high draft picks, but they tried. They signed solid veterans to 3 year deals and turned it into a World Championship. Meanwhile the Cubs signed 16 year old kids that might help in 2021 or so. I understand why the Twins or Royals have to wait so long to rebuild, because they don't have the revenue, but for the Cubs to just sit back and wait is ridiculous. Anyway, let's go ahead and take a look at the second half of the 2013 Chicago Cubs.
My Top 5 Cubs Cards
1. Carlos Villanueva
2. Dave Sappelt
3. Julio Borbon
4. Dioner Navarro
5. Thomas Neal
How can you not love a card where the subject looks like he should be tying a screaming woman to a set of railroad tracks? Great 'stache. The one thing I love about Cubs cards is the presence of the Lake Michigan seagulls. The early season/pre-ivy Dave Sappelt here is no exception. Sliding into third base has recently become a somewhat classic shot. I'm surprised it was never done earlier. Third base was a lot easier for photographers to shoot even with non-digital cameras. Finally, the Navarro and the Neal bring to mind the old Wide World of Sports phrase, 'the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.' Here Navarro displays a nice thrill of victory while Neal unfortunately shows the other side of the coin.
Coming Monday - #22 San Diego Padres
Thanx for reading.
1 comment:
There can never be enough sea gull cards in this hobby. I'm quite fond of that Sappelt as a result.
I'm pretty sure that shot of Thomas Neal was taken from the game where he suffered a nasty dislocated shoulder that ended his season. I remember that moment well for some reason.
Post a Comment