Hobby Archaeology: 1994 Chicago Tribune Cubs Scrapbook

    After a decade, the Chicago Tribune brought back their Cubs Scrapbook feature for the 1994 season.  As with the 1984 series, these were presented in full color, but this time came four to page.   As with the White Sox set, no real announcement was made beyond the bit to the right that was on the first page pf the sports section the day following the end of the Sox set.  Oddly, it says the "first of eight" even though there were 32 "posters" printed in the series.  The set ran from April 19th - May 2nd.

Hobby Archaeology: 1994 Chicago Tribune Sox Scrapbook

     After a decade, the Chicago Tribune brought back their Scrapbook feature for the 1994 season, and actually ran scrapbooks for three of the city's five professional teams, the Bulls, Cubs and White Sox. The Sox series began with very little fanfare.  No announcement was made in the preceding days, so the first mention is on the top of page one of the April 5th sports section.

As with the 1984 series, these were presented in full color, but this time came four to page, on the back page of the sports section.  Unlike previous years, these weren't explicitly printed with clipping in mind, as they had no dotted lines or distinct borders.

The set ran from April 5th - 18th. 

Here is the checklist:

5 April - Jack McDowell, Roberto Hernandez, Ron Karkovice, Darrin Jackson

6 April - Ozzie Guillen, Alex Fernandez, Joey Cora, Lance Johnson

7 April - Tim Raines, Julio Franco, Kirk McCaskill, Wilson Alvarez

11 April - Robin Ventura, Jason Bere, Paul Assenmacher, Mike LaValliere

12 April - Frank Thomas, Dan Pasqua, Craig Grebek, Scott Sanderson

13 April - Joe Hall, Dennis Cook, Gene Lamont (manager), Joe Nossek (coach)

14 April - Jose DeLeon, Scott Ruffcorn, Jackie Brown (coach), Doug Masolino (coach)

18 April - Warren Newson, Steve Sax, Tom Bevington (coach), Walt Hriniak (coach)

I couldn't find a color image, so here is an example page from Newspapers.com.

April 7 White Sox Scrapbook page

1992 Liga Mexicana de Béisbol (Mexican League) Estampas de Fotos Checklist

      I have been in contact with the gentleman who started the fledgling blog 1992 Mexican Leauge Baseball Cards.  He posted a link to some photos of cards and unopened boxes he still has from the set.  In my previous post about this set, I posted close-up scans of the logos on the backs of the cards:

     From my email conversation of past weeks, TCI means Trading Cards International, Inc., the short-lived company from Lockport, Louisiana, who most likely designed the set.  EDM stands for Estampas Deportivas de Mexico SA de CV (possibly the actual printers of the cards) and the back of the box reads Lomeli Trade Center SA de CV Guadalajara Jalisco (the import/export company that distributed the set).  Apparently he was friends with someone who knew someone that worked for TCI, and helped distribute the cards around the Mission, Texas/Reynosa area, and also recalls the cards being heavily distributed in Monterrey and Guadalajara.

        He also sent me about a dozen cards I didn't have, so I have been able to expand the checklist a bit.  This is only 121 cards now, of a total 150, so I've asked if he wouldn't mind filling in the gaps so this set can get the recognition it deserves in the hobby as the first major modern Mexican League set.   All sixteen Mexican League teams from the 1992 season are accounted for in the checklist so far.

      In keeping with all of the other checklist posts on the blog, I have reformatted this post to highlight the gaps in the checklist in hopes that someone might be willing to help fill them.

Card #	Player Name	Team
1	Rafael Castañeda	Tigres Capitalinos
2	Marco Antonio Romero	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
3	Francisco Javier Arce	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
4	Luis Alberto Peña	Industriales de Monterrey
5	Ricardo Osuna	Cafeteros de Córdoba
6	Gregory Smith	Saraperos de Saltillo
7	Jesus Abrego	Leones de Yucatan
8	Miguel Hernandez	Sultanes de Monterrey
9	Manuel Cazarin	Petroleros de Minatitlán
10	Raul Martinez	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
11	Marco Antonio Guzman	Piratas de Campeche
12	Manuel Bocardo	Acereros de Monclova
13	Eliseo Garzon	Olmecas de Tabasco
14	Aurelio Cantañeda	Charros de Jalisco
15	Armando Sanchez	Riablos Rojos del Mexico
16	Braulio Neri	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
17	Pablo Machiria	Tigres de México
18	Alejandro Ortiz	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
19	Florentino Morales	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
20	Alfonso (Alonso) Tellez	Industriales de Monterrey
21	Ruben Navarro	Cafeteros de Córdoba
22	Armando Valenzuela	Sultanes de Monterrey
23	Martin Antunez	Leones de Yucatán
24	Alejandro Carza	Sultanes de Monterrey
25	Terry Blocker	Petroleros de Minatitlán
26	Ricardo Rincon	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
27	Roy Johnson	Piratas de Campeche
28	Leo Valenzuela	Acereros de Monclova
29	Lorenzo Retes	Olmecas de Tabasco
30	Manuel Samaniego	Charros de Jalisco
31	Jose Luis Sandoval	Diablos Rojos del Mexico
32	Chris Knabenshue	Rieleros de Aguascalientes
33	Adulfo Camacho	Tigres Capitalinos
34	Luis Fernando Diaz	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
35	Carlos Gastelum	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
36	Armando Valdez	Industriales de Monterrey
37	Emigdio Lopez	Cafeteros de Córdoba
38	Eduardo Torres	Saraperos de Saltillo
39	Mercedes Esquer	Leones de Yucatan
40	Francisco Rodriguez	Sultanes de Monterrey
41	Horacio Valenzuela	Petroleros de Minatitlán
42	Dave Stockstill	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
43	Hediberto Vargas	Piratas de Campeche
44	Roberto Osuna	Acereros de Monclova
45	Jose Julian Quiroz	Olmecas de Tabasco
46	Fernando Valenzuela	Charros de Jalisco
47	Hector Estrada	Diablos Rojos del México
48	Salvador Lopez	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
49	Hector Alvarez	Tigres Capitalinos
50	Luis Trinidad Castillo	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
51	Raul Lopez	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
52	Roberto Herrera	Industriales de Monterrey
53	Lazaro Tiquet	Cafeteros de Córdoba
54	Alfonso Pulido	Sultanes de Monterrey
55	Cornelio Garcia	Leones de Yucatan
56	Jaime Orozco	Sultanes de Monterrey
57	Eddie Castro	Petroleros de Minatitlán
58	Luis Alfonso Cruz	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
59	Alejandro Gomez	Piratas de Campeche
60	Isidro Morales	Acereros de Monclova
61	Jesus Antonio Barrera	Olmecas de Tabasco
62	Luis de los Santos	Charros de Jalisco
63	Vicente Verdugo	Diablos Rojos del México
64	Ali Uzcanga	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
65	Donald Heinkel	Piratas de Campeche
66	Gerardo Sanchez	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
67	David Dominguez	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
68	Roberto Vizcarra	Industriales de Monterrey
69	Francisco Cervera	Cafeteros de Cordoba
70	Amado Peralta	Saraperos de Saltillo
71	Francisco Montaño	Leones de Yucatan
72	Antonio Aguilera	Sultanes de Monterrey
73	Miguel Angel Castelan	Leones de Yucatan
74	Jose Angel Villegas	Leones de Yucatan
75	Nelson Barrera	Piratas de Campeche
76	Guadalupe Leal	Acereros de Monclova
77	Manuel Baca	Olmecas de Tabasco
78	Jesus Sommers	Charros de Jalisco
79	Daniel Fernandez	Diablos Rojos del México
80	Enrique Aguilar	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
81	Barbaro Garbey	Tigres Capitalinos
82	Pedró Mere	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
83	Andres Gutierrez	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
84	Isaac Jiminez	Industriales de Monterrey
85	Ricardo Herrera	Charros de Jalisco
86	Alejandro Sanchez	Acereros de Monclova
87	Baltazar Valdez	Leones de Yucatan
88	German Rivera	Sultanes de Monterrey
89	Luis de Leon	Petroleros de Minatitlán
90	Hector Alvarez	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
91	Felipe Gutierrez Delfin	Piratas de Campeche
92	Rodolfo Valdes	Acereros de Monclova
93	Andres Sanchez	Olmecas de Tabasco
94	Lauro Cervantez	Charros de Jalisco
95	Luis F. Martinez	Diablos Rojos del Mexico
96	Larry See	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
97	Eric Mahdi	Tigres Capitalinos
98	Ernesto Barraza	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
99	Carlos Miguel Garcia	Alacranes de Campeche
100	Scott Medvin	Industriales de Monterrey
101	Andy Araujo	Cafeteros de Cordoba
102	Avelino Barron	Saraperos de Saltillo
103	Fernando Villaescusa	Leones de Yucatan
104	Orlando Sanchez	Saraperos de Saltillo
105	Fernando Soto	Petroleros de Minatitlán
106	David Sinohui	Petroleros de Minatitlán
107	Isidro Herrera	Piratas de Campeche
108	Martin Garcia	Acereros de Monclova
109	Geraldo Beltran	Olmecas de Tabasco
110	Urbano Lugo	Charros de Jalisco
111	Salome Barojas	Diablos Rojos del México
112	German Jiminez	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
113	Wilfredo Tejada	Tigres Capitalinos
114	Ruben Estrada	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
115	Miguel Munoz	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
116	Porfirio Ochoa	Industriales de Monterrey
117	Abraham Macias	Cafeteros de Córdoba
118	Jesus Moreno	Saraperos de Saltillo
119	Juan Jose Pacho	Leones de Yucatán
120	Nick Castaneda	Sultanes de Monterrey
121	Marco Antonio Rubio	Petroleros de Minatitlan
122	Ramon Esquer	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
123	Herminio Dominguez	Alacranes de Campeche
124	Mario Alberto Cosio	Acereros de Monclova
125	Martin Morones	Olmecas de Tabasco
126	Ricardo Almodobar	Charros de Jalisco
127	Leobardo Moreno	Diablos Rojos del México
128	Juan Manuel Garcia	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
129	Matias Carrillo	Tigres Capitalinos
130	Enrique Ramirez	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
131	Matt Stark	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
132	Homar Rojas	Industriales de Monterrey
133	David Villagomez	Cafeteros de Córdoba
134	Raul Rodriguez	Saraperos de Saltillo
135	Jose J. Bellazetin	Tigres de México
136	Leo Perez	Sultanes de Monterrey
137	Francisco Estrada	Petroleros de Minatitlan
138	Jesus Valdez	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
139	Luis E. Huerta	Alacranes de Campeche
140	Raul Perez Tovar	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
141	Rusty Tillman	Olmecas de Tabasco
142	Ricardo Renteria	Charros de Jalisco
143	Francisco Melendez	Diablos Rojos del Mexico
144	Jose Luis Valenzuela	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
145	Gerardo Gutierrez	Tigres Capitalinos
146	Marco Antonio Cruz	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
147	Ramon Sambo	Aguila de Veracruz
148	Ramon Abril	Industriales de Monterrey
149	Gerardo Garza	Industriales de Monterrey
150	Hector Osuna	Saraperos de Saltillo

As usual, thanks to Arturo for helping fill in the gaps in the checklist from his collection.

---- UPDATE - 1 April 2026 -----

Thanks to some new cards to surface on eBay, as well as a helpful collector on TCDB.com, I've been able to add another 20 names to the checklist.  Since beginning tracking this set, we've gone from 46 cards identified to 122!

There are currently a couple of complete boxes listed on eBay, for not a small price.  Apparently collation is extremely poor in the packs, and while the collector in question opened a whole box, he didn't get very close to a full set, but did report seeing a Fernando Valenzuela listing somewhere.

---- UPDATE - 1 April 2026 -----

Thanks to Von Spalding, the checklist is now complete here and at TCDB.

2023-2026 San Francisco Giants Fan Fest photo cards

     It has been a few years, but the Giants have produced a new series of black & white photo cards for their yearly Fan Fest events.  This design showed up in 2023 and continued through 2025.  Looks like these may be standard 2.5" x 3.5", rather than the taller format from previous years.  Still blank backed, they feature a fairly modern design with a hint of the previous years elements.

So far, I've only spotted the following:

Hayden Birdsong
Alex Cobb
Michael Conforto
Camilo Doval
Thairo Estrada
Jordan Hicks
Luke Jackson
Bryce Johnson
J.P. Martinez
Randy Rodriguez
Sergio Romo
Landen Roupp
Taira Uematsu CO
David Villar
Ryan Walker
Matt Williams

1990 & 1991 California Angels Photomation

1990

1991

     I'm just posting these here to document their existence.  I'm not sure how they were distributed, whether through the mail in response to fan mail, or as stadium or event giveaways.  In any case, in 1990 & 1991 the California Angels issued these series of 4"x8" black & white glossy photos, sponsored by Photomation Photo Lab in Anaheim.  Each photo features a facsimile autograph, as well as the players' uniform number, name and position.  Not sure exactly how many there were, but these are what I have seen on eBay:

1990

Scott Bailes
Pete Coachman
Mark Eichhorn
Mark Langston
Scott Lewis

1991

Jim Abbott
Chuck Finley
Gary Gaetti
Wally Joyner
Dave Parker
Lance Parrish
Jimmie Reese
Dave Winfield

There was an earlier set issued in color, but without the facscimile autographs.  Haven't nailed down the year (guessing 1988 due to the inclusion of Donnie Moore), but here are the photos I've seen:

Tony Armas
Stewart Cliburn
Joe Coleman
Sherman Corbett
Chili Davis
Brian Downing
Chuck Finley
Willie Fraser
Bryan Harvey
Jack Howell
Wally Joyner
Bobby Knoop
Marcel Lachmann
Kirk McCaskill
Mark McLemore
Donnie Moore
Johnny Ray

Dick Schofield
Moose Stubing
Mike Witt

More Tucson Jones Photo Fun! (1996 Toros)

Recently, a Tucson-based eBay seller of all kinds of random items posted a large lot of Tucson Sidewinders memorabilia.  The lot consisted of several programs (mostly with at least one player autograph within), a 1999 MultiAd Sidewinders team set, but also an assortment of the Jones Photo "Player Cards".  The photos were mostly obscured, and while I could make out several players that I'd seen before, there were just so many I had to grab it to see who might be lurking under that pile.

The pile of stuff was sent priority, so it was here in two days, and after it was on its way, the seller told me they'd found some other Tucson Toros items and threw those in.  So I'll start with those gems.

I'd seen that Jones Photo had issued some larger player photos, sold in white "Collector's Edition" holders, and I lucked out and received this beauty:

Jones Photo issued these 5"x7" Collector's Edition photos across a few years.  Not always the most obvious players, either (Ed Vosberg in 1990?).  I don't think they issued these for every player, given I've only found a few over the years.  I have to assume they were sold at the souvenir shop at the ballpark.

The other group of Toros items were two envelopes of six photos from 1996, and these also included a little insert that gave the dates of all the photo giveaways.  

These were particularly welcome as I had found evidence of the 1996 set, but had never seen any reference to actual players.  The photos were still in the envelope, along with the note about the photo night dates, but curiously there were 6 photos per envelope, ratiher than 5.  

As there were 6 giveaway nights, I'm not sure if that means there are actually 36 photos.  That would be the most of any of these sets.  The checklist so far:

Eric Bell
Jay Davis
Jerry Goff
Michael Groppuso
John Johnstone
Doug Mlicki
Eddie Pye
Ken Ramos
Tim Tolman
Charley Taylor
Billy Wagner
Donnie Wall

As usual, there is a smattering of silly photos mixed in with the usual standing around poses.