20 January 2016

Hobby Archaeology: 1983 Chicago Tribune White Sox Scrapbook

     1983 saw the Chicago Tribune issue another scrapbook series, this time for the White Sox.  The set was announced on page 17 of the September 11th Sports section, opposite a big article on hot hitting Sox rookie Ron Kittle.  Taking up the whole of the Focus page, the last page of the Sports section on weekdays, these scrapbook "cards" were large at three to a page.  At least for the first six installments, after which they were issued one per page on no apparent fixed schedule.  The set ran from 13 September to 1 October.

     Each entry included a fairly full biographical profile, abbreviated statistics through the previous day's game, a head shot and an action shot.


17 January 2016

Hobby Archaeology: 1984 Chicago Tribune Cubs Scrapbook


     In 1984, the Chicago Tribune produced yet another series of "cards" for the Cubs.  The set was announced on the front page of the September 5th issue, to appear "intermittently" on the Focus page, which was the last page of the Sports section. This time around, rather than stringing them out one or two players per issue, they issued the set in full pages spread across five seemingly random issues from September 5th to 2 October, as the Cubs were making their push toward the post-season.

     The other big change with this issue is that the cards were presented in full color, and designed in a way such that the cut-out card can be folded in half to create a "card" with a front and a back.  The set introduction recommends folding the cut-outs around a piece of heavy paper or cardboard and gluing it in place to make them more card-like.

Image from Collecting Zim

03 January 2016

Washington Nationals Inside Pitch Program Cards

     In these days of exclusive licensing deals, the "oddball" card has become something of an endangered species.  Gone are the sets issued with food products or the small boxed sets from drug stores and discount retailers.  About all we have left in the way of oddballs are the occasional sets issued by the teams themselves.   The Washington Nationals were one such team.

     From 2009 to 2014, the Nationals issued a pair of cards bound into their Inside Pitch game programs.  For each of those six seasons, the Nationals issued twelve programs resulting in a total of 24 cards each year.  Given that 2009 is Volume 2, I would not at all be surprised to learn that cards were issued in 2008's Volume 1, but so far I have found no evidence.  Also, in 2009, it seems the cards may have been inserted randomly and not sequentially as in later years.  As a result, I am not 100% confident in the numbering below.

     Someone asked about a few of these cards over on SportsCardForum.com and, as I started researching, I was surprised to find no other blog had covered these cards.  To fix that, I'm going to post what I found here and enlist the rest of you to help fill in the gaps.   If you can help out with additions or corrections, please drop me a line in the comments.

2009
© Nats320

Number Name Issue*
1Elijah Dukes Vol. 2, #1
2 Ronnie Belliard Vol. 2, #1
3 Willie Harris Vol. 2, #2
4 Ryan Zimmerman Vol. 2, #2
5 Anderson Hernandez Vol. 2, #3
6 Cristian Guzman Vol. 2, #3
7 Austin Kearns Vol. 2, #4
8 Ronnie Belliard Vol. 2, #4
9 Jose Flores Vol. 2, #5
10 John Lannan Vol. 2, #5
11 Joel Hanrahan Vol. 2, #6
12 Saul Rivera Vol. 2, #6
13 Adam Dunn Vol. 2, #7
14 Tyler Clippard Vol. 2, #7
15 Josh Willingham Vol. 2, #8
16 Sean Burnett Vol. 2, #8
17 Nyger Morgan Vol. 2, #9
18 Josh Bard Vol. 2, #9
19 Wil Nieves Vol. 2, #10
20 Mike MacDougal Vol. 2, #10
21
Vol. 2, #11
22
Vol. 2, #11
23
Vol. 2, #12
24
Vol. 2, #12
*I'm not entirely sure the card pairings to issue numbers were consistent in the first year.  It is entirely possible the set was released jumbled throughout the year, rather than sequentially.

2010
© Nats320

Number Name Issue
1 John Lannan Vol. 3, #1
2 Ivan Rodriguez Vol. 3, #1
3 Adam Dunn Vol. 3, #2
4 Ryan Zimmerman Vol. 3, #2
5 Tyler Clippard Vol. 3, #3
6 Willie Harris Vol. 3, #3
7 Livan Hernandez Vol. 3, #4
8 Tyler Moore Vol. 3, #4
9 Stephen Strasburg Vol. 3, #5
10 Drew Storen Vol. 3, #5
11 Ian Desmond Vol. 3, #6
12 Cristian Guzman Vol. 3, #6
13 Matt Capps Vol. 3, #7
14 Nyjer Morgan Vol. 3, #7
15 Roger Bernadina Vol. 3, #8
16 Michael Morse Vol. 3, #8
17 Wil Nieves Vol. 3, #9
18 Miguel Batista Vol. 3, #9
19 Drew Storen Vol. 3, #10
20 Ian Desmond Vol. 3, #10
21 Roger Bernadina Vol. 3, #11
22 Stephen Strasburg Vol. 3, #11
23 Danny Espinosa Vol. 3, #12
24 Wilson Ramos Vol. 3, #12

2011
2011 New Era Inside Pitch Washington Nationals #3 - Wilson Ramos - Courtesy of COMC.com
2011 New Era Inside Pitch Washington Nationals #3 - Wilson Ramos

Number Name Issue
1 Livan Hernandez Vol. 4, #1
2 Ivan Rodriguez Vol. 4, #1
3 Ian Desmond Vol. 4, #2
4 Jayson Werth Vol. 4, #2
5 Adam LaRoche Vol. 4, #3
6 Ryan Zimmerman Vol. 4, #3
7 Rick Ankiel Vol. 4, #4
8 Drew Storen Vol. 4, #4
9 Laynce Nix Vol. 4, #5
10 Tom Gorzelanny Vol. 4, #5
11 Jerry Hairston Vol. 4, #6
12 Todd Coffey Vol. 4, #6
13 Michael Morse Vol. 4, #7
14 Jason Marquis Vol. 4, #7
15 Ryan Zimmerman Vol. 4, #8
16 Danny Espinosa Vol. 4, #8
17 Wilson Ramos Vol. 4, #9
18 Tyler Clippard Vol. 4, #9
19 Alex Cora Vol. 4, #10
20 John Lannan Vol. 4, #10
21 Jesus Flores Vol. 4, #11
22 Stephen Strasburg Vol. 4, #11
23 Chris Marrero Vol. 4, #12
24 Tom Milone Vol. 4, #12

2012


Number Name Issue
1 Stephen Strasburg Vol. 5, #1
2 Ryan Zimmerman Vol. 5, #1
3 Brad Lidge Vol. 5, #2
4 Adam LaRoche Vol. 5, #2
5 Jesus Flores Vol. 5, #3
6 Ian Desmond Vol. 5, #3
7 Bryce Harper Vol. 5, #4
8 Tyler Moore Vol. 5, #4
9 Craig Stammen Vol. 5, #5
10 Michael Morse Vol. 5, #5
11 Ross Detwiler Vol. 5, #6
12 Steve Lombardozzi Vol. 5, #6
13 Gio Gonzalez Vol. 5, #7
14 Jhonatan Solano Vol. 5, #7
15 Sean Burnett Vol. 5, #8
16 Roger Bernadina Vol. 5, #8
17 Edwin Jackson Vol. 5, #9
18 Drew Storen Vol. 5, #9
19 Ryan Matheus Vol. 5, #10
20 Jayson Werth Vol. 5, #10
21 Danny Espinosa Vol. 5, #11
22 Kurt Suzuki Vol. 5, #11
23 Tyler Clippard Vol. 5, #12
24 Jordan Zimmerman Vol. 5, #12

2013


Number Name Issue
1 Davey Johnson Vol. 6, #1
2 Danny Espinosa Vol. 6, #1
3 Ian Desmond Vol. 6, #2
4 Chad Tracy Vol. 6, #2
5 Jayson Werth Vol. 6, #3
6 Ross Detwiler Vol. 6, #3
7 Stephen Strasburg Vol. 6, #4
8 Rafael Soriano Vol. 6, #4
9 Jordan Zimmerman Vol. 6, #5
10 Kurt Suzuki Vol. 6, #5
11 Ryan Zimmerman Vol. 6, #6
12 Craig Stammen Vol. 6, #6
13 Bryce Harper Vol. 6, #7
14 Tyler Clippard Vol. 6, #7
15 Jordan Zimmerman Vol. 6, #8
16 Kurt Suzuki Vol. 6, #8
17 Gio Gonzalez Vol. 6, #9
18 Roger Bernadina Vol. 6, #9
19 Anthony Rendon Vol. 6, #10
20 Wilson Ramos Vol. 6, #10
21 Ryan Zimmerman Vol. 6, #11
22 Ian Krol Vol. 6, #11
23 Dan Haren Vol. 6, #12
24 Drew Storen Vol. 6, #12

2014


Number Name Issue
1 Matt Williams Vol. 7, #1
2 Tyler Clippard Vol. 7, #1
3 Bryce Harper Vol. 7, #2
4 Ross Detwiler Vol. 7, #2
5 Adam LaRoche Vol. 7, #3
6 Taylor Jordan Vol. 7, #3
7 Anthony Rendon Vol. 7, #4
8 Tanner Roark Vol. 7, #4
9 Rafael Soriano Vol. 7, #5
10 Drew Storen Vol. 7, #5
11 Jordan Zimmerman Vol. 7, #6
12 Kevin Frandsen Vol. 7, #6
13 Jayson Werth Vol. 7, #7
14 Danny Espinosa Vol. 7, #7
15 Denard Span Vol. 7, #8
16 Jose Lobaton Vol. 7, #8
17 Ryan Zimmerman Vol. 7, #9
18 Jerry Blevins Vol. 7, #9
19 Stephen Strasburg Vol. 7, #10
20 Racing Presidents Vol. 7, #10
21 Wilson Ramos Vol. 7, #11
22 Gio Gonzalez Vol. 7, #11
23 Doug Fister Vol. 7, #12
24 Ian Desmond Vol. 7, #12