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

     The cards were staggared on the page so the fronts and backs alternated from the left to right side with each row.  For example, Don Zimmer was in the first row, so his photo is on the left and bio on the right.  Lee Smith was in the fourth row and his bio is on the left and photo on the right.

Here is the checklist. The dates are linked to the pages in the Chicago Tribune Archives.

5 September - Ron Cey, Gary Woods, Rick Reuschel, Steve Lake, Henry Cotto, Gary Matthews, Warren Brusstar

7 September - Don Zimmer (coach), Scott Sanderson, Rich Bordi, Thad Bosley, Richie Hebner, Ryne Sandberg, Dick Ruthven, Lee Smith

13 September - Jody Davis, Lary Bowa, Keith Moreland, Ruben Amaro (coach), Bob Dernier, John Vukovich (coach), Tom Veryzer, Ron Hassey

19 September - Davey Lopes, Jim Frey (manager), Leon Durham, Dan Rohn, Rick Sutcliffe, Billy Conners (coach), George Frazier, Dennis Eckersley

2 October - Tim Stoddard, Steve Trout, Johnny Oates (coach), Dave Owen