the opinions expressed here...

are strictly those of one weird guy

but, perusing the 19.3 and 19.4 election results my impression was somewhere around 30% players with multiple cards already

my thought was that after there are cards for vs. lefties and vs. righties and an E (or 1L and or 1R) card that are representative of a player and a 0 or at least a 1 or 1 card for a player, and whatever the equivalent 'diversity' measure is for pitchers that the player is well represented (no knock against Stargell who was a cool guy and clubhouse leader for a historically interesting, if not quite GREAT (though surely it was great in lower case) team but how many 3R E 1-8 cards do we need for a guy (unless I counted wrong he had as many cards as Mantle did the last time I looked)

and at that point the set would be made more interesting if it had more PLAYERS and not just more cards.

full disclosure - I am really after 1 good Cubs pitcher - Zambrano - he was better than both Wood and Prior (BBRef them for yourself) and has no card

there are 3 other lesser Cubs I would like, but who would add to the set, I think - Steve Ontiveros who was an S 3b w/ a modicum of pop and in his 2 best seasons respectable BA (he was a river barge on the bases, gotta concede that
Dolfo Philips of the also ran, but emerging run-up to '69 Cubs is a cf 3 w/ some wheels and a little bit of pop - but you may have noticed that between Hack Wilson and Bob Dernier there are as many usable cfs as there are luxury restaurants roadside on I55 between St. Loo and Chi-town (rounding to the next 10... 0)

the last I concede is a collector's item Kosuke Fukudome who I believe was signed because Cub management thought he would be as good as Ichiro (he wasn't) but he has a decent card in there around 2010 or so - .260, some walks, cf3,,rf 2, probably a -3 arm, for a team that also does not have many guys producing from the left side of the plate - I would ask for another Rick Monday, but, while not stellar, the Cub card in the set is serviceable if I am determined to go that way

I always look for them in the nominated list...

would just be nice to have them in the game

end of rant

Doesn't really matter how good the cards are if they don't actually add them to the player base.

- The Sheik

I think Prior would was easily the best of the three, he just couldn't stay healthy.

Steve F

won't say you are wrong at peak in terms of stuff, but career, you gotta give it up to Z and Kerry had the most heart, my opinion, though I do think Z had some fire, he just was not that good a teammate Kerry deserved the love he got - I always thought he was overhyped a little, but when he came back at the end of his career, I thought they blew a chance to make him a closer, ala Eck


my bottom line on Prior is that he still had the lead in the Bartman game and his head blew-up - he may have been at pitch count, but he didn't exactly show a lot of heart and I don't exempt Moises (who I did and still do love as a late-career Cub acquisition) either - he (Alou) did great to get up there, but I am not convinced the ball was catchable (I haven't watched the replay in some time)

and Prior's inability to come back makes me question his (Prior's) heart too - but it coulda been 'roids (or some other enhancer) that made those YOOOGE thighs so easy to tear and impossible to heal


side note - Z is now toiling for the independent AA Chicago Dogs (Rosemont, actually, but close enough) saw him pitch his last game of the season there at the end of August


and Z did have a no-no too so I think he must have had some command out there, although he didn't get the no-hitter at Wrigley, but at least he got in the book with one.


anyway, I still think there are some guys with plenty of representation and some worthy guys without any - Z would be my big beef, Steve Ontiveros and Kosuke Fukudome are just personal favorite players, Philips is pure nostalgia, but surely a representative Z card would not devalue the player set. thanks for writing

I'd like a Zambrano card.
Problem with Adolfo Phillips is his 3 in CF. He would never get played in CF except in the tiniest of caps.

andy(cummings65):

I readily concede that Philips is a 'boutique' pick - but people play Hack Wilson in cf and he is a 3, not that Philips has the offensive appeal of Wilson, but in franchise leagues, I can see it and if we ever, by the grace of HAL get the entire doomed '69 Cubs roster here, Philips would be just what I need to prove that Durocher was a doofus, who drove Philips out of town (to be replaced by Don Young in cf and that really worked out)

and thanks for your support for Z - he's a kind of a puzzling omission

- Patrick

p.s. one also suspects that Philips would be popular in smaller caps

Doesn't really matter how good the cards are if they don't actually add them to the player base.

- The Sheik

This would be what one refers to as 'The Money Shot'

Doesn't really matter how good the cards are if they don't actually add them to the player base.

- The Sheik

This would be what one refers to as 'The Money Shot'

That is certainly true; however, the cards have been added regularly over the past 3 years, albeit not quite as timely as we would like.

Yes, Strat seems to drag their feet rather than meeting their committed deadlines half the time, and the communication is always limited at best, but the cards are being added.